Aborigines Part 1

What is the meaning of faith?

When anybody talks about faith the obvious assumption is that the conversation will be religious. Indeed the great religions of the world base faith at the heart of their teachings and understandings but even the smaller religions, cults and cultures all still have their faiths. Even atheists will have faith in something even if that faith is in themselves and their abilities to accomplish a goal.

Tribes’ people of the world have their individual cultures with their own type of religion revolving around beliefs and faith. Typical is the Aborigines of Australia which is arguably the oldest continual culture on this planet. As Australia urbanises around the coastal areas, Aborigines are constantly drawn to or consumed by the Western way of life and much of their sacred lands have been taken over. Consequently the Native Aborigines are dwindling in numbers.

In the 1970’s when carbon dating was the best way of dating historical artefacts, history could only have a date set upon it to 40,000 years ago. Carbon dating could only take us back that far and Aboriginal Culture was proved to have existed then. Today it is thought that Aborigines were in existence 60,000 years ago and possibly 100,000 years ago.

With such a long history it is safe to assume that they have learned something during that time. Although collectively the Aborigines share similar beliefs, the culture is still very much tribal and thus there are variances in beliefs and customs between the differing tribes. Ceremonies, rituals and customs are shrouded in secrecy so their meanings will not be totally understood by the next tribe. However there are some common stories, beliefs and faith shared by all.

The Creation Period

Many religions are characterised by having a god or gods who in their wisdom created the universe. Baiame is the Great Spirit. It was he who dreamed of creating the world and along with the other spirits Nungeena (Mother Nature), Punjel (the Architect of the Universe) and Yhi (Sun Goddess) they set about making this dream come true.

Punjel, being the Architect of the Universe, took multi-million portions from the Supreme Intelligence of Baiame and created Yowies (souls). These Yowies were given three strong drives; the need for nutrition to sustain a physical body, the desire for reproduction and a will to achieve. These Yowies were then collectively swirled around in an anti-clockwise direction and thrust towards Tya (earth) which created the gravitational force of earth.

Because of their desire to achieve, the Yowies started to mould Tya and eventually a solid mass was formed. The Spirits decided that the Yowies needed memory so they gave them a spirit body called the Dowie; a memory bank to retain all previous experiences and the Mullowill; a sheath like protection to guard the Yowies from psychic and emotional influences and also to protect the Dowie.

The next stage of the creation period was to introduce plant life so Nungeema was called upon to create her magic. The Yowies creative abilities were somewhat lacking, plant life was merely in the form of mosses, so Yhi was asked to warm up Tya. The sun created steam caps and the ice encapsulating Tya began to melt.

Their next problem was that the plant life was now drowning in the flood of water so Uluru, The Intelligent Snake from within the higher spirits of the universe was summonsed. He burrowed holes into the solid mass creating the seas, lakes and rivers with the spoils creating mountains. His work created an imbalance and Tya began to wobble as it span through space.

In digging the holes, Uluru had thrown masses of soil into the air and as Yhi didn’t want this contamination ruining her work of sunlight, she took this soil to create Bahloo (the moon).

Plant life was now starting to overgrow due to the three main drives. More action was needed so the spirits decided to introduce animal life. Advanced Yowies were selected because of their memory banks, their desire to achieve and creative abilities. These Yowies became animals. Jelly fish were the first of the animal kingdom and as the rains came and ponds overflowed many of these jelly fish were left stranded upon the rocks once the flood waters subsided. The Strongest and most creative Yowies survived and evolved to create different species.

The next part of the jigsaw was to create an advanced intelligence; the human being. Baiame descended to Tya with three hundred men and woman to introduce them to all the previous experiences and intelligence of mineral, plant and animal life. These men and woman became the first tribe and Baiame taught them the Laws of Living and the Laws of the Universe with the magic, art and healing contained within them. Elders and wise men and women were chosen to ensure that these lessons were interpreted correctly and handed down through the generations.

This is just a brief summary of the Creation Period as understood by the Aborigines. Yet through the haze of the myth there are some remarkable resemblances with how modern day science depicts the creation of the universe.
The order and time span are notably similar, indeed the aboriginal version of creation with regards to time is much nearer to modern day thinking than the bible, if the idea that the world was created in seven days is to be taken literally.
And these ideas came many thousands of years before modern science.

At the beginning Baiame had a dream and with the aid of the other spirits his thoughts and dreams became a reality. Today we have ideas and theories such as the Law of Attraction which helps us understand that everything created in this world started with a thought in somebody’s head. If we believe in our thoughts hard enough, desire it great enough, these thoughts will manifest themselves into reality soon enough. Have faith.

How fantastic is that?

Much of this information came from the following sources: Understanding Aboriginal Culture by Cyril Havecker which can be obtained at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-aboriginal-culture-Cyril-Havecker/, http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/religion.shtml and http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/culture.html.

Terry Norrington

http://www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com