Australian Aboriginal Mythology

The world is full of diverse cultures, each having their own ideas and mythology. Some have very unique ideas that pretty much define that culture and what it’s people stand for. Australian Aboriginal mythology has almost been wiped out due to the invasion of other cultures like Christianity. However, there is a small percentage of people who still believe in their culture and preserve it to this day (Australian Mythology). Australian mythology aims to explain the creation of nature as well as the idea of a single connectivity between all creations, creators, and time. “Aboriginal myths about the beginning of the world deal not with the creation of the cosmos out of nothing, but with the origin and shaping of present day environments
The aborigines believed the Earth’s surface was barren and empty and consisted only of mud and clay. That is until the “ancestral spirit beings rose from beneath the surface or descended from the sky, and assumed the forms of animals, plants, and humans. They journeyed across the Earth, changing it by shaping the mud into rivers, hills, islands, and other features,” (Kiger, Patrick). One of their mythological creatures that they believed also played a part in the creation of the world was a giant, rainbow-colored snake named Gane. Gane’s story starts off with him trying to find a missing old woman. He followed her footprints and in the process moved rocks and dirt, making hills and valleys. Since Gane was also rainbow-colored, his colors spread across everything he touched including creatures, plants, and the ground, giving them all vibrant colors. Still on his journey, Gane was called upon by another mythological figure named Biami who's voice was so loud it caused a storm with thunder and lightning. It was said that the rainfall from the storm filled all the trenches made by Gane’s body which turned into what is know today as the Murray River (Kiger, Patrick). Another creation myth revolves
All around the world today, time is built into daily life. For the Aborigines, there wasn't really a defined passage of time. Instead, the Aborigines had a concept of creation like they did with the ancestors and the Dreamtime. Instead of things happening over time, they thought that there was a simple “pendulum swing” movement from a subjective state of being to an objective one. Or in other words, from a dream to reality (Lawlor, 37). Dreaming to the Aborigines is very important because of this. It is said that a hunter will stay up the night before a big hunt and watch his sleeping dogs. The one that thrashes and kicks in it’s sleep will be chosen to go on the hunt because the dog dreamed of catching prey. Therefore, the next day that subjective, or dreaming state of catching prey will move to objective, or reality. The rainbow, to the Aborigines, is a visual representation of Dreaming where the invisible potentials, or the subjective, to the visible potentials, or the objective (Lawlor, 42). The Aborigines even perform special dances and rituals every day to celebrate this movement, which reinforces connections within the clan as well as to the ancestors and nature (Lawlor, 37). As for the ancestors, Aborigines believed that they kept their power when they went back down under the earth. They thought that the ancestors still influenced the world and as long as they kept preforming rituals and