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| [[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Aboriginal_Painting.jpg|right|frame]] | | [[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Aboriginal_Painting.jpg|right|frame]] |
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− | The '''Rainbow Serpent''' (also known as the '''Rainbow Snake''') is an important [[mythology|mythological]] being for [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] people across [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Australia], although the [[creation myth]]s associated with it are best known from northern Australia. | + | The '''Rainbow Serpent''' (also known as the '''Rainbow Snake''') is an important [[mythology|mythological]] being for [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] people across [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Australia], although the [[creation myth]]s associated with it are best known from northern Australia. |
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− | The Rainbow Serpent is seen as the inhabitant of permanent waterholes and is in control of life's most precious resource, [[water]]. He is the underlying [[Aboriginal mythology]] for the famous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback Outback] "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunyip bunyip]". He is the sometimes unpredictable Rainbow Serpent, who vies with the ever-reliable [[Sun]], that replenishes the stores of water, forming gullies and deep channels as he slithered across the landscape, allowing for the collection and distribution of water. | + | The Rainbow Serpent is seen as the inhabitant of permanent waterholes and is in control of life's most precious resource, [[water]]. He is the underlying [[Aboriginal mythology]] for the famous [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback Outback] "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunyip bunyip]". He is the sometimes unpredictable Rainbow Serpent, who vies with the ever-reliable [[Sun]], that replenishes the stores of water, forming gullies and deep channels as he slithered across the landscape, allowing for the collection and distribution of water. |
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− | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime Dreamtime] stories tell of the great Spirits during creation, in animal and human form they molded the barren and featureless [[earth]]. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is known as Ngalyod by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunwinggu Gunwinggu] and Borlung by the [[Miali]]. He is a serpent of immense proportions which inhabits deep permanent waterholes. (Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History ISBN 0-7018-1330-X) | + | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime Dreamtime] stories tell of the great Spirits during creation, in animal and human form they molded the barren and featureless [[earth]]. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is known as Ngalyod by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunwinggu Gunwinggu] and Borlung by the [[Miali]]. He is a serpent of immense proportions which inhabits deep permanent waterholes. (Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History ISBN 0-7018-1330-X) |
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| Serpent stories vary according to environmental differences. Tribes of the monsoon areas depict an epic interaction of the Sun, Serpent and [[wind]] in their Dreamtime stories, whereas tribes of the central desert experience less drastic seasonal shifts and their stories reflect this. | | Serpent stories vary according to environmental differences. Tribes of the monsoon areas depict an epic interaction of the Sun, Serpent and [[wind]] in their Dreamtime stories, whereas tribes of the central desert experience less drastic seasonal shifts and their stories reflect this. |
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| There are innumerable names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and [[power]] of this [[being]] within Aboriginal traditions. | | There are innumerable names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and [[power]] of this [[being]] within Aboriginal traditions. |
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− | The myth of the Rainbow serpent is sometimes associated with ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonambi_naracoortensis Wonambi naracoortensis]'', a large snake of the now extinct [[megafauna]] of Australia. | + | The myth of the Rainbow serpent is sometimes associated with ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonambi_naracoortensis Wonambi naracoortensis]'', a large snake of the now extinct [[megafauna]] of Australia. |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
− | * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawlor,_Robert Lawlor, Robert] (1991). ''Voices Of The First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal dreamtime.'' Rochester, Vermont: [[Bear & Co.|Inner Traditions]] International, Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-355-5. | + | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawlor,_Robert Lawlor, Robert] (1991). ''Voices Of The First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal dreamtime.'' Rochester, Vermont: [[Bear & Co.|Inner Traditions]] International, Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-355-5. |
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− | http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k153/torwebster/?action=view¤t=rainbowserpent-website-sm2.jpg
| + | https://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k153/torwebster/?action=view¤t=rainbowserpent-website-sm2.jpg |
− | http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k153/torwebster/rainbowserpent-website-sm2.jpg
| + | https://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k153/torwebster/rainbowserpent-website-sm2.jpg |
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| ==External links== | | ==External links== |
− | * [http://www.nlc.org.au/html/abt_rainbow.html Explaining Northern Land Council's use of the Rainbow Serpent in its logo] Accessed 8 July 2008 | + | * [https://www.nlc.org.au/html/abt_rainbow.html Explaining Northern Land Council's use of the Rainbow Serpent in its logo] Accessed 8 July 2008 |
− | * [http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/australia/jennifer.sumner.aborigines/myth1.htm A rainbow serpent myth accompanying Jimmy Njiminjuma bark painting ] Accessed 8 July 2008 | + | * [https://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/australia/jennifer.sumner.aborigines/myth1.htm A rainbow serpent myth accompanying Jimmy Njiminjuma bark painting ] Accessed 8 July 2008 |
− | *The Rainbow Serpent Project www.rainbowserpent.co.uk [http://www.rainbowserpent.co.uk link title] | + | *The Rainbow Serpent Project www.rainbowserpent.co.uk [https://www.rainbowserpent.co.uk link title] |
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