Rainbow Serpent

In Australian Aboriginal belief, a creative spirit common to religions throughout much of the country (see Dreamtime). Sometimes male, sometimes female, it has the form of a giant python surrounded by rainbows and is associated with water and with fertility. In western Arnhem Land it is known as Ngaljod and is held responsible for monsoonal storms and floods.

After extensive analysis of Rainbow Serpent paintings, Australian archaeologists concluded 1996 that they may have been based on sightings of the ribboned pipefish Haliichthys taeniophora. The pipefish would not have been seen by people inland until the sea-level rose at the end of the last ice age. The earliest images date from this time.