While a Variety of Factors Have Shaped the Diversity of Indigenous Australian Philosophy and Practices Across the Australian Continent, One of the Central Characteristics of the Aboriginal Worldview Is the Concept of Essay Example
While a variety of factors have shaped the diversity of Indigenous Australian philosophy and practices across the Australian continent, one of the central characteristics of the Aboriginal worldview is the concept of the ‘Dreaming’. Outline some of the key aspects of this belief system and discuss the significance of this concept for Aboriginal people.
‘Indigenous Australia was and is a multi-cultural society’ (Seminar: Part 1, 2010). Throughout Australia there are many different Aboriginal groups, each with a unique identity. Although differentiated by landscape, language, geographical location, the ‘Dreaming’ concept seems to transcend communities (Stanner cited in Edwards, 2005). I acknowledge that ’ looking from the outside in’ will not give the richest understanding of the Aboriginal culture, however, it will enhance my knowledge to more accurately portray the beliefs and origins held by Aboriginal people. Three key aspects of the Dreaming include spiritual beings, kinship and dreaming stories.
In the Aboriginal world view, every event leaves a record in the land. The meaning and significance of particular places and creatures is linked to their origin in the Dreaming, and certain places have a particular strength. It refers to the time of creation, when ‘pre-existent but formless substance’ (Edwards, 2005 p17), emerged as spiritual beings and had taken on human and animal forms and moved across the land behaving as traditional Aboriginals and animals, providing a role-model for how life was to be lived; a moral system. Aboriginal people co-exist with the presence of spiritual beings in their everyday life (Edwards, 2005). Through an elliptical sense of time Aboriginal people continually connect with the origin of their spiritual being and wait for the right time to move from one stage of life to the next. This seems such a beautiful thing when read more deeply. To me, it reflects Aboriginal belonging, being and becoming.
The patterns laid down
‘Indigenous Australia was and is a multi-cultural society’ (Seminar: Part 1, 2010). Throughout Australia there are many different Aboriginal groups, each with a unique identity. Although differentiated by landscape, language, geographical location, the ‘Dreaming’ concept seems to transcend communities (Stanner cited in Edwards, 2005). I acknowledge that ’ looking from the outside in’ will not give the richest understanding of the Aboriginal culture, however, it will enhance my knowledge to more accurately portray the beliefs and origins held by Aboriginal people. Three key aspects of the Dreaming include spiritual beings, kinship and dreaming stories.
In the Aboriginal world view, every event leaves a record in the land. The meaning and significance of particular places and creatures is linked to their origin in the Dreaming, and certain places have a particular strength. It refers to the time of creation, when ‘pre-existent but formless substance’ (Edwards, 2005 p17), emerged as spiritual beings and had taken on human and animal forms and moved across the land behaving as traditional Aboriginals and animals, providing a role-model for how life was to be lived; a moral system. Aboriginal people co-exist with the presence of spiritual beings in their everyday life (Edwards, 2005). Through an elliptical sense of time Aboriginal people continually connect with the origin of their spiritual being and wait for the right time to move from one stage of life to the next. This seems such a beautiful thing when read more deeply. To me, it reflects Aboriginal belonging, being and becoming.
The patterns laid down