Features of Australian mythology. Australian cosmogony and mythology Australian Aboriginal mythology

Australian cosmogony and mythology

Among the Karajeri, the mysteries, that is, their secret initiation ceremonies, are associated with cosmogony. To be more precise, their entire ritual life depends on cosmogony. During times burari(“dream times”), when the world was created and human societies were built in the form that they have preserved to this day, rituals were also solemnly begun, and since then, without any changes, they have been repeated with the greatest care. As in other archaic societies, and from the Karajeri point of view, history is limited to a few events that occurred in mythical times in illo tempore, actions of divine beings and those bearing the title of Heroes. The Karadjeri did not believe that they had the right to interfere in history themselves - to make so-called “original” history. In general, they do not recognize originality: they repeat typical actions that took place at the dawn of time. But since these typical actions were performed by gods and divine beings, their periodic and obligatory repetition for archaic man expresses his desire to remain in the sacred atmosphere of cosmogony. In fact, the denial of identity is tantamount to a denial of the worldly world, a lack of interest in human history. The existence of archaic man ultimately consists in the constant repetition of typical patterns that appeared at the beginning of Time. As we will now see, the mysteries are perpetuated by the periodic re-creation of these original manifestations.

This is where Karajeri's knowledge lies.

During the time of dreams, two brothers came out of the Earth in the forms of dingoes, whose names were Bagajimbiri. Then they turned into two giant men, so tall that their heads reached the sky. Before the appearance of Bagadzhimbiri there were nothing - no trees, no animals, no people. The giants emerged from the earth just before the dawn of the "first day" and a few moments later they heard the cry of a small bird duru, who always sings at dawn. And they realized that it was dawn. Before this, the Bagajimbiri knew nothing. After this, the brothers saw animals and plants and gave them names. And from that moment on, plants and animals, since they already had names, began really exist. One of the Bagajimbiri stopped to urinate. Out of curiosity, his brother also stopped and began to imitate him. This is why the Australian Carajeri stops and takes a special position to urinate: they imitate the original position.

The Bagajimbiri then turn to the north. They see a star and a moon and call them “star” and “moon.” They meet men and women: their family relationships and the divisions into clans were imperfect, and the Bagajimbiri organized them according to a system which remains in force to this day. Moreover, these people themselves were imperfect: they did not have genitals - the Bagajimbiri took two types of mushrooms and thus provided people with the organs that they have now. The brothers stopped and ate some grain raw, but immediately burst out laughing, because they knew that they didn’t eat grain like that; it must be cooked - and since then, people always imitate them when they prepare grain for food. Bagajimbiri abandoned pirmal(something like a large stick) into the animal and killed it - and since then people have been doing just that. Many myths tell how the Bagadzhimbiri brothers became the founders of customs and traditions, describing their behavior. Finally, they introduced initiation ceremonies and for the first time used sacramental instruments that have since become sacred - the flint knife, rhomba And pimbal. But one man, Ngariman, killed two brothers with a spear. Their mother, Dilga, (some myths say they had a mother, although their maturation was ectopic), who was far away, smelled the scent of their corpses on the wind. And immediately milk flowed from her breasts and, falling to the ground, flowed like an underground milky stream to the place where the two dead heroes lay and there, bubbling up like a rushing stream, it revived the two brothers and drowned their killer. Later, the two Bagajimbiri turned into two water snakes, and their souls rose into the sky to become what the Europeans call the Magellanic Cloud.

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Underwater vipers

If you believe the creators of boomerangs and kangaroo hunters from the Warramunga tribe, then in the very center of Australia, deep underground, giant snakes called volunqua live and thrive.

These mythical creatures are constant, although invisible, participants in numerous holidays organized in their honor. During the festival, the Warramungans render all kinds of honors to the Wollunqua (who are portrayed by the aborigines themselves, wearing headdresses depicting these monsters). True, at the end of the holiday, hats symbolizing volunqua are shamelessly knocked off their heads to the ground, which symbolizes deliverance from all kinds of sorrows and problems.

Warramunga is never called volunqua by name, and if suddenly it comes to the word, then they call it simply and unpretentiously - Urkulu Nappaurima, which in local means - “Water snake”. But the warramunga is a subterranean snake? Why lie? But why. The Aborigines sincerely believe that if the true name of the Vollunqua is used too often in vain, then they (the Aborigines) will eventually lose all power over this monster, after which the Vollunqua will crawl out of the ground and eat them all for breakfast. Agree, the reason for lying is quite good.

