96-629: The Wawalag sisters, also written as Wauwaluk Wawilak Waggilak , Wagilag , or Wawalik , are ancestral creator beings whose story is part of widespread sacred rituals in the Aboriginal culture from Arnhem land , Northern Territory , Australia. The story takes place in Dreamtime , a period of time in Aboriginal belief where ancestral beings created the land as well as the social and linguistic structures in it. The sisters are said to have helped draw linguistic and social differences amongst
192-410: A child will have a father with one language and a mother with another language resulting in the child learning to speak both of his parents’ languages equally; thus inter-generational transference is very strong. The way of life both helps and hinders the growth of their language. Because of their semi-nomadic, semi-reclusive nature, large clans are not easily supported. However, on the other hand it
288-583: A clan that has a different language, it is proper etiquette to speak in the host's language. Not only is it polite, but more importantly to the Aboriginal people, it appeases the ancient ancestors of the host clan. Likewise, children usually have a father from one clan and a mother from another clan. While the father's language would be the child's primary language, the child would learn the mother's language and would speak to her in her own language. The Djinang, and indeed all Aboriginal people, even though they are multilingual, but keep their primary language in
384-525: A common narrative was developed through field-research by archaeologists such as Catherine Berndt , Lloyd Warner and Ronald Berndt during the mid-1990s. The myth tends to be told as a group of related events rather than a continuous narrative that follows a linear structure. It is said that the sisters were travelling from the south of Arnhem Land to the Arafura Sea , walking only through territory of Dua moiety. They gathered plants and animals along
480-480: A conscious and immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Furthermore, according to the Jain concept of divinity, any soul who destroys its karmas and desires achieves liberation. A soul who destroys all its passions and desires has no desire to interfere in the working of the universe. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in
576-536: A critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation: Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism . Robert Alter described the combined narrative as "compelling in its archetypal character, its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends". The Abrahamic creation narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the two first chapters of the Book of Genesis . The first account (1:1 through 2:3) employs
672-601: A different god or goddess is the secondary creator at the start of each cosmic cycle ( kalpa , aeon). Brahma is a "secondary creator" as described in the Mahabharata and Puranas , and among the most studied and described. Born from a lotus emerging from the navel of Vishnu , Brahma creates all the forms in the universe, but not the primordial universe itself. In contrast, the Shiva -focused Puranas describe Brahma and Vishnu to have been created by Ardhanarishvara , that
768-489: A local community audience. As part of the Maningrida Dictionary project in 1998–2001, linguist Anita Berghout and Wurlaki woman KB (now deceased) worked together on preparing a Djinang and Wurlaki dictionary and learner's guide (still unpublished). Although having a population of around 220 and no presence in modern medium (TV, radio, text, etc.), Ethnologue designates Djinang as being 6a (Vigorous); which
864-589: A particular region. The Djinang language is based on a set of 24 phonemes , of which only three of those phonemes are vowels; giving Djinang a high consonant-vowel ratio of seven. This differs from most Pacific languages as they tend to favor larger vowel variation along with a modest set of consonants. Thus most Pacific languages customarily have average to low consonant-vowel ratios. Djinang has 21 consonants. All languages in Australia share similar sound systems characteristic of few fricatives and sibilants, and
960-495: A place of great importance. One reason for this is that their language is directly connected to their land. While the Djinang have no definite boundaries to their lands, they and the clans of surrounding areas know which sites belong to a language. Their land is what links the Djinang to their ancestors—a function of bapurrur . It is because of this "land–language" dependency that Australian languages are largely contained in
1056-447: A repetitious structure of divine fiat and fulfillment, then the statement "And there was evening and there was morning, the [ x ] day," for each of the six days of creation. In each of the first three days there is an act of division: day one divides the darkness from light, day two the "waters above" from the "waters below", and day three the sea from the land. In each of the next three days these divisions are populated: day four populates
