A Map of the Dream Time

map_of_the_dream_time-pages_from_alcheringa_1-2_summer-1971_1_-7.pdf

This is M. Meggitt's “A Map of The Dream-Time” from Gadjari Among the Walbiri Aborigines of North Central Australia. The key idea seems to be its a conception of the universe that maps religious concepts onto the present landscape – so that where we are today is also (on another plane) the space of creation, sacred, etc. Essentially, this map explains how all of the myths and legends of the Walbiri intersect.

At first glance the drawing is very confusing. If this had not been given the title “A Map of the Dream-Time,” it may have never made sense. However, when you followed the jumbled lines while thinking of it as a map to a dream it begins to make sense. It is a confused, knotted mess because that is how dreams work. You flit from idea to the kext with no clear direction. This can be exhibited in the poem. Ideas intersect as they please. Along the solid and dotted line you can see ideas (like kangaroos, women, and dingos) I believe this represents when a specific idea or image occurred in this specific dream.

This is from the Walbiri Aborigines of Central Australia. In the article that originally published this map, it sates that this Map of Dream-Time is actually a map of how the myths and dreams of the Walbiri intersect. Meggitt states, “This follows simply from the fact of the heroes' passing through many different totemic sites, each of which is in turn associated with other myths. This aspect is further pointed up by the collection of myths in Appendix A. [The image posted in Alcheringa]. It is possible to start with any myth and, by following up its references, to be led eventually into all other Walbiri myths. They form an interconnected whole”(194-95). So, while readers may be able to interpret and relate to this image, as I did before reading Meggitt's article, there is a true meaning behing the image.

Below is the citation for the article in which the map was originally published:

Meggitt, M. J. “Gadjari among the Walbiri Aborigines of Central Australia.” Oceania, vol. 36, no. 3, 1966, pp. 173–213. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40329517.

You can also checkout t his website for more information on the idea. of Dreamtime: http://www.aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime2.html

Also, there are more maps out there: https://www.aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime3.html

— Mikenna 2021/06/28 15:12

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