Creeping syphilitic

And on the coast of Australia, directly in the water, there lives another creeping reptile named mindy.

Mindy is extraordinarily beautiful, her skin shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow. But looking at it is not only not recommended, but also strictly prohibited. After all, Mindy is such a brute. Fascinated by the iridescence of her iridescent skin, you can fall into a trance and she, taking advantage of this, will immediately swallow you. And if for some reason she cannot eat you, she will definitely infect you with syphilis. And without any sexual contact. Aborigines believe that when the mindy crawls, it leaves behind a trail “infected” with this disease. Once she crawls around you and that’s it, you are a client of the veterinary dispensary.

The only thing that can save you from being swallowed or (as a milder option) from meeting with a venereologist is the unbearable smell of Mindy, which can be smelled from afar, after which you just need to change your route and avoid the danger.

Even the aborigines themselves can tell little about the third mythical “underwater viper” that lives in Australian lakes. Her name is Ysro, and she is either a super snake or a colossal eel. The parameters of this unknown animal can be judged by the fact that, according to the Australians, if it opens its mouth underwater to drink, then a giant whirlpool will immediately appear in this place, into which all ships nearby, regardless of their size, will fall and load capacity.

Legends of Dinosaurs

Another monster popular among Australians, called the Gauarge, also lives underwater, but its appetites are much more modest than those of the creature described above. Most often, the gauarge sits at the bottom of a lake or river and waits for an overly brave swimmer who decides to cross his domain. Seeing the prey, the animal grabs it by the legs or other available places and drags it to the bottom. What he does next with the prey is unknown, most likely he eats it. In any case, if a swimmer suddenly went missing and his corpse was never found, then all the blame is placed on the gauarga.

This animal looks, according to those who allegedly saw it, quite funny for its bloodthirsty inclinations: it looks like a plucked ostrich in both shape and size.

Some particularly daring scientists suggest that the Gauarge, a small carnivorous dinosaur that actually existed, became extinct relatively recently and therefore remained in the memory of the aborigines.

Bunyip - purebred Australian

The most universal scarecrow for Australian children remains the bunyip, which was once a very real nightmare number one for all residents of the mainland without exception.

Absolutely all troubles, for which, for various reasons, they could not blame their neighbors, both the colonists and the aborigines blamed them on the bunyip. Bunyip capsized boats and kidnapped women, bunyip destroyed houses and poisoned rivers. And the bunyip screamed terribly at night, preventing honest people from sleeping.

So who is this bunyip? The word itself can mean "horror", "nightmare", "god" or "demon". Outwardly, a bunyip is a water monster, something between a crocodile and a hippopotamus, covered with thick hair, with the head of either a horse or a giant dog, armed with huge fangs and claws, possessing incredible strength and, due to an insurmountable disgust for the world around him, capable of any dirty tricks .

At first, the colonists, having heard enough of the Aboriginal tales about the bunyip, ran away, even hearing the croaking of a frog. But then they became bolder, and European scientists, convinced of the real existence of the monster, began to offer quite tasty rewards for its capture. However, the bunyip, who continued to kidnap women and roar at night, was not allowed into the hands of the hunters. Moreover, no one has ever seen him, either alive or dead.

In the end, scientists, having stumbled upon the fossilized remains of diprotodons - long-extinct marsupial hippos - in the Australian desert - decided that these hippos were the notorious bunyips, becoming a kind of “cultural memory” of the Aborigines after they became extinct. In any case, according to the description, they suited this role better than anyone else. And who roared at night? - most likely, the seals roared, unknown to the inland tribes, but sometimes at night they swam far into the river beds. And who kidnapped the women? – scientists have not found an answer to this question.

Dream time.
Australian mythology

Myth guide

The mythology of the Australian aborigines has preserved a very archaic (primitive) culture to this day. Myths are closely intertwined with the rituals of Australian tribes and reflect the cults of totems (patron animals). They are included in magical rituals that promote the reproduction of animals of their totem. In the north of the country, the calendar cult of the Great Mother is widespread.

