Dreamtime

Mythical past of the Australian Aborigines, the basis of their religious beliefs and creation stories. In the Dreamtime, spiritual beings shaped the land, the first people were brought into being and set in their proper territories, and laws and rituals were established. Belief in a creative spirit in the form of a huge snake, the Rainbow Serpent, occurs over much of Aboriginal Australia, usually associated with waterholes, rain, and thunder. A common feature of religions across the continent is the Aborigines' bond with the land.

The Dreamtime stories describe how giants and animals sprang from the earth, sea, and sky and crisscrossed the empty continent of Australia before returning into the earth. The places where they travelled or sank back into the land became mountain ranges, rocks, and sites full of sacred meaning. Rituals, which must be re-enacted at certain times of the year in order to maintain the life of the land, are connected with each site. Each Aborigine has a Dreamtime ancestor associated with a particular animal that the person must not kill or injure.