The "Dreamtime" in a Nutshell

Fair enough. Everyone has the right to perceive others in whatever way they wish. But some days it's tough to let comments go through one ear and out the other, whether it be accents, clothes, customs, food, religious rites, or anything else.

In this particular one, the Europeans have always been a bit prudish. Nudity got to them as well, despite it being the norm in many tropical aboriginal cultures.

Having done kavadi myself, i know those stares. It comes from ignorance mostly.
 
Aussie Thoughts said:
Celebrating a gal's first menstrual cycle for instance. Among the Aboriginals this is a cause for great joy and news spreads fast. In our region the occasion is marked by fresh baked cakes and pies or a trip to town for ice cream.
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So, in your neck of the woods, the Aboriginal community has adopted modern ways of following old traditions?
Aussie Thoughts said:
That's nothing compared to what happens to the blokes in those remote tribal regions when they come of age. I'll spare you the gory details, but it involves a stone ax and a camp fire!
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Gadzooks! Does your crew have a modern way of following that tradition? I hope.....
 
Namaste Jesus said:
So, in your neck of the woods, the Aboriginal community has adopted modern ways of following old traditions?
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Spot on mate. The ways of old are still held near and dear, but the former rituals have been toned down quite a bit.
Namaste Jesus said:
Gadzooks! Does your crew have a modern way of following that tradition? I hope.....
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That particular tradition was not followed here quite so strictly, even long ago. In this region some of the Aboriginals have this ceremony they perform where they act out ritual circumcision for the boys or public display of the gals without actually doing either. It's quite interesting to watch.

That's not the only right of passage though. Traditions vary family to family. Take for instance the fellow that drives one of our tractors. His son just turned 13. So, he's begun teaching him how to drive that tractor. By the time he's 16 or 17, he'll be able to drive that bad boy just as well as his dad. This shall be his right of passage just as it was for his father when he was that age. When that fellow retires, the job of driving that tractor will fall unto his son and so on in turn for his son.
 
I like that idea. My dad past little unto me, but getting back on track...

You had mentioned that part of the dreamtime was about being able to communicate with ones ancestors, but you also mentioned that the Aborigines believed in reincarnation. How then can they communicate with their ancestors if the soul has reincarnated?
 
Namaste Jesus said:
You had mentioned that part of the dreamtime was about being able to communicate with ones ancestors, but you also mentioned that the Aborigines believed in reincarnation. How then can they communicate with their ancestors if the soul has reincarnated?
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There's 3 schools of thought among the various Aboriginal tribes.

1) There's the idea of collective souls. This enables one human being to communicate with another regardless of what body that soul currently occupies.

2) There's a period of time that exist between one incarnation and another. During this time family members may contact or be contacted by departed kin.

3) There is a belief among those I associate with that the dreamtime realm exist beyond time as we know it. In other words, past, present and future are all the same day. For any given soul we are able to make contact with the spirit of their past lives, their present lives and their future lives. The most interesting aspect of this notion is the prospect of contacting past and future manifestations of ourselves! Now, just try and wrap your head around that one without getting a headache. o_O
 
Aussie Thoughts said:
The most interesting aspect of this notion is the prospect of contacting past and future manifestations of ourselves! Now, just try and wrap your head around that one without getting a headache. o_O
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Probably just my cockeyed way of looking at things, but I don't have any trouble wrapping my head around that at all. If I'm communicating with a former self then that self is communicating with a future self. Likewise if I'm communicating with a future self then that self is communicating with a past self. It actually makes sense to me. Now whether or not any of that is possible, that's another matter altogether, but I kind of hope it is.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
I don't have any trouble wrapping my head around that at all. If I'm communicating with a former self then that self is communicating with a future self. Likewise if I'm communicating with a future self then that self is communicating with a past self. It actually makes sense to me.
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You're right mate. I never looked at it that way before.
 
Hey Aussie, just wondering, is there any intermarriage taking place among the Aboriginal people these days? If so, is it well tolerated?
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Hey Aussie, just wondering, is there any intermarriage taking place among the Aboriginal people these days? If so, is it well tolerated?
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It does happen and there's a bit more tolerance for it these days than there used to be, but it's still discouraged. Even my dad, who had the greatest respect for the native peoples, was not a proponent of mixing the races. I wasn't even allowed to visit the Aboriginal settlement after dark once I came of age. Ah... let's just say, some of the Abby gals can be a bit friendly at times.

