Dreaming

Intrigued by the idea of ‘Dreamtime’, I decided to search for further information about how this belief governs the Aboriginal lifestyle. According to Sabbioni, each person in traditional society is assigned their own Dreaming story and a responsibility for that particular Dreaming. Their participation in ceremonies as keepers of the stories reestablishes the relationship between the people, land, and spirit world as they bring the world into being through their bodies, songs, and actions. The Dreaming is what determines the system of values, behaviors, relationships, and beliefs that combine the natural world, humans, and the spirit world into an interconnected entity. Social order, concepts of law, political claims, visual representations, song, and environmental ethics are other aspects which fall into the jurisdiction of the Dreamtime. An article I came across online describes other elements of the Dreamtime. The author, Tony Crisp, explains that there are four aspects of Dreamtime: the beginning of all things, the life and influence of the ancestors, the way of life and death, and sources of power in life. Aborigines believe all four aspects occur at the same time, where the past present and future coexist; they call it ‘all-at-once’ time. Although the stories vary between tribes, all accounts of the Dreamtime have the same or a very similar theme. Different themes and topics form a complex network of faith, knowledge and practices that derive from Dreamtime stories, informing all spiritual and physical facets of an indigenous Australian life.

To me, Dreamtime is a bit hard to understand because of how much it involves. The idea of a belief governing how one lives their life almost in entirety is a concept I would guess many members of Western Society would have trouble grasping. Although some people are extremely religious and live their life as closely to the Bible (or other religious texts) as they can, we all have another higher power that sets rules for life, which is the Government. In the United States we have a separation of church and state meaning laws are not written in accordance with any religion, although both the Bible and Common Law instruct us not to kill one another.

Works Cited:

1998 Indigenious Australian Voices: A Reader.
Jennifer Sabbioni, Kay Schaffer, and Sidonie Smith, eds. Pp. xxi.
Rutgers, The State University: Rutgers University Press.

Crisp, Tony
Australian Aborigine Dream Beliefs. Electronic document,
http://www.dreamhawk.com/oz.htm, accessed Oct 12.

Image Source: http://rawheaven.org/gallery/albums/album03/Didjeridoo_Dreamtime.jpeg