Everywhere, in one form or another, there are initiation rites, during which myths were staged in front of young men undergoing initiation into the category of adult full members of the tribe to convey to those entering life the basics of traditional tribal wisdom.

Some myths strictly correlate with rituals, being their integral part. Others include classified information. And they remain inaccessible to the uninitiated.

Myths are the theme of ceremonial dances (corroboree) at holidays. Disparate rituals are united by a single symbolic system.

Myths dedicated to the wanderings of totemic ancestors are focused on the description of the places they visited and the traces they left there: hills, lakes, large trees. All these geographical objects turn out to be a “monument” to the activities of the mythical hero, traces of his camp, the place of his magical transformation. Myths, to give a modern parallel, are a kind of “guides” through the desert.

For example, the red mountain Uluru in the middle of the desert. It is both a reserve of myths and a cultural monument. Non-natives call it Ayers Rock. According to legends, Uluru is a landmark on one of the “dream trails”. Such trails were laid by the ancestors of the aborigines. This was back in the days when the world was being formed. Then the area around the rock was inhabited by tribes of people - hare kangaroos and python people. Poisonous snakes, a tribe of conquerors from the south, attacked the inhabitants. The pythons and kangaroos were saved only by the intervention of Bulari, the divine mother earth. She defeated the conquerors, shrouding them in a poisonous cloud of death and disease.

For modern Aborigines, Mount Uluru is visible evidence of these events. The bodies of the people of the poisonous snake tribe are walled up inside Uluru, and a wet spot on one side of the rock is where their blood flowed. The depressions in the rock that run along the perimeter of its base are believed to be footprints of fleeing kangaroos. While accepting the presence of tourists who willingly visit this area, the natives still consider themselves custodians of the sacred landscape bequeathed to them by their ancestors. And Uluru is the center of this landscape.

There are also stories in the Australian tradition that are devoid of sacred meaning (related to a religious cult, ritual, often hidden from initiates). Such stories are closer to a fairy tale than to a myth.

Dzhugura - dream time

The action in Australian myths is assigned to a special ancient mythological era, which is opposed to the present time. The name of the mythical era varies among different tribal groups. Most often it is called “Jugura” - the time of dreams. During the times of “dreams,” mythical heroes completed their life cycle, brought people, animals and plants to life, determined the terrain, and established customs.

Among the Central Australian tribes, mythical heroes represent totemic ancestors. These are creatures of dual nature - anthropomorphic (human) and zoomorphic (animal).

It is interesting that in the mythology of other countries and continents, animals on the path of development turn into people. In Australia, people often become animals, transforming into tribal totems. Moreover, the transformation of a person into an animal is not a reduction in status or punishment. This is honorable and necessary for the general cycle of life.

The introduction of initiation rites, which play an important role in the life of Australian tribes, and the ritual operations on the body associated with them are attributed to totemic ancestors - wild cats and flycatcher lizards.

Celestial phenomena do not play such a large role among the aborigines of Australia as in the developed mythologies of other peoples. A few legends about celestial bodies are included in the circle of totemic myths. The moon is represented by a man, originally belonging to the possum totem. With a stone knife, he rises to the sky, wanders to the west, then descends along a tree to the ground. Having eaten opossums, the month increases in size - this explains the full moon. The sun is represented by a girl climbing up a tree into the sky.

Culture heroes in Aboriginal mythology are quite rare, since their culture remains quite primitive to this day. However, they are still present: two falcon men who came from the north teach other people to use a stone ax.

Human larvae and sister demiurges

The imagery of Australian mythology is very unique. So, at the dawn of humanity, according to legends, there were “glued people.” These were clusters of helpless creatures with glued fingers and teeth. Their ears were stuck to the skull in a curled state, their eyes did not open. Such human “larvae” lived in the water; they looked like raw meat.

Water covered the entire earth. Then land formed. After the earth dried out, a mythical hero (the totemic ancestor of the “lizards”) came from the north and separated the human larvae from each other. He cut into their eyes, ears and mouth. Then he taught the “newborns” to make fire by friction, to cook food, and gave them a spear, a spear thrower and a boomerang. He also ordered that marriage rituals be observed. All this allows us to consider this character as a cultural hero-demiurge.

