Aboriginal SpiritualityAboriginal spirituality is a primal religion, which is the religion of indigenous people around the world. It has a deep connection with the land which "owns" Aboriginal people. All objects are living and share the same soul or spirit Aboriginal people share.
It is ‘geo-centric’ (earth-centred) and not ‘theosophical’ (God-centred). Adherents experience a connection to their land, a key feature of Aboriginal spirituality is to look after the land, an obligation which has been passed down as law for thousands of years. Aboriginal spirituality in Australia is known as Arrernte Spirituality. |
Beliefs
Aboriginal spirituality beliefs are derived from a sense of belonging to the the land, sea, to other people, and to one's culture. It is the belief that humans are all part of the earth, and that everything is already created in a perfect state. It is about the connectedness, oneness, and always being part of the land. Land is the mother, and the mother is the land. Land is the starting point to where it all began. Adherents believe in the stories of the "dreaming" or "dreamtime". The dreaming is a connection to the past, present and future. Creator created humans as part of creation. Humans are not superior, as if we are, then we wouldn’t need the water of the sea, the animals to feed us, the land for shelter.
Symbols
This represents campsites: These icons appear in the majority of Aboriginal paintings. They show people involved in ceremony, camping, hunting, travelling and gathering bush tucker.
Footprints in paintings represent either male or female aboriginals. They show a person traveling through their country, hunting or at initiation ceremonies or ancestral travels across the artists country.
This represents rain.
Represents water hole. It signifies the source of water, life and fertility.
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Myths and Sacred Stories
-The Dreamtime is the Aboriginal understanding of the world, of it's creation, and it's great stories. The Dreamtime is the beginning of knowledge, from which came the laws of existence. For survival these laws must be observed.
-Aboriginal Australian myths are expressions of beliefs about how the world came into being. They emerged from the earth at the time of the creation. Time began in the world the moment these supernatural beings were "born out of their own Eternity". -The Earth was a flat surface, in darkness. A dead, silent world. Unknown forms of life were asleep, below the surface of the land. Then the supernatural Ancestor Beings broke through the crust of the earth form below , with tumultuous force. -The sun rose out of the ground. The land received light for the first time. Social Structures
Elders, both women and men, are highly respected and considered to be wise and knowledgeable. Elder women are often responsible for the education of Indigenous virtues and values, and ensure that youths in the community are aware of their cultural history. The Elders are involved in resolving disputes in offences concerning sacred affairs, such as people witnessing a ritual they shouldn't.
Religious Experience and Spirituality
A religious experience for adherents, could be one connecting with everything, every action is an action with beauty. A feeling, with a base in connectedness to the past, ancestors, and the values that they represent. Eg, respect for elders, or following a moral/ethical path. It is about being in an aboriginal cultural space, experiencing community and connectedness with land and nature, including providing nutrition and shelter for others. It is about feeling good about one self, proud of being aboriginal
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Sacred Texts and other religious writings
Aboriginals have no sacred text. The concepts and beliefs about the dreaming is passed on from one generation to the next, through oral communication. It is to help to understand about the past, present and future. Oral traditions include the use of story telling, song, dance art, craft making, giving instructions and directions. All of these forms of Oral Traditions help to pass on specific cultural practises and values, language and laws and histories. Aboriginals believe that drawings have power and authority, which is why many sacred stories can be found on cave walls, ritual stones, or rock walls.
Ethical Principles or Oral and Written Codes of Behaviour
Kanyini is the Aboriginal teachings of unconditional Love.
Based on 4 principles passed down from the Aborigines elders. Ngura: A sense of belonging to home and land. Walytja: Family connecting with life. Kurunpa: Love, spirit or soul. Tjuukurpa: The belief about creation and the right way to live. |
Rituals
There are several types of rituals..
Rites of Passage- A ritual marking crises in an individual's life history. Initiation- boys are made into men by rituals that are prolonged and painful. Mortuary rites-death rituals, often prolonged over months and even years, until the person's passage into the next life is complete. During the ceremony for a death of a person, people often paint themselves white, cut their own bodies to show their remorse for the loss of their loved one, and conduct a series of rituals, songs and dances to ensure the person’s spirit leaves the area and returns to its birth place, from where it can later be reborn. A dead person’s name could not be said, and depiction of their image because it would be recalling and disturbing their spirit. An Aboriginal person’s soul or spirit is believed to continue on after physical form has passed through death. After the death of an Aboriginal person their spirit returns to the Dreamtime from where it will return through birth as a human, an animal, a plant or a rock. The shape is not important because each form shares the same soul or spirit from the Dreamtime. Cultural rituals-is a ritual relating to spirit beings. They may celebrate the actions of the creator spirits of a clan, or group of clans. Increase rituals- are aimed at maintaining the level of the natural species concerned. This ritual is usually performed by people belonging to the totem associated with the species. Magico-religious rituals: healing rituals harming rituals or sorcery love-magic rituals rain-making rituals |