The Dreaming

Is a complex concept at the centre of Aboriginal religion and life that embraces the creative era long past of the Ancestral Beings as well as the present and the future.

The Dreaming is the closest translation of the Aboriginal concept of how the world works

Is like the overall environment that Aboriginal people lived in, and still live in, today.

the Dreaming is the beginning of all things and refers to events and places and the Ancestral Spirit Beings who formed the land and founded life on the land.

The Ancestral Beings also laid down the law and established the relationships and responsibilities by which Aboriginal people live out their lives.

The Dreaming also affects all of life today because the spirit world is still very much part of the present.

The spirit world gives life to the visible world.

When someone dies, it is believed that their spirit will return to the Dreamtime from where it came.

Dreaming is experienced in the songs, stories, rituals and symbols of Aboriginal people.

Dreaming is reflected especially in the land. All objects are living and share the same soul or spirit that Aborigines share.

Can have a communal dreaming – ‘the Dreaming’ or a personal dreaming –‘ my Dreaming’ ie. My dreaming is the ginga (saltwater croc)

In your own words, how would you explain the concept of the Dreaming?

Now write up your own understanding onto a design for an Open Day display