I have dealt a little with the connection between the Christian viewpoint and the Aboriginal understanding of their eternity. One otherwriter suggested that this 'dreamtime word' is offensive to Aboriginal people and I believe that is correct. Dreamtime is the English word for their sense of eternity. We westerners are very much limited because of our Greek heritage to what we can see and feel which is a major cultural clash issue. I have listed some resources that are written but the most enjoyable I found was Yorro Yorro everything standing up alive The Spirit of the Kimberleys by David Mawaljarlai & Malnie Jutta. One word of caution find as many Aboriginal people and sit and talk with them especially those who are Law men or initiated men and only print what they approve of and years and years later you may have something. It's a wonderful and fascinating world. My website is http://healingtheland.dynamite.com.au - it was put through the network before you joined.
Regards
Judi
jack and norah wrote:
Hello everybody, I have joined this list a few months ago and am thoroughly enjoying all the discussions that are taking place on the list. (even though the issues disscused are not always that positive) I am a Dutch student, studying at Adelaide Uni for one year. One of the subjects I am taking is Depicting Aboriginal Cosmology, which is a fascinating, but demanding subject. Your discussions have been helpful for my essays so far - thanks! but the topic for my next essay is a bit more complicated and I was wondering and hoping you might be able to provide me with some ideas. The topic is the term "Dreamtime", whether this term is adequate for the matter it covers or not. My idea is to relate the concept of the dreamtime to christian religion - why isn't it called religion for example (does this have something to do with the fact that christianity is see as superior to Aboriginal beliefs?) and to the western concepts of dreams - to see to what extent these ideas about dreams can be related to the term dreamtime. Other than that, I'm also wondering when and why the Aboriginal people started to use the word dreamtime themselves - and whether this has had an impact on their conception of the "dreamtime". This topic might be a golden oldie for all of you, but it is new to me and I was hoping you might be able to give me a few perspectives on it. Any comments are welcome! Thanks very much,Elise de Bree
