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Aboriginal Tales of the Fae |
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Australia brings us many tales of nature spirits. The Aboriginals are devoutly connected to the Earth & the Otherworld. They are among the last of the great SpiritWalkers and could teach us much about who we truly are. Unfortunately, they are dying out, mostly because of our ignorance. All over the world, the great aboriginal tribes are dying because we choose to ignore their simple messages and we force them to try and accept our shallow way of life. It is hoped that some of those simple messages can be preserved in this very small page and that all who visit take the time to learn more about the last of the truly great races before they too become only myth. Mopaditis: The Tiwi people of Melville Island say that the mopaditis are the spirits of the dead. These spirits live in various totemic or djang places on both Melville and Bathurst Islands. They are described as being similar to humans the only exception being that their bodies lack substance. During the day they are invisible but at night they appear white. They live similarly in the spirit lands to humans. The Mopaditis have the ability to walk on water. The legend says that if a small child dies, that child's mopaditis stays with the mother at night and leaves in the morning. After several months this spirit, called a buda-buda, re-enters the body of its mother through her vagina and begins its life again. Upon the death of an older person, his or her mopaditis stays at the grave to mourn its relatives for three days. After that, the mopaditis goes to the area where it was born. Flocks of black cockatoos fly screeching overhead as the spirit travels to announce to the spirits there of the arrival. The spirit stays there until the funeral service begins. At that point the spirit returns to observe the living perform the dances and ceremonies accompanying death. At night, the spirit waits until the performers leave and then enters the ceremonial ground to perform the same ceremony. When the final pukamani is concluded, the spirit returns to its birthplace. From that point the mopaditis is treated as a youth and must undergo initiation again. There have been cases when a human and mopaditis come in contact with one another. When this happens the human's hair will stand on end and his skin will go clammy. In more severe cases, the person is paralyzed, has a seizure and foams at the mouth. The Tiwi call this the 'mopaditi sickness.' The say the cure is to head wads of paperbark and press them against the sides of the person's face or over the ears until the muscles relax. Kungkarangkalpa (the Pleiades): This group of stars share similar myths across Australia. In each myth they represent seven sisters who are pursued by Orion. One day the sisters looked down at Earth and decided to visit (the area around Kalgoorlie). The found the plateau that they always looked down upon but when they got there they discovered that it was covered with men called Yayarr. They called to the men to move but they didn't so the sisters landed on another hill. The men saw them and decided to capture them. The sisters ran and soon all but one of the men were too tired to pursue. He continued after the sisters. During the chase one of the sisters left the group to find water. As she was drinking she heard the man's footsteps behind her. She turned to flee but he caught her. She screamed and yelled so he picked up a stick. He swung at her but she dodged the blow. He swung and missed over and over again. The marks where the blows landed can still be seen on a hill in that part of the country. The sister finally escaped and ran back to the hill where they landed. She saw that her sisters had already returned so she rose to the sky to rejoin them. The Yayarr man saw her and followed after. He became Orion. Laura:
Laura is a site in Queensland that is rich in rock art. It is also
the home of the spirit beings called Quinkin. Each year an important
dance festival is held there.
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