This mythological concept of the origin of people from imperfect beings can be called evolutionary. But there are also theories of the act of creation of the earth, sky and living beings by demiurges. Different tribes have different myths.

So the Yulengors have mythical ancestors and creators of all living things

Rainbow Serpent

Aborigines still believe: in a deep, rain-filled depression at the top of Uluru lives a huge snake, Uanam-bi. He has a flowing mane, a long beard and sharp teeth. When the snake gets angry, it flies into the sky and turns into a rainbow.

The image of the rainbow serpent, widely known throughout most of Australia, combines various ideas. This is both the spirit of water and a certain idea of a dragon - a snake-monster. This snake is also identified with the magic crystal used by sorcerers - both the crystal and the scales of the snake reflect the rainbow spectrum. The serpent swallows people and spits them back out, which is associated with the initiation rite: temporary death leads to subsequent renewal.

In some myths, the rainbow serpent accompanies the Great Mother on her travels. Among other tribes, the rainbow serpent itself creates all people and continues to watch over them.

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The mythology of the Australian aborigines, who settled this continent in the Mesolithic and Late Neolithic and preserved a very archaic culture. Southeastern tribes were well studied by A. Howitt. Australian mythology:

closely intertwined with the ritual life of Australian tribes;
reflects totemic cults and rituals of inticium - the magical reproduction of animals of their totem;
- "- calendar cult of the great mother (in the north of the country);
- "- universally widespread initiation rites.

As part of the initiation rites, myths were dramatized before the youth undergoing initiation to impart to them the foundations of traditional tribal wisdom. Some myths strictly correlate with rituals, being their integral part and symbolically duplicating them, others are relatively independent of rituals, but include sacred secret information (for example, the travel routes of totemic ancestors). Along with esoteric myths, there are also exoteric ones, intended to intimidate the uninitiated or general entertainment (the latter are on the way to turning a myth into a fairy tale).

No matter how individual myths and rituals are related, in principle they are united by a single mythological semantics, a single symbolic system. If, for example, the actual myths dedicated to the wanderings of totemic ancestors are focused on describing the places they visited and the traces they left there (hills, lakes, tree roots, etc.), then the song is mainly aimed at glorifying the same heroes, and the ritual dance accompanying the song, depicting in principle the same wanderings, is aimed primarily at imitating the movements of the animal. The isolation of newcomers undergoing the initiation rite is reflected in the myth as the departure of the hero, his swallowing by the monster and subsequent spitting out (or release by relatives from the monster's body).

There is no single mythology of Australians. There are only a number of typologically similar archaic tribal systems. Ideas about the cosmos as a whole are poorly developed; in myths it is mainly not the macrocosm that appears, but the microcosm (more precisely, the mesocosm) in the form of the feeding territory of the local group and its closest neighbors (sometimes local group turns out to be the keeper of part of the myth, the action of which takes place on her territory). Therefore, the most widespread Australian myths are in the nature of local legends, explaining the origin of all any noticeable places and natural objects - hills, lakes, water sources, pits, large trees, etc., which turn out to be a “monument” to the activities of the mythical hero, traces of his camp, the place of its transformation into churinga. The travel routes of mythological heroes mostly go in the direction from north to south and southeast, which approximately corresponds to the direction of settlement of the mainland.

The action in Australian myths is assigned to a special ancient mythological era (mythical time), which contrasts with the current empirical time. The name of the mythical era varies among different tribal groups:

altira - at aranda,
mura - at dieri,
Dzhugur - among the Alurija,
mungam - at bingbing, etc.

Among some Australian tribes, the mythical era of first creation is denoted by the same word as “dream.” During the “dream”, mythical heroes completed their life cycle, brought people, animals and plants to life, determined the terrain, and established customs. The sacred objects into which they eventually turned - natural (rocks, trees) or artificial (churingas), preserve them magical power and can be a means of reproduction of totem animals or a source of “souls” of newborn children, which in some tribes are thought of as the reincarnation of ancestors. Events from the time of the “dream” can be reproduced in dreams and rituals, the participants of which, in a certain sense, are identified with the depicted ancestors.

Among the Central Australian tribes(for example, among the Aranda and Loritya) mythical heroes are, as a rule, totemic ancestors, creatures of dual nature - anthropomorphic and zoomorphic, the progenitors and creators of a certain breed of animals or plant species, and at the same time the human group that considers these animals as your totem.