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#17327652003731152-444: A secondary creator from the primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. According to Gaudiya Vaishnavas , Brahma is the secondary creator and not the supreme. Vishnu is the primary creator. According to Vaishnava belief Vishnu creates the basic universal shell and provides all the raw materials and also places the living entities within the material world, fulfilling their own independent will. Brahma works with
1248-559: A similar process to verbs, but while verbs state when or how an action was done, nouns denote subject, object, and possession. Noun cases mark a noun as either the subject or object. They also mark implied prepositions like: 'to', 'for', 'from', etc. An example of an implied preposition is the Djinang word gurrbi 'camp' – gurrbile allative '(to) camp'. Furthermore in an Australian language there are three very important grammatical associations that nouns can take: Transitive subject (ergative), intransitive subject (nominative), and
1344-537: A simple flowing narrative style that proceeds from God's forming the first man through the Garden of Eden to the creation of the first woman and the institution of marriage. In contrast to the omnipotent God of Genesis 1 creating a god-like humanity, the God of Genesis 2 can fail as well as succeed. The humanity he creates is not god-like, but is punished for acts which would lead to their becoming god-like (Genesis 3:1-24) and
1440-497: A tendency to follow a subject, object, verb (S.O.V.) typology In Djinang verbs are extremely important in conveying the bulk of an utterance. Verbs are so prominent that pronouns and certain nouns would only be implied; ex: irri I mina-li carry- TODAY-PAST irri mina-li I carry- TODAY-PAST 'I carried (it)' There are three major sets of verbs: classes I, II, III; within each class there are smaller groups separated by stem ending e.g. -i, -rr, -ji. Each verb
1536-523: A wilderness. His father used to worship Aten alongside other gods of their polytheistic religion. Aten, for a long time before his father's time, was revered as a god among the many gods and goddesses in Egypt. Atenism was countermanded by later pharaoh Tutankhamun , as chronicled in the artifact, the Restoration Stela. Despite different views, Atenism is considered by some scholars to be one of
1632-625: Is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Istawa (rose over) towards the heaven and made them seven heavens and He is the All-Knower of everything." At the same time, God is unlike anything in creation: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing." and nobody can perceive God in totality: "Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle,
1728-500: Is a language that is used for "face-to-face communication by all generations" and is sustainable. The reasons for Djinang's robustness begin with where Djinang is located in Australia: Arnhem Land , which is the home of the entire Yolngu language family. It was declared an Aboriginal Reserve in 1931. It is a place that is still very much steeped in the traditional Aboriginal ways. It is a large secluded area that
1824-469: Is also associated with the origin of linguistic differences in Arnhem Land. During their journey, the sisters were singing and naming the different plants and animals they were gathering as well as the territories they were passing through. They do this by using a range of dialects including Djaun, Rainbarngo, Djimba, Wawilak, and Liaalaomir. The emergence of linguistic differences is mainly addressed at
1920-417: Is classified as a suffixing language and, therefore, has a flexible typology, in other words it does not rely on word order to convey meaning. In regards to nouns Djinang depends on case (Nominative, Genitive, Ablative etc.) to show its function. When speaking of verbs Djinang relies heavily on suffixes to imply tense, mood, and aspect. With that being said, Djinang and, indeed most Australian languages, have
2016-488: Is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. Hinduism is sometimes referred to as henotheistic (i.e., involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others), but any such term is an overgeneralization. The Nasadiya Sukta ( Creation Hymn ) of the Rigveda is one of the earliest texts which "demonstrates a sense of metaphysical speculation" about what created
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#17327652003732112-491: Is considered by many people to be the least spoiled in the entire world. It is a place that is inaccessible to most people and forms of transportation. Because the majority of the Djinang people live similarly to how their ancestors did, their practices of exogamy and multilingualism are still in practice. Moreover, the Djinang treasure and value their language very much. It can be seen in their sacred songs and with how they handle their children's language. Because of exogamy,
2208-465: Is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator. In Mandaeism , Hayyi Rabbi (lit=The Great Life), or 'The Great Living God', is the supreme God from which all things emanate . He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world, Yushamin emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life." "The principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of
