Desert Dreamings [antikvár]

Aboriginal people believe in a creation time, or Dreamtime, when ancestral beings emerged from beneath the earth. They resembled plants and animals, but were part-human. Journeying across the land, the ancestors created everything that formed the world. They behaved like human beings — hunting, fighting, loving and hating. They taught their descendants the sacred rituals and the symbols and designs used in body painting. The ancestors were the law makers and from their deeds Aboriginal people learnt the correct way to behave and to live with each other. As these mythical creatures tired of their life they disappeared under the earth again. Often these places are marked by rocky outcrops and trees and so have special religious significance to Aboriginal people. Tjukurpa is an Aboriginal word which we interpret as the Dreamtime. To Aborigines, the Tjukurpa means existence in the past, present and future.