Dreamtime according to the Aborigines, describes the creation of the earth and how all living things were created. It is said that in the Dreamtime (the beginning), ancestral spirits inhabited the earth.As the spirits travelled over the country, their movements created the mountains, rivers, animals and plants.
Today the Dreaming is still seen by the Aborigines as a living force that comes from the land to which they belong. Different communities or individuals may have differing Dreaming, which is instrumental in maintaining the structure of Aboriginal society, governing its people’s behavior.
Aboriginal paintings dating back more than 6000 years depict numerous Dreamtime stories about the creation of sacred places, people and the many aboriginal languages.One of the most well known is the story of the Rainbow Serpent.
The Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent (Ngalmudj) was an enormous snake who created rivers, creeks and lagoons as it moved across the country. It protected the land and its people, but it could also wreak revenge if it was disrespected, symbolic of both the creative power and destructive abilities of nature.
The Rainbow Serpent features in many Dreaming stories, but it is always associated with water – the rivers, creeks, lakes and billabongs. One of the most common interpretations of this story tells when the world was bare and cold, the Rainbow Serpent slept under the earth with all the animals in its belly. When it was time to give birth, the Rainbow Serpent rose from underground, calling to the animals to awake from their sleep. As she rose up, the land was pushed into mountains and hills, causing rivers and lakes to form. It forced itself through rocks, creating valleys and water holes.
The Rainbow Serpent is believed to bring the monsoonal wet season to the northern parts of Australia each year - the beginning of the breeding season for all forms of life in the area, and creating a rainbow across the sky. The Rainbow Serpent also has the ability to punish those who do not follow Aboriginal law by drowning them in great floods.
The spirits of Dreamtime never die, but manifest into mountains, rocks, or other forms of nature. This is one reason why Aboriginals today hold many places sacred. The Rainbow Serpent is said to live under a waterfall in Kakadu (Gagudju) in the Northern Territory.
Today, Aborigines express the Dreamtime through storytelling, paintings and dancing – maintaining their rich cultural heritage by passing their knowledge and values onto the younger generations.
