Australian Aboriginal art is found mainly as rock engravings, primarily in western New South Wales and northeastern South Australia. Much of it is abstract in form. However, there are also bark paintings and body paintings, plus the decoration of ceremonial objects.
The various tribes have a wide variety of myths featuring, along with humans, such creatures as serpents, turtles and tortoises, jungle fowls, dingos, crocodiles, and other reptiles. Fish and insects are also included. The songs and dances of the rituals frequently enact the adventures of tribal ancestors, and the art complements these songs and dances. The tribal ancestors have become near-gods, who performed miracles and even traveled through the air or under the ground. The myths, chants, and rituals are nurtured in secret mystical lodges to which the men of the tribe belong. The men decide when, or even if, to pass on their knowledge to the younger men.
In the north of the Northern Territory, women play a more important role than elsewhere. It is there that can be found the myth of the Great Fertility Mother. It was she who first arrived, from the sea, and gave birth to humans as she moved from place to place. The Rainbow Snake, a python, also plays an important role in this area. He is associated with the rains and floods; with the wet season.
The Aborigines believe in reincarnation and in the transmigration of souls into animals and reptiles. Death is accepted, since all will be reborn.
This is the Rainbow Serpent of Energy; the sacred body of the earth and spiritual order of the universe. Serpents are featured a lot in Aboriginal art. The Rainbow Serpent is the unity between the physical and the spiritual worlds. It is believed to be attracted to rituals in which the participants are painted in red ochre, which, in turn, increases the sexual energy of the ritualists.
This is the medicine man, Mungada, who cures the sick. He does not practice black magic and is not feared. However, his pictorial form is very similar to that of Gurumuka, the night-dwelling spirit who is greatly feared. The differences are in the decorations: the bands of color around the arms, legs, and face. Gurumuka also has large teeth sticking out with which he bites his victims.
Here is the Gundaman lizard. As with many Aboriginal paintings, this reptile is drawn in what amounts to an x-ray view, showing internal organs (in this case the lungs and alimentary canal).
Laitjun was a mythical figure in the Blue Mud Bay area of Arnhem Land. He was the son, or a second aspect, of the god Banaitja. Laitjun showed the Aborigines what designs they should paint on their bodies.
Big-Breasted Women