Almost all totemic myths of the Aranda and Loritya are built according to the same scheme: totemic ancestors, alone or in a group, return to their homeland - to the north (less often - to the west). The search for food, meals, camps, and meetings along the way are listed in detail. Not far from the homeland, in the north, there is often a meeting with local “eternal people” of the same totem. Having reached the goal, tired heroes go into a hole, cave, underground, turning into rocks, trees, churingas. In places of parking and especially in places of death (more precisely, going into the ground), totemic centers are formed. In some myths (for example, about cat people), totemic heroes carry with them cult rods, which they use as weapons or tools for breaking roads in rocks (forming relief), churingas and other cult objects.

Sometimes the characters in the myth are leaders leading a group of young men who have just undergone the rite of initiation; the group performs cult ceremonies along the way in order to propagate their totem.

Wandering can take on the nature of flight and pursuit:

Celestial phenomena do not occupy such a large place in Australian mythology, in particular among the Aranda and Loritya, as in developed mythologies. The image of the “master of the sky”, Altiir (according to K. Strehlow), known to Aranda mythology, is very passive and does not play a significant role in mythological plots. A few legends about heavenly bodies are included in the circle of totemic myths.

The moon (month) is represented by a man, originally belonging to the possum totem. With a stone knife, the month rises to the sky, wanders to the west, then descends along a tree to the ground. Having eaten opossums, the month increases in size (full moon), tired, takes the form of a gray kangaroo; in this form he is killed by the young men, but one of them retains the kangaroo bone, from which the moon (new moon) grows again.
The sun is represented by a girl climbing up a tree into the sky.
Pleiades - "- girls from the bandicoot totem, who witnessed the initiation ceremony of the young men and for this reason turned into stones, and then into stars.

Some Aranda totemic ancestors act as cultural heroes. During their travels they introduce various customs and rituals.

Tales about the wanderings of the “eternal people” of the times of the Altiir, who later became flycatcher lizards, play an important role, acquiring the character of an anthropogonic and partly cosmogonic myth. Tradition considers their wanderings to be the earliest, but the legends themselves mark, apparently, a less primitive stage in the development of mythology, since they essentially talk about the emergence of “humanity”, and not about the origin of any one totemic group. According to these legends, the earth was originally covered by the sea (a concept widely spread in various mythological systems), and on the slopes of rocks protruding from the water, in addition to the “eternal” mythical heroes, there were already so-called. rella manerinha - that is, “glued people” (according to K. Strehlow) or inapatua (according to B. Spencer and F. Gillen) - a bunch of helpless creatures with glued fingers and teeth, closed ears and eyes. Other similar human "larvae" lived in water and looked like raw meat. After the earth dried out, a mythical hero - the totemic ancestor of the “lizards” - came from the north and separated human embryos from each other, cut through their eyes, ears, mouth, etc. He circumcised them with the same knife, taught them to make fire by friction, to cook food, gave them a spear, a spear thrower, a boomerang, provided each with a churinga (as the guardian of his soul), divided people into phratries (“earth” and “water”) and marriage classes. These actions allow us to consider this mythical character as a cultural hero-demiurge typical of primitive mythology.

Along with the “evolutionary” mythological concept of the origin of people from imperfect beings, in some Aranda myths the “eternal” heroes of the “age of dreams” also act as the true ancestors of people and animals. According to the myth of the bandicoot totem group, bandicoots emerged from the armpits of a certain totemic ancestor named Karora, and in the following days his sons - people who began to hunt these bandicoots. This anthropogonic and at the same time totemic myth is intertwined with a cosmogonic myth: at the beginning of time there was darkness, and constant night pressed on the earth like an impenetrable curtain, then the sun appeared and dispersed the darkness over Ilbalintya (the totemic center of the bandicoots).

Similar tales about the wanderings of totemic ancestors, available among other Australian tribes, are less fully recorded. The Dieri and other tribes who lived southeast of the Aranda, around Lake Eyre, have numerous tales about the wanderings of the Mura-Mura - mythical heroes similar to the “eternal people” of the Aranda, but with weaker zoomorphic features. The formation of various landscape features, the introduction of exogamy and totemic names, the use of a stone knife for circumcision and making fire by friction, the “finishing” of imperfect human beings, as well as the origin of the month and the sun are also associated with the wanderings of the Mura-Mura.

