Entering the Dreamtime

A few years ago I came across a book by Bruce Chatwin titled 'Songlines'. This book introduced me to an ancient view of the world, which I found so enchanting that I decided to read a bit more about it. This system is complex, just like any system made about creation, but I will try to explain the bare bones of it in a relatively simple way.
The Aboriginals, the indigenous people of Australia, have a dual concept of reality. There is the plane of everyday activity and there is another one, a parallel reality called the Dreamtime or the Dreaming. This is quite different from the Western concept of dreaming. Aboriginals believe that before humans, animals and plants came to existence, strange archetypal beings roamed the Earth. These totems or ancestors appeared, travelled across the land, performed their deeds and then finally returned to where they had come from or as the indigenous people say "went back in". During their journeys, they established the Songlines, the routes that link all the significant places of creation. For example, the Rainbow Serpent, an ancestor who appears in many dreaming stories, created rivers and mountains on its way through Northern Australia.








Rainbow Serpent Dreaming (from here)


Aboriginal people believe that with singing, dancing and fasting they can temporarily reconnect to this other plane of reality and they can heal or gain important insights for their lives. Walking long distances across the land is also one way to enter the dreamtime. Sometimes Aboriginals walk through the entire length of a particular Songline, the path of an ancestor. Some of the Songlines are so long that they pass through several language regions. Hills, rocks, waterholes, caves and all the other formations speak about the ancestors. Because of this, the land is extremely important for the indigenous people of Australia. In the Northern Territory, the two biggest and most sacred sites are Uluru and Kata Tjuta.





Uluru ( from here)






Kata Tjuta, also known as Mount Olga (from here)

An important instrument of story-telling and celebrations is the didgeridoo, the oldest wind instrument on Earth. It is a big piece of hollow wood and it is often ornamented with dreamtime symbols. Traditionally, the didgeridoo is made from an eucalyptus tree that the termites have made hollow. To play this instrument you have to vibrate your lips and have to use circular breathing to make sure that the air flow remains continuous. The sound is unique and cannot really be mistaken for any other instrument. Watch how it is played by an Aboriginal artist.





Now listen to the dreamtime story titled 'The Emu and the Jabiru' and watch the animation. The speaker has a strong Australian accent but the transcript of the video is provided under the video box. If you cannot understand the speaker at first - it's OK - be patient. Understanding different accents is part of learning English and with practice it gets easier and more fun.


You can find some exercises for the post here.