2304-586: Is half Shiva and half Parvati; or alternatively, Brahma was born from Rudra , or Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma creating each other cyclically in different aeons ( kalpa ). Thus in most Puranic texts, Brahma's creative activity depends on the presence and power of a higher god. In other versions of creation, the creator deity is the one who is equivalent to the Brahman , the metaphysical reality in Hinduism. In Vaishnavism , Vishnu creates Brahma and orders him to order
2400-456: Is no distinction of vowel length; however, there are instances of vowel lengthening when certain conditions are met, but they do not warrant a unique designation. The syllable structure of the Djinang language would be classified as moderately complex. It has three underlying syllable patterns CV, CVC, and CVCC. Because of Djinang's syllable patterns there are very few words that actually start with vowels or with consonant clusters. Djinang
2496-527: Is one, and material monism which holds that everything including all material reality is one and the same thing. Buddhism denies a creator deity and posits that mundane deities such as Mahabrahma are misperceived to be a creator. Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed (a static universe similar to that of Epicureanism and steady state cosmological model ). All
2592-531: Is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed." ). Islam teaches that God as referenced in the Qur'an is the only god and the same God worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. One of the biggest responsibilities in the faith of Sikhism is to worship God as "The Creator", termed Waheguru , who is shapeless, timeless, and sightless, i.e., Nirankar , Akal, and Alakh Niranjan . The religion only takes after
2688-529: Is seen as the origin of life and a force of motion. The Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Nzambi Mpunga is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change. Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the Big Bang Theory have been studied. Nzambi is also said to have created two worlds. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, it created an invisible line that divided
2784-419: Is sorted by the suffix it uses to signal tenses specific to Djinang: Additionally many verb stems contain a noun related to the definition of a verb; for example: djama – 'work' n. and djamadjigi – 'work', v. Customarily, dji is added to the noun, which creates the verb stem – in this case, djamadji ; the suffix -gi places the verb in either the non-past or future tense. Nouns follow
2880-475: Is the creator of the world. Djinang language Djinang is an Australian Aboriginal language, one of the family of Yolŋu languages which are spoken in the north-east Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory . Dialects of the two moieties are: Wurlaki is included in a language revival project, as one of many critically endangered languages. Djinang is a language found in
2976-450: Is the endangered language of Djinba, spoken by 45 people. The people are simply called the Djinang. Based on the 2006 census their population is 220 people. The Djinang are genetically linked with 90% of Australia, which points to a common ancestor from the distant past. Multilingualism is highly prevalent, not just with the Djinang, but throughout all of Australia. It came as a necessity for very specific reasons. First, when visiting
Wawalag - Misplaced Pages Continue
3072-635: Is to be tested: "Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving;" Those who pass the test are rewarded with Paradise: "Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires;" According to the Islamic teachings, God exists above the heavens and the creation itself. The Quran mentions, "He it
3168-568: The Pentateuch (the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy ) was composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE (the Jahwist source) and was later expanded by other authors (the Priestly source ) into a work very similar to Genesis as known today. The two sources can be identified in the creation narrative: Priestly and Jahwistic. The combined narrative is
3264-418: The basimbi , bakisi and bakita. Oral tradition accounts that in the beginning, there was only a circular void ( mbûngi ) with no life. Nzambi Mpungu summoned a spark of fire ( Kalûnga ) that grew until it filled the mbûngi. When it grew too large, Kalûnga became a great force of energy and unleashed heated elements across space, forming the universe with the sun, stars, planets, etc. Because of this, Kalûnga
3360-501: The bullroarer is turned, representing the voice of Yurlunggur. Ulmark ceremony, also known as Ngurlmak, is the final ceremony and while it involves other myths, it "re-emphasizes the fertility elements and the bisexual symbolism already present in the first two" ceremonies. These rituals belong to the Dhua moiety which means that the clans affiliated to it are the owners and custodians of the knowledge shared during them. However, clans of
