australian culture

RELEGION AND CEREMONIES OF ABORINAL PEOPLE

Introduction
The aboriginal is the indigenous people in Australia which has religion and ceremony system. Their religion is not really different with other religion in the world. They are belief a god or gods who created everything in this universe. Indeed, they are very religious and spiritual, they are obedience with the god, and they apply their obedience by praying and ceremony.
The aboriginal is dividing in some tribe, and each tribe has different deities. They describe their image of god into the real image, and the real form, such as an animal, rock art shelter, and plant. These are representing the figure of their god. Each tribe called their duties with different language. It uses for praying, “ Wandjina” are responsible for bringing the Wet Season rains.
They belief each natural object such as, plant and animal have soul, so these can change into human life through re- incarnation of the spirit and soul. These give evidence that they do not belief Animism.
The religion and ceremony views that I will discuss are considered: ancestral being, creation period-the dreamtime, and ceremonial life. By giving this information I hope I can provide enough knowledge in learning Australian culture about the religion and ceremony in aboriginal.

Ancestral Beings

Ancestral being is using to describe all the deities in Aboriginal. According to the aborigines stories, throughout Australia.
Ancestral beings give a big impact in each aspect of their life. The impact especially in their work such as: food gathering, catching the animal and making a weapon. They get all their skill through the myth, legends of the Ancestral being.
There is some creation story that shows to the guidance of their life. The story involves the role of life and lows for Aboriginal to understand the earth. The information in the story considered: the body of songs, dances, stories and paintings for each clan or tribe and is revered during certain ceremonies.

The Creation Period – The Dreamtime

The creation period-the dreamtime is the religion of the Aboriginal. They belief the Ancestor beings was created everything like the earth, animal, plants and other. The Aboriginal has some words varies for this “Creation Period”. Each place in particular area has their words for this “Creation Period”. For example, it is known as Alcheringa (Aldjuringa) amongst the Aranda of Central Australia, as Lalai in the Kimberley, and as Nayuhyungki amongst the Kunwinjku (Gunwinggu) east of Kakadu National Park.
The Aboriginal people belief that dream was related to their life which was transformed back into that ancestral time. The dream relates to the Creation Period that guide people to more understanding “the dreamtime” of creation their religion. In mythology the dreams reference to the Creation Period.
The Creation Period or Dreamtime has many impact of all aspect in Aboriginal life and culture. The Aboriginal people take a lesson through the story of the Creation Period deities, animals, plants, and other beings. This story gives some guidance to do some ceremony and sacred ritual, song and dances. It is the ritual when an adolescent progress to their new life to be adult.

The ceremony
Today, the aboriginal people who life in some remote parts of Australia doing this ceremony or ritual in order to ensure a supply of plant and animal foods. The aboriginal people do some rituals to the Ancestral beings to ensure food or ask the rain.
There are three famous ceremonies or rituals that often still occur in remote Australia. The story considered: initiation of boys and girls, and Funeral ceremonies.
• initiation of boys and girls
This ceremony or rituals refers to the boys or girls that progress into the adulthood. They do this ceremony for weeks. There are many activities during the ceremony. The activity include: display body decoration, song that relate to the Ancestral being, and storytelling. Some of this activity allowed for women or children to see and hear, but other ceremony are closed. It is just for initiation of boys and girls that follow the ceremony.
The Funeral ceremony

Another ceremonies in aboriginal tribes, is the Funeral ceremonies. There are many traditional methods of dealing with corpses, including burial, cremation, exposure on tree platforms, interment inside a tree or hollow log. This ceremony is present on the death a person. The Aboriginal people doing some series rituals like dances and songs to the person’s spirit leaves the area and return to the re-carnation. The burial practice is difference in each places in Australia, but each the ritual always exist. How about the burial? There are two steps of burial in aboriginal funeral ceremony.
The first burial is, take a corpse in to the wooden platform to make the flesh separate from the bones after several months. The second step, the bones will be painting in to red ochre. The relative allowed carrying their relative’s portion bones and saving the bones in the cave or hollow. The hollow log can save the corpse from terminates or insect.
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
The religion and ceremony give a more knowledge about the aboriginal culture especially in religion and ceremony system that still exist in remote Australia. The information of the reli Initiation of boys and girls inform interchangeable from boys/girls to the adulthood. The Funeral ceremony provides inform how the Aboriginal provide to burial corpse.
And ceremony in Australia can accommodate to learn in Australian culture. The religion gives information of Aboriginal religion such as, Creation Period- the dreamtime. The ceremony provides some information of the ceremony that still exist in remote Australia. Initiation of boys and girls inform interchangeable from boys/girls to the adulthood. The Funeral ceremony provides inform how the Aboriginal provide to burial corpse.
Aboriginal religion and ceremony in Australian can we compare with the religion and our funeral ceremony in Indonesia, even though there are not really the same. The religion and ceremony still exist today, but it is just in remote places.
I hope by this essay we can learn and get more understanding of Australian culture, especially about the Aboriginal religion and ceremony.