Aboriginal Creation Myth
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The Aboriginal
creation myth begins with a flat, desolate world, existing apart from
dark and light, life and death. The ancestral spirits of the world were
asleep beneath the Earth, until, in their dream of themselves, they
awoke from eternity and rose to the surface. The great Father of All
Spirits and the Sun Mother, or “Ungambikula” (Brown, 2002) wandered the
Earth, changing their outward shapes to mimic the true animals and forms
in their hearts and imaginations.
Plants grew in their footsteps as they roamed. Sun Mother’s heat melted
the ice formed where Earth meets sky, making the rivers and streams of
the world. As Ungambikula walked, they found great round stones upon the
ground, so they took up their knives and carved the shape of the first
humans. Humans, having come from stone and therefore separate from
Ungambikula, were given power over the other creatures of the world.
This power came with a great responsibility, for each human owed sacred
and individual allegiance to the totem of a different animal or plant.
Sun Mother charged all her creations to live peacefully together and
enjoy the world they had received. Pleased with the changes they had
brought to the world, the ancestral spirits did not want to return to
the emptiness from whence they came. Instead, they transformed
themselves into rocks, trees, animals, and rivers, so they might always
watch over their creation (Freund, 1965).
The above is a composite of several creation myths found while researching. Some myths cite humans as being wrought from plants, animal skins, air, or combinations of all these things. One myth found read as follows:
"Life started
when a creator woman called Warramurrungundjui came out of the sea and
gave birth to the first people and gave them the languages. She carried
with her a digging stick and a dilly bag holding yams, water lilies and
other important plants. She planted the food and created waterholes with
her digging stick on the ground. Other creator beings appeared...After
completing her creative act, Warramurrungundj turned herself into a
rock."
S. Breeden and B. Wright, Kakadu,
Looking After the Country - the Gagadju Way
Several common threads tied all sources found, the main one focusing on the materials of Creation.
Christine I.
Keller
Copyright © 2001 by University of North Texas. All rights reserved.
Revised:
24 Nov 2007 11:13:56 -0600
Wodjin of the
Wandjina
Also known as
the Ungambikula
Love-Magic
Male and Female united in
the Dreamtime