Australian Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality

The importance of traditional beliefs and the Dreaming

Within the Dreaming, the Creator, through the Spirit Beings, shaped the land, making its mountains, valleys, hills, gullies, rivers, streams, flora and fauna. These are formed as a result of the action and interaction of Spirit Beings. As a result, the whole creation is of spiritual significance.

Sacred sites are places associated with Ancestral Beings. Aboriginals see themselves as part of, and inextricably bound to, the rest of creation. Galarrwuy Yunupingu, traditional elder and leader of the Gumatj people of north-eastern Arnhem Land, puts it this way: The whole story goes right back to the time when the Ancestral Heroes made Laws, Ceremonies and languages, gave names to things including land, rivers, mountains, animals and so on; when everything that we find here now was still in the process of creation. (Galarrwuy Yunupingu, 1992)

In order to understand the worldview of Aboriginal people and the importance of the Dreaming for Aboriginal life, people need to immerse themselves in this worldview. Such a task is not easy, for Aboriginal people’s perception of themselves and their world—whether it be the physical, intellectual or spiritual world—is not fragmented. For Aboriginals, all elements within the world coexist; they are connected, linked together. The importance of this connection between the things of creation is expressed through totemism. The ritual performances associated with this are believed to influence and ensure the reproduction of both the natural and the human sphere, as well as the natural cycle of seasons.

Oxford Studies of Religion

Karlu Karlu, Karlu Karlu, also known as the Devil’s Marbles, is a sacred site for the traditional owners—the Warumungu, Kaytetye, Warlpiri and Alyawarra peoples.

Australian Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality

During the course of many thousands of years Aboriginal people have developed an intimate relationship between themselves and their environment. They see themselves as spiritually interconnected with the natural world. They do not see themselves as separate from it but as inextricably bound to it. Their very survival is a direct result of this close relationship with their natural environment. Moreover, their relationship with this environment is not one of domination or manipulation. Aboriginals are not compulsive builders; they do not erect huge cathedrals, churches or synagogues in order to draw attention to the significance of a sacred area. Rather, their sacred sites are natural land formations, places where Ancestral Spirits interacted with creation and in so doing based Aboriginal ownership on their spiritual identification and association with their land.

Through the bestowal of land by their Ancestors, Aboriginal people share in the preservation of their interconnection with the natural environment. This is done through shared responsibilities and obligations, through totemic relationships, through custodial maintenance of particular sacred sites, and through rituals and ceremonies that are performed at particular times every year. These rituals and ceremonies cannot be done by just anyone; they are the responsibility of the custodians of particular sacred sites. However, representatives of more than one language group may be involved. Those who share in these obligations may be custodians of a particular section of a ritual on account of their totemic association with a site, and by virtue of their shared ownership of sacred knowledge.

Cooperation or sharing—not only between genders but also between language groups—is an important factor in any Aboriginal society. The division of labour is shared among the members of the community. Responsibilities and obligations concerning sacred rituals and ceremonies are shared between language groups, as more than one language group may have ownership of a certain section of a particular ritual.

Activities1. Why is the Dreaming so important for Aboriginal people?2. Describe the relationship between Aboriginals and their environment. Why is this

relationship very important to Aboriginals?3. Discuss as a group how Aboriginal life has developed in order to keep this

interrelationship with the natural environment.4. Discuss why you think that it was important for different groups to know sections of

a ritual and not the whole ritual.

Oxford Studies of Religion