3456-539: The cosmos ; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas. Through the ages, Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God and this has resulted in Jainism being labeled as nāstika darsana or atheist philosophy by the rival religious philosophies . The theme of non-creationism and absence of omnipotent God and divine grace runs strongly in all
3552-459: The thunderstorm and the flooding , they build a hut to protect themselves. When the sisters see Yurlunggur crawl out of its waterhole, they start singing the sacred songs, which are now part of the Djungguan, Ulmark, and Gunabibi ceremonies, in an attempt to keep the snake away. They continue to sing and dance, taking turns until the storm appears to ease, exhausted the sister seek refuge in
3648-590: The Acquainted." God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal God: "And indeed We have created man, and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge)." Allah commands the believers to constantly remember Him ("O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance" ) and to invoke Him alone ("And whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof—then his account
3744-580: The Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.", 1st century CE), that is symmetrical to the Nicene Creed (4th century CE). Nowadays, theologians debate whether the Bible itself teaches if this creation by God is a creation ex nihilo . Traditional interpreters argue on grammatical and syntactical grounds that this is the meaning of Genesis 1:1, which is commonly rendered: "In the beginning God created
3840-834: The Hebrew creator-deity Yahweh with Aristotle 's unmoved mover ( First Cause ) in an attempt to prove that the Jews had held monotheistic views even before the Greeks. A similar theoretical proposition was demonstrated by Thomas Aquinas , who linked Aristotelian philosophy with the Christian faith, followed by the statement that God is the First Being, the First Mover, and is Pure Act. The deuterocanonical 2 Maccabees has two relevant passages. At chapter 7, it narrows about
3936-603: The Northern Territory of Australia in Arnhem Land. Djinang is a part of the Yolngu language family—consisting of 11 other languages. It is a part of the much larger Pama-Nyungan language family —285 languages. Mark Harvey (2011) writes "Pama-Nyungan is a genetic grouping, which occupies ca. 90% of the continent". Djinang has several dialects: Manyarring, Marrangu, Murrungun, Balmbi, Djaḏiwitjibi, Mildjingi, and Wuḻaki (Wurlaki), but has only one sister language, which
Wawalag - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-490: The Wawalag (Wauwaluk, Wawilak, Waggilak, Wagilag, Wawalik) sisters takes place in Dreamtime , a period of time in Aboriginal belief where ancestral beings created the land as well as the social and linguistic structures in it. The sisters are said to have helped draw linguistic and social differences amongst the clans in Arnhem Land, but the ceremonies associated with their stories create cultural unity. The story varies across
4128-467: The Yirritja moiety are involved during some parts of these rituals During these rituals, wooden sculptures and bark paintings are used as mnemonic devices to tell parts of the story and or represent the sisters. Some of these objects are considered sacred and can only be accessed and made by a select group of men. What limits how public the display of these objects can be is the ceremonial context not
4224-475: The animals and territory they are familiar with. The group of events that each clan has access to or ownership of also varies, meaning that the more clans a person is affiliated to, the more knowledge about the story they will have. People affiliated to the Marrakulu clan country, for example, have knowledge that focuses on the journey of the sisters from Nilitji to Guaka'wuy, where it is said that they encounter
4320-439: The baby. An understanding of a common narrative was developed through field-research by archaeologists such as Catherine Berndt , Lloyd Warner , and Ronald Berndt during the mid-1990s. Since then there has been an increase in the representation of the story through Aboriginal artwork that attempts to show the complexity of the story, and how it cannot be limited to the western idea of chronological storytelling. The story of
4416-419: The beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos . However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating
4512-469: The belief in "One God for All" or Ik Onkar . In the Baháʼí Faith God is the imperishable, uncreated being who is the source of all existence. He is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient , omnipresent and almighty ". Although transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation
4608-403: The circle in half. The top half represents the physical world ( Ku Nseke or nsi a bamôyo ), while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors ( Ku Mpèmba ). The Kalûnga line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another. After creation, the line and the mbûngi circle became a river, carrying people between the worlds at birth and death. Then
