Bridges

The Dreaming

The traditions and lore of Australia's indigenous peoples belongs to what may be the oldest continuous culture on Earth (circa 50,000 years). Indigenous Australian peoples conceive of all things beginning with The Dreaming or Altjeringa (also called the Dreamtime), a sacred 'once upon a time' ^[1] time out of time in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.

'Dreaming' is also often used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality. For instance, an Indigenous Australian might say that they have Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their 'country'. However, many Indigenous Australians also refer to the creation time as 'The Dreaming'. The Dreamtime laid down the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people. 'The Dreaming' was the time of creation (The Australian Aboriginal dreamtime : an account of its history, cosmogenesis, cosmology and ontology)