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The Deep Stillness

In the beginning, before the sun, the moon, and the stars found their places in the sky, the world was a vast and featureless expanse. It was a time of silence and deep shadow, a time known as the Dreaming. The earth was flat, cold, and dark. No trees reached for the heavens, no rivers carved through the valleys, and no birds called out to the morning. The land was a grey, unmoving crust, waiting for the breath of life to stir beneath its surface.

Beneath this stillness, the ancestral beings slept. They were giants of spirit and form, containing within themselves the patterns of everything that was to be. They waited in the deep hollows of the earth, their dreams weaving the tapestry of the coming world. Among them was the Great Rainbow Serpent, the mother of all creation, whose coils rested in the dark womb of the world. For untold ages, she lay in a slumber so profound that the earth above her remained as still as a frozen sea.

The Great Awakening

A change began as a whisper in the dark. A warmth spread through the cold crust, and the Great Rainbow Serpent stirred. She shifted her immense weight, and the earth groaned with the sound of grinding stone. She uncoiled herself slowly, her scales shimmering with colors that the world had never seen-vivid reds of the desert sand, deep blues of the hidden springs, and the bright yellows of the coming sun. With a mighty effort, she pushed upward, her head breaking through the surface of the flat plains.

She looked out upon the emptiness and knew it was time for the world to be born. The Serpent began to travel across the land. As she moved, her heavy body carved deep grooves into the soft, grey earth. She pushed the soil aside, creating high ridges and deep gullies. Where she rested, the ground sank to form wide basins. Her journey was not a straight line but a winding dance of creation. Every curve of her body, every flick of her tail, and every heave of her chest left a permanent mark upon the face of the world.

As she traveled, she called out to the other ancestral beings who still slept beneath the earth. Her voice was like the rolling of thunder and the humming of the wind. “Awake!” she commanded. “The time of the Dreaming has begun. Come forth and show your faces to the sky.”

The Shaping of the Land

From the places where the Serpent had broken the surface, other ancestors began to emerge. Some came as giant kangaroos, some as emus, and others as lizards or wallabies. They were larger and more powerful than the creatures we know today, possessing the wisdom of the ages. They followed the tracks of the Serpent, and as they moved, they too shaped the land. The Great Kangaroo hopped across the plains, and each strike of his powerful tail created a new hill. The Emu walked through the valleys, and where his feet touched the ground, small springs of fresh water bubbled to the surface.

The Serpent saw that the land was dry and thirsty. She returned to the deep gullies she had carved and filled them with her breath. Rain began to fall from the sky for the first time-a soft, persistent mist that filled the hollows and turned the grey grooves into rushing rivers and still billabongs. The water brought life to the dust. Seeds that had been waiting in the soil for eternity began to sprout. Great forests of eucalyptus and wattle rose up, their leaves shivering in the first breeze. Grasses spread across the plains like a green mantle, and wildflowers bloomed in a riot of color, mirroring the scales of the Great Serpent herself.

The ancestors walked through these new forests and across these new mountains. They named every rock, every tree, and every bend in the river. As they spoke the names, the things they named became solid and permanent. This was the time of the songlines, where every step taken by an ancestor was a note in a great melody that described the land. These songs were woven into the earth, ensuring that those who came after would always know the way home.

The Breath of Life

When the mountains were high and the rivers were full, the Great Rainbow Serpent gathered the spirits of the people. She brought them out from the sacred places and showed them the world she had prepared. She taught them the secrets of the land-how to find water in the dry season, how to use the plants for medicine, and how to respect the creatures that shared the earth with them. She gave them the laws that would govern their lives, ensuring that they lived in harmony with the rhythm of the seasons and the spirits of the ancestors.

The other ancestral beings also shared their gifts. The Sun Woman climbed high into the sky, carrying a torch of flaming bark to light the day. The Moon Man took his place in the night, casting a silver glow over the world so that the creatures of the dark could see. The stars were scattered across the heavens like campfires of the spirits, watching over the people as they slept. The world was no longer a place of grey shadow; it was a living, breathing landscape of light and sound.

The people learned to dance the dances of the ancestors and sing the songs of the Dreaming. They learned that the land was not something they owned, but something they were a part of. The rocks were their brothers, the trees were their sisters, and the Great Serpent was the mother of their souls. As long as they remembered the stories and honored the land, the world would remain vibrant and full of life.

The Return to the Earth

After many cycles of the sun and moon, the work of the ancestors was complete. The world had been shaped, the names had been given, and the laws had been set. The Great Rainbow Serpent felt a deep weariness in her ancient bones. She had traveled across the entire continent, leaving behind a legacy of mountains, rivers, and life. She returned to a deep, permanent waterhole, a place where the water was clear and the shadows were long.

One by one, the other ancestors also found their places of rest. Some turned into great boulders that stand solitary in the desert. Some slid back into the mountain ranges, their forms becoming the jagged peaks that touch the clouds. Others dived into the sea, becoming the reefs and the islands. They did not die, for in the Dreaming, nothing truly ends. They simply changed their shape, merging their spirits with the physical world they had created.

The Great Rainbow Serpent descended into the depths of her waterhole. As she sank beneath the surface, the water rippled with the colors of the rainbow. She settled into the cool mud at the bottom, her presence remaining as a protector of the life-giving water. She is there still, watching and waiting. When the rain falls and the sun shines, her colors appear in the sky-a bridge between the earth and the heavens, a reminder of the time when the world was young and the ancestors walked the land.

The Dreaming remains all around us. It is in the whisper of the wind through the mulga trees, the roar of the ocean against the cliffs, and the stillness of the desert at noon. The tracks of the ancestors are still visible to those who know how to look, and their songs still echo in the silence of the bush. The world emerged from the deep stillness, and though the ancestors now sleep, their dream continues, holding the land and its people in a timeless embrace.

Further Readings:

• Read ‘The Dreaming: The Source of Australian Aboriginal Beliefs’ by Max Charlesworth
• Read ‘Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime’ by Robert Lawlor

Sources:

• Reed, A. W. (1965). Myths and Legends of Australia. Sydney: Reed Books.
• Mountford, C. P. (1956). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.
• Parker, K. L. (1896). Australian Legendary Tales.

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