SUBJECT: ABORIGINIES AND ALIENS FILE: UFO2867
Date: 12-21-93 (11:52) Number: 1393 of 1395 (Refer# NONE)
To: ALL
From: SCOTT HALL
Subj: Aboriginies and Aliens
Read: (N/A) Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE (Echo)
Conf: SpaceLink (30) Read Type: GENERAL (+)
Hi All,
UFO Research Australia
PO Box 229
Prospect
South Australia 5082
Compiled by ~UFO Research Australia (UFORA)~
(C) COPYRIGHT 1989 - Copyright in this book, as a whole,
is UFO Research Australia's (UFORA):
Copyright in individual texts remains with the authors,
who should be approached directly
on all matters relating to their contributions.
Aboriginal myths incorporate the idea of "sky-beings," with the
~Wandjina~ being perhaps the most interesting from our point of
view. While the Wandjina paintings of the Kimberleys have
received all manner of interpretations, it is fascinating to see
that the indigenous tribes viewed the Wadjina as "the spirit in
the cloud." Indeed, the unique painting style shows a logical
sequence from human figures to stylised representations of
clouds. This duality of anthropomorphic form and "clouds" is
widespread in primitive cultures and finds an arresting parallel
in the biblical accounts, particularly in "Exodus." Therein the
"pillar of fire by night" and "the cloud by day" was given to
alighting on the ground, and, according to the St James
rendering of "exodus," 33, 9-11, we find: "...as Moses entered
into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at
the door of the tabernacle...And the Lord spoke unto Moses face
to face, as a man speak unto his friends." While this line of
thought is suggestive of superior "sky-beings" acting as
cultural catalysts for primitive societies, I should point out
that making mythological component comparisons, can make for
interesting exercises, full of emotive similarities, but are
purely speculative, and should not be regarded as anything more
(1).
The aboriginal shamanistic ~"experience of death and rising
again"~ in the initiation of tribal "men of high degree" finds
some fascinating parallels with modern-day "UFO contactee" lore.
In these situations, a tribesman is set upon by "spirits" and is
"killed" - ritualistically disembowelled. He is then "restored
to life" and informed of his new standing as a tribal "medicine-
man." He is schooled in skills befitting a shaman. While such
accounts are widespread and show wide variety, the following
recorded by Spencer and Gillen is germane to our area of
enquiry: "Then (Munkaninji - a "spirit") took (Kurkutji) away
up into the sky (after the experience of "death and rising
again") and brought him down to Earth, close to his own camp,
where he heard the natives mourning for him, thinking he was
dead. For a long time he remained in a more or less dazed
condition, but gradually he recovered and the natives knew that
he had been made into a medicine-man (2)."
The Bad aboriginal tribe of the West Kimberleys have a
fascinating "sky being" lore. They revere a supreme being called
~Djmar~. In aboriginal lore the sound of a "bullroarer" - a
roaring wind noise - symbolises the approach of the god. The
original accounts indicate that Djamar's bullroar or "galuguru"
are representations of the "being" itself. Thus, when the
tribal elders led the young initiates to a stony bed of a creek
and showed the holes where Djamar had implanted his "galuguru,"
we have the suggestion that, whatever appearance or
manifestation the sky-being took, it left behind a physical
trace of its presence. Eliade quotes E.A. Worms when he
indicates: "Earnestly the old men impress on the youths the
terrible force of the original `tjurunga' (the original
manifestation of Djamar), by pointing out the baldness of the
surrounding hills and the damaged bark of the trees struck by
Djamar when he whirled the bullroar. It smashed the rocks of
the foreshore." After the manifestation of Djamar which left
behind all this damage, the supreme being, Djamar ascended once
again into the sky with his "tjurunga" (3).
[End Quote]
Merry Christmas,
Scott.
..I used to say, I'll believe it when _I_ see it. (Ed Walters)
**********************************************
* THE U.F.O. BBS -
http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
**********************************************
