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Koko · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:10 am Post subject: Aborigine Mythology...

This thread will be Australian Gods/Goddesses....

ADNOARTINA:
The Lizard of ULURU, otherwise known as Ayer's Rock.

ALCHERA:
Not a God, but the primordial timeless dream that existed before the world.

This is very important to Australian Mythology. AKA DREAMTIME.

ALMUDJ AKA the RAINBOW-SNAKE:
The Great Creator Serpent, in charge of Fertility, Growth and Refreshing Rain.

The RAINBOW-SNAKE is a bit of a mish-mash, with a kangaroo's head, a crocodile's tail and a python's body, all decorated with water lilies and waving tendrils.

The Snake has many names and comes in male and female form. YINGARNA, the female, is the original Mother of Creation, and her son NGALYOD is the Great Transformer of Land. Family portraits go back 8,000 years, which makes the Rainbow Snake one of the oldest religious symbols. And it's still going strong today.

ALTJIRA:
God of the DREAMTIME. Depicted as having emu's feet, for no reason we can fathom.

ALTJIRA created the Earth and supplied all the gear humans need, then retired without leaving instructions.

_________________
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

sethur · VII - The Chariot Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 113

Please note that almost ALL of this is information considered suitable for children under the age of seven.

In aboriginal culture there is deeper meaning to each aspect of the mythologies that is made available only when children receive their first initiation at the age of seven. Boys and girls are given different information and are not allowed to share it with the opposite sex, or anyone who has never been initiated (such as most folkore researchers).

Further initiations and deeper meaning is revealed every seven years. This is why aboriginal mythology - and aboriginals themselves - were considered childish from the 19th century onwards, it was beyond the understanding of the great white masters that the lowly natives would keep anything back from them.

The situation changed in the 1970s when a married white couple of researchers took the initiations - but stayed true to their oaths of secrecy.

Understanding this is vital today, because as the 19th/20th century researchers were male, the idea spread that only the men practised any sort of relgion (bevause the women refused to share their secrets with white men) and as a result certain places sacred only to the women's mysteries are not protected the way Uluru is, for example. Aboriginal women get accused of "making it all up" when defending their sacred places against miners and other developers, simply because pre-1970s researchers never found out about their religion.

The same considerations might be useful when considering Greek mythology, we have no idea, for example, what secrets were learned in the Eleusinian mysteries.

Steve W

RavenStar · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

Thats a really interesting read ~ thanks both. There are some interesting points raised there Sethur