Myths about ancestors do not always tell about their wanderings. Some ancestors (including the Aranda) do not travel long distances. In particular, the Munkan have many myths about the formation of totemic centers after the totemic ancestors (pulvaya) left underground. Going underground is often preceded by quarrels and fights between the Pulvaya, inflicting injuries and fatal wounds on each other. Although Pulvaya are presented as anthropomorphic creatures, the description of their behavior reflects observations of the way of life and habits of animals, and some circumstances of the life of Pulvaya explain the characteristics of these animals (many of the features of the physical appearance of animals are motivated by the injuries that were inflicted on them by totemic ancestors back in ancient times) . The relations of friendship and enmity of the Pulvaya correspond to the relationships of various animals and plants in nature.

In the myths of northern and southeastern tribes Australia, along with totemic ancestors, also has more generalized and, apparently, later developed images of “above-totemic” mythical heroes.

In the north, the old mother is known (appears under the names Kunapipi, Kliarin-kliari, Kadyari, etc.) - a matriarchal ancestor, symbolizing the fertile birthing earth and the image of the rainbow serpent associated with it.
In the southeast, the patriarchal universal father (Nurundere, Koni, Viral, Nurelli, Bunjil, Bayame, Daramulun), who lives in the sky and acts as a culture hero and patron of initiation rites.

Mother and father can belong to different, sometimes to several, totems at once (each part of their body can have its own totem) and, accordingly, are common ancestors (that is, carriers and primary sources of souls) of various groups, people, animals, plants. Myths usually feature not one, but several “mothers,” sometimes two sisters or a mother and daughter. These legends and the corresponding ritual are associated with one of the “halves” (phratris) of the tribe, which also allows for the assumption of a partial genesis of the images of mothers from ideas about phratrial ancestors.

The Yulengor people living in Arnhem Land have mythical ancestors as the Junkgova sisters. In the myth about them, at first women are the keepers of ritual secrets, but men take away their totems and secrets from them, and drive away the ancestors by singing. Long after Junkgow's disappearance, two other Wauwaluk sisters appear in the west, completing the work of their predecessors.

In some myths, the big mother is accompanied on her travels by a rainbow serpent, and among the Murinbat, the rainbow serpent Kunmangur himself acts as an ancestor. The image of the rainbow serpent, widely known throughout most of Australia, combines ideas about the spirit of water, the serpent-monster and the magic crystal used by sorcerers. The myths about the rainbow serpent and ancestral mothers are closely related to the complex ritual mystery held before the start of the rainy season in honor of the earth mother Kunapipi, who embodies fertility. The swallowing and spitting out of people by a serpent is associated (as with other peoples) with the rite of initiation (symbolism of temporary death, renewal). In the plot with the swallowing of the sisters by a snake, R. M. Berndt also finds erotic symbolism associated with the magic of fertility.

In one of the myths (and in the corresponding ritual) of the Murinbata tribe, the old woman Mutinga herself swallows children, and the Mara tribal group has a legend about a mythical mother who kills and eats men attracted by the beauty of her daughters. This appearance, it would seem, is in little agreement with the traditional mythological idea of the mighty ancestor. However, not only among Australians, but also among other peoples (for example, among the Kwakiutl Indians; based on materials by F. Boas), the myth of an evil old cannibal woman is associated with the idea of initiating young men into full members of a tribe (among Australians) or a male union (among Indians).

The image of the tribal “great father” among the southeastern tribes is derived by S. A. Tokarev from somewhat more primitive images, in which there is an embryo of the idea of a creator god:

personifications of the sky (such as Altira among the Aranda);
phratry totem;
cultural hero;
a patron of initiation and a terrifying spirit that turns boys into adult men (only the uninitiated believe in him).

Almost all of them appear as the great ancestors and teachers of people who lived on earth and were subsequently transferred to heaven.

Among the Kulin tribe, the great father Bunjil is considered the supreme being;
among the tribes of the southeastern coast (Yuin and others) - Daramulun;
among the Kamilaroi, Wiradjuri and Yualaya, Daramulun occupies a subordinate position in relation to Baiama.

