taken from..

www.twyndragon.com/aust_abo.php

.................................................................................................................................................

AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL SPIRITUALITY

I lived in Australia from 1993-1995. I had a work visa and taught Metaphysics and Healing and Counseling Skills at the School of Inner Guidance and Knowledge in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane. My flat was nestled next to the Burleigh Headland, a national park that had been an ancient Aboriginal ceremonial area.

Before moving to Australia I had read a book called Mutant Message from Down Under by Marlo Morgan, a woman who claimed to have gone on a walkabout with an Aboriginal tribe. Intrigued by the Aboriginal culture, I set out to find an Aboriginal teacher. This was not an easy task, as very few Aboriginal people lived on the Gold Coast. It was too built up and too full of tourists for them. Many lived in the northern areas of Australia such as Arnhem Land and the islands off the coast, in New South Wales, or in the interior ( Outback ). I did find a white man who had been adopted by some Aboriginal groups and who taught a group of Aussie women about the Aboriginal culture. I also met a man who had been adopted by a white family and had been raised as a white Australian and who returned to his heritage as a young man. He was a college-educated businessman who was in recovery from alcoholism, a common disease among the Aboriginal people. His employees were all Aboriginal and he took it upon himself to assist any who desired recovery from addictions. I finally found my teacher of Aboriginal spirituality, Lorraine Mafi Williams.

Lorraine lived a reclusive life in Byron Bay, south of the Gold Coast. Occasionally she would surface as a film maker, a lecturer, a writer, or a political activist. I discovered a workshop she was giving on the Gold Coast. It was excellent. Eager to learn more I tried to locate her again. After a search of many months I finally found her. I gave her a copy of Morgan's book and asked her to comment. She read it and gave me an earful. We went through it page by page. She said that it was a mixture of New Age spiritualism, Native American practices, and Buddhism. She insisted that it was entirely fictitious and mis-represented and exploited Aboriginal people. I wrote Marlo Morgan and gave her this feedback. I suggested she at least donate some of the proceeds of her book to the Aborigines. I never received a reply.

Lorraine suggested I read a book called Voices of the First Day by Robert Lawlor instead. This book is probably one of the few resources available in writing about Aboriginal culture and spirituality. Part one is about the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Part two is about the social order. Part three addresses totemism and animism. Part four is about initiation and death.

The Aborigines talk of a time when metaphysical beings walked the Earth. They have many stories about how these beings molded the shape of the land. Their stories also include the creation of the animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Everything in the physical world came from a vibrational blueprint, and this is the Dreaming. Many of the ceremonies are a call back to the primal origins of creation.

Aboriginal education and socialization is very different from the West. Instead of learning to strengthen the one's separate identity and ego, the children are taught the importance of kinship with the entire world. The acquisition of material possessions is not a goal. Humility is a trait that is cultivated. Strict laws, customs, and roles are followed for the maintenance of stability and harmony within and among the tribes and clans. Ritual and ceremony are important.

The totemism that is central to Aboriginal religion describes the linking of humans, nature, and the gods. Each tribe ( 500-1000 people ) and each clan ( several hundred
people ) is considered to be descended from and is associated with a particular animal species. ( A band is a smaller group of related people who camp and forage together .) The land of each tribe and clan is a sanctuary for that species. The spirit of the species is believed to flow from the spirit world into the physical world at a particular site within the sanctuary. The species is honored through song, rhythm, and dance. It is considered taboo to eat one's totem animal.

The Aboriginal culture is full of initiations beginning at birth and ending at death. Ceremonies provide rites of passage throughout one's life and assist the soul to move to it's destination after death.

Like all culture, the Aboriginal culture includes positive and negative uses of power. There are the shamans who heal and the sorcerers who practice black magic, such as "pointing the bone." There are varying degrees of initiation for men and women, each with a deeper piece of Aboriginal knowledge. Elders and wise men and women are treated with great respect.

Lorraine Mafi Williams, like many Aborigines, grew up disliking and mistrusting Western people. Following the guidance of her guides, which she referred to as "The Band" she had healed her anger toward the culture that had abused her people and had begun sharing Aboriginal culture and spirituality "because she had been told it was time to share this knowledge with the white people who wanted to hear it." She talked about the Dreamtime, working with the ancestors, and healing practices of the Aborigines. She said that her people came from a planet that blew up. They moved to the Pleides until a new planet ( Earth ) began to evolve. They moved to Earth ( arriving on Uluru/ Ayers Rock ) and have been here for 100,000 years. My understanding is that they arrived first as spirit beings. After carving the landscape, they became animals, plants, and fish. The humans were created from animal blood and whale and dolphin bone. Their skin was made from clay. Grandfather eagle opened the wind passages. Lorraine said that her people are still in contact with the Pleidians who communicate with them during the night. They are the ancestors. It is during the night that they are also visited by other spirit beings that are their guides and counselors. During a great flood they were warned by their guides to climb onto Uluru. Those who did survived.

According to Lorraine there are five races on Earth: black, red, Aboriginal, yellow, and white. They arrived on Earth in that order. The Aborigines are descended from the ancient Lemurians. She said that each race has it's own "job." The job of the Aborigines is to keep the energy grid of the Earth intact. This is what keeps the Earth stable. Since the physical aspect of the grid is made up of precious gems and metals, the Aborigines are finding that their job is becoming increasingly difficult with the mining of the "Rainbow Serpent." Lorraine said that some Aborigines are able to travel on this grid…… "travel the songlines." They can travel hundreds of miles on foot in a matter of a few hours.

Children are very important in the Aboriginal culture. They are raised by the entire clan. At the age of three they are placed in front of a mirror and encouraged to verbalize their preciousness as human beings. Through the deep knowledge of their innate value they are able to walk through life with a humility that is based on high self-esteem. Humility is a trait that is cultivated in the Aboriginal culture. To them arrogance comes from separation, feeling less-than, and having to prove one's worth.

Lorraine used crystals, fire, and smoke for her cleansing and healing. She said that fire was usually used only by males but that she had been given special permission to use it. Crystals are sometimes imbedded in power spots of the body, such as the chakras.

Like the other Aborigines I met she had a faraway look in her eyes as if she was in another place. She said that the Aborigines live more in a spiritual world than in the physical and that they don't care for money and material things. Money is not saved. It is not uncommon for an Aboriginal to work then share whatever he makes with everyone else.

Her relationship to time was entirely different from ours, and she seemed to have a telepathic connection with her family. Once when I arranged for her to give a workshop and do some healings, she arrived hours late completely unconcerned that some of her appointments had been missed. She left her family at Sea World. Sea World was closed by the time we arrived to pick them up. Still unconcerned she became very quiet and waited. Soon her family arrived from the dark and empty grounds.

I left Australia with a deep appreciation of the ancient cultures and an awe at the intricate societies that existed long before the time I was taught by the history books that civilization began here on Earth. Lorraine continues to remind me that I can do little good if I am carrying anger and resentment myself and that I need to heal myself, especially of my own judgments, if I am to assist others to heal.

Bonnie McLean