So far, there's no intermarriages in my family. Well, no Aboriginal unions anyway. That may change in a few years though. My son has a cute little Abby girlfriend he's been seeing for a while now. I'm not supposed to know about it, but stealth isn't the lad's strong point.
 
hey, thanks for this thread -- although senthil has asked almost all the q's I probably would've asked, I've thought of some more!

I want to know:
*Angels. In aboriginal culture, are they meting out justice and punishments/doing the will of God/The Great Spirit as they do in the Bible, for example?
*Is the "Great Spirit" able to manifest as an individual, personal type God?
*Do aboriginal tales tell us about our purpose, as a species? Do we have a collective mission?
*And, do we, collectively, have an endpoint for earth and its creatures? Do aboriginals have world cycle tales?
*Do aboriginal people have a concept of heaven?
*And hell? In the traditional sense of... cast out, or punished?
*Are we reborn in a "better" state dependent on deeds? Or are we simply reincarnated to enter the next available life-form?
*If an aboriginal person converted to another religion, which religion, in your opinion, would s/he most likely adopt?

This thread reminds me that I, too, had a party on the first day of my menses, with cakes, and cards, welcoming me to womanhood. Embarrassed, I was, at the time, but now, as a grown-up woman, I like the idea of reclaiming menstruation and making it a positive, rite-of-passage occasion to counter-act all that fudge about dirt and punishment girls are sometimes given.
 
Sam Albion said:
*Angels. In aboriginal culture, are they meting out justice and punishments/doing the will of God/The Great Spirit as they do in the Bible, for example?
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Not as such. Angels are more the caretakers in Aboriginal culture, but just as depicted in the Bible, a number of angels are said to have rebelled shortly after the initial creation.
Sam Albion said:
*Is the "Great Spirit" able to manifest as an individual, personal type God?
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Yes.
Sam Albion said:
*Do aboriginal tales tell us about our purpose, as a species? Do we have a collective mission?
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The dreamtime stories mainly deal with creation and life as it pertains to the Aborigines.
Sam Albion said:
*And, do we, collectively, have an endpoint for earth and its creatures? Do aboriginals have world cycle tales?
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Some tribes believe in an end game. Others subscribe to the idea of endless reincarnation. Earth cycles are mentioned, but only as it pertains to Aboriginal life.
Sam Albion said:
*Do aboriginal people have a concept of heaven?
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Some do some don't. Thoughts vary region to region, tribe to tribe.
Sam Albion said:
*And hell? In the traditional sense of... cast out, or punished?
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Not as such. That's more a notion for the descendants of Adam who is referred to as new man or God's man among the Aborigines. The difference being the Aboriginals were created by the angels under God's direction and new man being created by God's own hand.
Sam Albion said:
*Are we reborn in a "better" state dependent on deeds? Or are we simply reincarnated to enter the next available life-form?
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There is a concept of karma which directly affects the next life. Many Aboriginals believe the soul may be reincarnated in any form, animal, vegitable or mineral.
Sam Albion said:
*If an aboriginal person converted to another religion, which religion, in your opinion, would s/he most likely adopt?
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Christianity has been widely adopted by many Aboriginal tribes do to similarities in the story of creation. Although, many Aboriginal tribes have some rather Hindu like beliefs.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Trying to put one over on dear old dad aye? Bless his heart....
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No, it's not really like that mate. He's a good kid. He's just leery of how his dad and uncles might react. Truly, if I thought he was just taking advantage of an Abby gal, I'd put my foot down, but Nanna Gymea tells me they have a genuine affection for each other and that's good enough for me. Meantime, I'm not half enjoying watching him squirm.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Respectful of his elders and not wishing to garner their disapproval or is prejudice alive and well down under?
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He has an enormous respect for his elders and he knows well his grand dad's concerns on the subject. I wouldn't call my dad's concerns prejudicial though. He was more worried about the bigoted nature of those who live around us. The Abbies that work for us are sort of exempt by reputation to the bigotry that goes on, but outside that bubble certain individuals can be less than kind.
 
Namaste Jesus said:
Ok, but what about the other side of the coin? How do the girl's parents feel about the relationship?
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Don't know mate. All I know is she goes to the same school as my son and she and her parents live in a nearby settlement. Of course that's secondhand information as my son hasn't worked up enough nerve to fill the old man in yet.
 
Adam and Eve are the archetypes of first humans. You take the Bible literally but it is a mistake IMHO. Just as Adam Kadmon the symbolic archetype of the first man according to the religious writings of Kabbalah meaning "original man".
 
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