Rainbow Serpent
Australian creation spirit
The Rainbow Serpent is a creator deity in Australian Aboriginal mythology, associated with water, fertility, and the shaping of the landscape.
Stories vary across Aboriginal cultures, but the serpent typically inhabits waterholes and controls rain and storms.
It appears in some of the world's oldest continuous religious traditions, with rock art depictions dating back thousands of years.
Aboriginal mythological creation era
- creationMaking something exist
- songlinesAboriginal sung navigation routes
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- totemSpiritual clan symbol
Tjukurpa · sacred sites · lore · legends · oral tradition · storytelling · cultural heritage · initiation
Images on natural stone
- dot paintingArt using small circles
- ochreIron-rich earth pigment
- cave paintingPrehistoric art on stone
- petroglyphCarved image on stone
Aboriginal art · gallery · motif · symbolism · iconography · ceremonial · traditional
Clear essential liquid
- fertilityCapacity for reproduction
- creationMaking something exist
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- dualityTwofold nature
transformation · power · eternal · cyclical · life force · guardian · protector · gender fluidity
Dreamtime
Aboriginal mythological creation era
- creationMaking something exist
- songlinesAboriginal sung navigation routes
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
Tjukurpa · totem · sacred sites · lore · legends · oral tradition · storytelling · cultural heritage · initiation · tribal
rock art
Images on natural stone
- dot paintingArt using small circles
- ochreIron-rich earth pigment
- cave paintingPrehistoric art on stone
petroglyph · Aboriginal art · gallery · motif · symbolism · iconography · ceremonial · traditional
water
Clear essential liquid
- fertilityCapacity for reproduction
- creationMaking something exist
- destructionAct of completely ruining
duality · transformation · power · eternal · cyclical · life force · guardian · protector · gender fluidity · shape-shifting
waterways
Navigable bodies for transport
- riversFlowing bodies of water
- billabongIsolated river pool
- waterholesNatural drinking pools
floods · landscape · outback · monsoon · fertility · life-giver · seasons · drought · renewal · Australia
sacred
Worthy of reverence
taboo · totemic · shamanism · ancestors · worship · corroboree · law · custodian · elders · Dreaming