4704-532: The clans in Arnhem Land, but the ceremonies associated with their stories create cultural unity. According to the story, the sisters were travelling to the Arafura Sea , but had to stop as the elder sister was about to have a baby and needed to rest. Later on, the elder sister goes in the river to bathe with her child and the smell of afterbirth blood awakens Yulunggur , the Rainbow Serpent, who then comes out of its waterhole and swallows both sisters and
4800-458: The constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws . It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law of conservation of mass ). Similarly, the soul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time. The Jain theory of causation holds that a cause and its effect are always identical in nature and therefore
4896-502: The darkness and light with sun, moon, and stars; day five populates seas and skies with fish and fowl; and finally, land-based creatures and mankind populate the land. The first (the Priestly story ) was concerned with the cosmic plan of creation, while the second (the Yahwist story ) focuses on man as cultivator of his environment and as a moral agent. The second account, in contrast to the regimented seven-day scheme of Genesis 1, uses
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#17327652003734992-523: The deictic word class: Interrogative particles are quite simply the words that signify an utterance as a question, e.g. wari 'who', nyadji 'when'. In Djinang interrogative particles are found at the beginning of an utterance in exactly the same manner as the English language. Loanwords derived from English: There is very little written about the Djinang language or its people. The majority of all papers written on Djinang were all written by
5088-545: The demiurge represents the second cause or dyad , after the monad . In Gnostic dualism , the demiurge is an imperfect spirit and possibly an evil being, transcended by divine Fullness ( Pleroma ). Unlike the Abrahamic God, Plato's demiurge is unable to create ex-nihilo . Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism , polytheism , panentheism , pantheism , pandeism , monism , and atheism among others; and its concept of creator deity
5184-496: The design and patterns used in the artistic representation of the story require pre-existing knowledge of the context to be fully understood; this helps maintain certain aspects private. Artists will often accompany their work with a brief description of the story but will avoid going into detail to respect the parts of the story that are considered sacred. The exhibition The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters story 1937-1997
5280-426: The design itself. The process behind making the wood-cravings is lengthy, a lot of detail goes into the totemic painting as the specific pattern and colours used is what symbolises the connection with the ancestral being. These painted designs can be used and adapted to other media, such as bark painting, sand sculpture , body painting , etc. Because the story varies among clans depending on their geographical origin,
5376-486: The design used also changes to fit their interpretation. Some of the locations mentioned in the story are considered ceremonial grounds while others have become sacred sites that cannot be visited. For example, the Mirrimina waterhole, which is where the sisters last camped before being swallowed by the serpent, can only be visited by elder clansmen. The Liaalaomir, Gunabibi and Ulmark dancing grounds, which according to
5472-579: The different linguistic regions in Arnhem land, but they all share a similar pattern that explains the origins of the Djungguwan, Gunabibi and Ulmark rituals, three sacred ceremonies associated with fertility , marriage and age-grading . During these ceremonies each clan reveals more details about their version of the story through songs, dances and paintings; but access to these rituals is usually limited to initiated Dua males only. An understanding of
5568-534: The end of the story, when Yulunggur gathers with the other totemic serpents and realises that they speak different dialects. The story of these ancestral beings forms the basis of sacred rituals that are widespread across Arnhem Land. The story of the sisters embody what the clans consider their religious law and it is traditionally told through paintings, sculptures, song and dance cycles. These sacred laws, also referred to as madayin , are specific to each clan and they are taught during three ceremonies . Because of
5664-561: The first ancestral people of Australia, also known as Djuwany people. The sisters were from Ngukurr and they were part of the Wawalak clan which belongs to the Dua moiety , one of the many Australian Aboriginal kinship groups of the Yolngu people. Most commonly, the elder sister, Waimariwi , is pregnant while the younger one, Boaliri , is going through early puberty. In other versions,
