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 * **********************************************