Australian Aborigine Dreaming
Studying Aborigine Dreaming stories, it becomes apparent, that before the time that "time" began, everything used to be fluid, with men being able to shape shift into animals. It was a time when their ancestors were sometimes spirit, sometimes sky, at others, the land itself. If this is the way they say things began, then one could expect that as things begin merging back into Oneness, that a fluid state is about to be re-entered. The stories are certainly interesting, and if one was going to become a Creator, then they definitely are a must to read. Although it has been said that Aborigines have never left a written record of their history, that has been changed in modern times.
From 1980 through to 1990s, Jennifer Isaacs compiled stories from the aborigines into a single book called, "Australian Dreaming". 40,000 years of Aborigine History. There are art books that are a story in art and pictures of the aborigines (Arts of the Dreamtime, Australia's Living Heritage, once again a compilation by Jennifer Isaacs), and there is an excellent background book sold in bookstores around the world today called, "Voices of the First Day", Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime, by Robert Lawlor with the proceeds going to a rehabilitation centre in South Australia.
A totemic ancestor story might take this form for example. The Sun was born from the earth which took the moon as the mother and gave birth to Venus, which is the beginnings of the totemic ancestors. Being the oldest race on the planet, we have no tools to dispute such a story, nor evidence other than their story, but if this is one of their origin stories, then it is no stretch of the imagination to state that all stories originate from Mankind's mind as a myth to understand ourselves better.
Everything, including concepts of creation, come from our minds, even a concept of God if present in the culture. Aborigine stories help to understand the Mankind's mind exists outside the bounds of this universe, and that at some point, we become Spirit Ancestors to begin a New Dreaming in an ongoing way. Their stories are the attempt to put the spirit into matter, and matter into spirit, and are an effective means to remember topography and animals alike.
While in the Kimberley's of Western Australia, I heard one Elder tell me a story drawn from modern times to emphasize this point. He said the crow is always calling for the " Ark" as it was the first bird let go from the Ark after the flood, which never came back. Hence you will always hear a crow calling "Ark, Ark, Ark!" This is a christian story put into aborigine context, to remember the birds unique cry to tell their young. Over time, this might become totemic. However, there is another level to all of their stories that we never get to hear about, as the Dreaming is ongoing, and Sacred, and either men's business, or women's business, which prohibits its telling outside of the right circles.
Taking this one step further, I therefore suspect that the sacred is the other half of the story, which shows how we each are that totemic ancestor through our lineage or linkage through the ceremonies, which then gives significance to every bump on the landscape, or animal or bird. Further back, we are them all, and through participation of such creation stories through dance and ceremony, activation for continued Dreaming is ongoing. The aborigine sorcery is as good as any on the planet, including Don Juan's to Carlos Casteneda's variety. If we do not have such stories, then we invent our own throughout our lives.
Mine could read that when something supernatural occurred, it was through a linkage with spirit, or my spirit transmigrated to some other form that helped my spirit to manifest something interesting. Spiritwind would say it is the future and past Selves meeting in the present to aid in bringing the best choices available in the moment for the fulfilment of Love's purpose in our lives.
Aborigine stories are full of fights and death, something we all are aquainted with. However, if we are making our own stories that will stand the test of time and ages like those of the aborigines, then reading their stories, and living amongst them leads me to believe that the lessons to learn from all of this is to at some point, start to come from our good sides for as long as it can be sustained. The good side can win over the bad side, if that is the side that is fed continually.
When the aborigines re-enact the deeds of these totemic ancestors, they invoke their presence with them in their corroborrees. Every aborigine knows their totem, and tribal one as well, even if they do not know their own fathers. This way, their spirituality is more important an aspect of life to them than their physical lineage, as it is the sacred that gives them life and love. The sacred dances then links other dimensions with the everyday ones. Aborigines access the second world and have done so as long as time has been here. We on the other hand, mythically shut ourselves out of the garden where they never left.
The aborigines are well aware and knowledgeable about the second world, and even their art is done with two lines and two themes to represent such a second world. By such connections, where many people see aborigines as primitive, they are miles ahead of us, as they have much to teach if approached respectfully. As they are aware (there are real alpha men-men amongst them) of all of the levels, and how the Dreamtime works experientially, personal power for them is a given. They walk humbly, with open hearts, and joyous hearts.
Those who have managed to survive to become an Elder, have gone through the sorrowful walks and addictions that enslave them, but have overcome to further the collective knowledge of them all. Being the personification of the land, makes them the talking stick for everything they come across on all levels. They can tell you everything needed to be known about anything in their environment. I have found them to be walking encyclopaedias for those able to hear.
Getting beyond ones addictions, can be a challenge not only to aborigines (and all of the indigenous cultures), but to us all. Of course it wrecks havoc, and is never a nice thing to see with all of its violence and shocking family wars. I sat in silence, wishing I was elsewhere when alcohol was in control in some tribes, melting into the background. To get involved even in kindness, is not taken that way, and one can easily be involved before knowing that to stay out of harms way, is to stay out of the situation. Not the nice view for anyone to see, but deserves to be noted for what it is.
Alcohol cuts us off from sacred energy, and most indigenous cultures already know this, thereby cutting themselves off from their valued heritage and totemic ancestors. It is refreshing to visit a dry community, and if one wishes to drink, then they have to leave the tribe, and travel far just to get such a drink so that the violence cannot come back quickly.
I consider all myths (everything is myth, as it is never the total truth on the matter, only what someone is using as a tool for our understanding) to be worth studying and remembering, as they are teaching tools for us all as they teach us about ourselves. Allow any story to be such a teaching tool, without judgement or weight around belief, so that their lessons have a chance to register with your essence. If we need to hear something, then allow the inner ear to open. Remember, Love is open and loving, so remain that in yourself to give the heart a space to open fully.
To conclude, I would like to repeat what Robert Lawlor (in the book mentioned above) repeats himself;
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
TS Eliot
And another blog by Spiritwind of October 20, 2005:
http://thespiritwind.blogspot.com/2005/10/another-beginning.html
Windstill
