The Role Of The Dreaming In Australian Aborigines

To have a phenomenlogical view is to take your blinders off and look at new things with an open mind. The Australian Aborigines were an interesting group. The Aboriginal religion shares many similarlities with other primal religions, however their differences is what makes this religion so distinctive and fascinating. Their cosmology was refined to the fact that all life existed in Autralia. The Australian Aborigines focused on their daily life with many rituals, cultural art, and saw their way of life as creatively ordained by the acts of “The Dreaming.”
Archaeologists believe that the Aboriginals first came to the Australian continent around 45,000 years ago. However, Aboriginals themselves, trace their creation back to the Dreaming, an point in time long past when the earth was first formed. Life essentially revolves around the Dreaming as all codes of conduct, …show more content…
This process accomplished primarily through ritual, where ritual is essential to the Aborigines if life is to have meaning. Behind every ritual is a myth that tells the certain actions of Ancestors during the Dreaming. For example, taboo dictates that certain things and activities, are set aside for specific members of the group and are forbidden to others. Violation of this in some cases warrants a punishment of death. The ritual of intitiation has a direct association with taboo, where spiritual maturity plays a big role. The ritual of initiation prepares the way for the spiritual birth that is deemed necessary for adulthood. This initiation redefines the social identity of the younger people within the tribe. Some rituals are solely for initiated men or women and are held in secret, where others are shared by both genders with separate responsibilities. The Dreaming beings provided a precedent for all ceremonies and social customs as well, this forces their view that all of life should be seen to be