The mythology of the Australian aborigines has preserved an archaic culture and is closely intertwined with the ritual life of the Australian tribes. During initiation ceremonies, special performances were demonstrated to young men undergoing initiation into the category of adult full members of the community to convey to them the foundations of traditional tribal wisdom. There are myths intended to frighten the uninitiated or to entertain.

There is no single mythology of Australians. The most common Australian myths are in the nature of local legends that explain the origin of some notable places and natural objects - hills, lakes, water sources, pits, large trees, where the travel routes of mythological heroes pass.

LIFE IN “DREAMS”

The action in Australian myths is assigned to a specific ancient mythological era, which varies among different tribal groups. Among some Australian tribes, the mythical era of first creation is denoted by the same word as “dream.” In Anglo-Australian ethnographic literature, the terms “dream time” and “dreaming” are generally accepted designations for mythical time. During the “dream”, mythical heroes completed their life cycle, brought people, animals and plants to life, determined the terrain, and established customs. The sacred objects into which they eventually turned - natural (rocks, trees) or artificial (churingi), retain their magical power and can be a means of reproduction of animals or a source of “souls” of newborn children, which in some tribes are thought of as the reincarnation of ancestors.

Almost all the myths of the Aranda and Loritya peoples follow the same pattern: ancestors, alone or in a group, return to their homeland - to the north (less often - to the west). The search for food, meals, camps, and meetings along the way are listed in detail. Having reached the goal, tired heroes go into a hole, cave, underground, turning into rocks, trees, churingas. In places of parking and, especially, in places of death (more precisely, going into the ground), special centers are formed. In some myths (for example, about cat people), heroes carry cult rods with them, which they use as weapons or tools for making a road in the rocks.

Churinga - a sacred object of Australians

PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Sometimes the characters in the myth are leaders leading a group of young men who have just undergone the rite of initiation; the group performs cult ceremonies along the way with the aim of propagating their kind. Wandering can take on the character of flight and pursuit: a large gray kangaroo runs away from a man of the same tribe, a man, with the help of young men, kills an animal, which then resurrects, both (animal and man) turn into churingi; the red and gray kangaroos run away from the dog people and then from the falcon man.

Celestial phenomena occupy a special place in Australian mythology. The moon (month) is represented by a man, originally belonging to the opossum genus. With a stone knife, the month rises to the sky, goes west, then descends along a tree to the ground. Having eaten opossums, the month increases in size (full moon), tired, takes the form of a gray kangaroo; in this form he is killed by the young men, but one of them retains the kangaroo bone, from which the moon (new moon) grows again. The sun is represented by a girl who climbed a tree to the sky, the Pleiades - by girls from the bandicoot totem, who witnessed the initiation ceremony of the young men and for this reason turned into stones, and then into stars.

The establishment of marriage rules belongs to the emu man.

In some myths, the rainbow serpent accompanies the big mother on her travels. Among the Murinbat, the rainbow snake under the name Kunmangur himself acts as an ancestor, the father of the father of one and the father of the mother of the other “half” of the tribe. He makes all people and continues to monitor them. Kunmangur's son rapes his sisters and then mortally wounds his father. Kunmangur wanders in search of a quiet place where he can heal.

The lizard man and the crocodile man make fire. Australia. Image on bark

In desperation, he collects all the fire that belonged to the people and, throwing it into the sea, extinguishes it. Another mythical character produces fire again (the idea of renewal). The myths about the rainbow serpent and ancestral mothers are closely related to the complex ritual mystery held before the start of the rainy season in honor of the earth mother Kunapipi, who embodies fertility.

The Great Father Bunjil of the Kulin tribe is depicted as an old tribal leader married to two representatives of the black swan totem.

His name means "wedge-tailed eagle." Bunjil is portrayed as the creator of the earth, trees and people. He warms the sun with his hands, the sun warms the earth, people come out of the earth and begin to dance the ritual corroboree dance. Thus, the features of an ancestor - a demiurge - a cultural hero predominate in Bundjil.

Among the tribes of the southeastern coast, Daramulun is considered the supreme being. According to some myths, Daramulun, together with his mother (emu), planted trees, gave people laws and taught them initiation rites (during these rituals, Daramulun is drawn on the ground or on the bark, the sound of the buzzer symbolizes his voice, he is perceived as a spirit that turns boys into men ).