5760-422: The foreskin marks the separation of what is considered the 'female part of male infants' Dua men and women come together to perform dance and song cycles which represent the snake awakening when it smelled the blood and exited the waterhole to make its way to the sisters’ hut . In 1966 footage of the ceremony was captured, parts of the ritual were not shown as they are only accessible for those taking part in
5856-608: The four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle , the Qilin , the Phoenix , and the Dragon . After eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind ; his voice the thunder ; left eye the sun and right eye the moon ; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair
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#17327652003735952-481: The frontiers of monotheism in human history. The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity . The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis . In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word for God ) creates the heavens and the Earth, the animals, and mankind in six days, then rests on, blesses and sanctifies
6048-502: The great happenings and processes of nature. The post-Vedic texts of Hinduism offer multiple theories of cosmogony , many involving Brahma . These include Sarga (primary creation of universe) and Visarga (secondary creation), ideas related to the Indian thought that there are two levels of reality, one primary that is unchanging ( metaphysical ) and other secondary that is always changing ( empirical ), and that all observed reality of
6144-559: The heavens and the earth." However, other interpreters understand creation ex nihilo as a 2nd-century theological development. According to this view, church fathers opposed notions appearing in pre -Christian creation myths and in Gnosticism —notions of creation by a demiurge out of a primordial state of matter (known in religious studies as chaos after the Greek term used by Hesiod in his Theogony ). Jewish thinkers took up
6240-446: The hut where they fall asleep. The serpent enters the hut and swallows both sisters and the baby, then it rises up to the sky and proceeds to finish singing the songs the sister were singing. After swallowing the sisters and the baby, Yurlunggur and other totemic snakes gather together to tell one another what they had eaten. The snakes realise that they were not speaking the same dialect but despite this they could still communicate using
6336-459: The idea, which became important to Judaism. According to Islam , the creator deity, God, known in Arabic as Allah , is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe. Creation is seen as an act of divine choice and mercy, one with a grand purpose: "And We did not create the heaven and earth and that between them in play." Rather, the purpose of humanity
6432-512: The latter is in an endless repeating cycle of existence, that cosmos and life we experience is continually created, evolved, dissolved and then re-created. The primary creator is extensively discussed in Vedic cosmogonies with Brahman or Purusha or Devi among the terms used for the primary creator, while the Vedic and post-Vedic texts name different gods and goddesses as secondary creators (often Brahma in post-Vedic texts), and in some cases
6528-514: The materials provided by Vishnu to actually create what are believed to be planets in Puranic terminology, and he supervises the population of them. Monism is the philosophy that asserts oneness as its fundamental premise, and it contradicts the dualism-based theistic premise that there is a creator God that is eternal and separate from the rest of existence. There are two types of monism, namely spiritual monism which holds that all spiritual reality
6624-506: The mother of a Jewish proto-martyr telling to her son: "I beseech thee, my son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also"; at chapter 1, it refers a solemn prayer hymned by Jonathan , Nehemiah and the Priest of Israel , while making sacrifices in honour of God: "O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearefull, and strong, and righteous, and mercifull, and
6720-500: The object (accusative). Because word order is variable, these cases are important in building an intelligible utterance. The chart below lists the different noun cases with their functions and common endings. An interesting aspect of Djinang is the nominal class of words (deictics and interrogative). Deictics use the same cases as nouns. They also often convey number (singular/plural) and relative distance like 'this', 'here' or 'that', 'there'. An example of suffix compounding in
6816-561: The onely, and gracious king". The Prologue to the Gospel of John begins with: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." Christianity affirms the creation by God since its early time in the Apostles' Creed ("I believe in God,
6912-514: The only allophones , are allophones of plosives. For example, the phonemes /b/, /d/, and /g/ could be sounded as /p/, /t/, and /k/ in certain Aboriginal languages. However, in Djinang there is a clear contrast between those phonemes along with the phonemes of c/ɟ. Of Djinang's 24 phoneme set, only three are vowels. In addition to the low vowel count, or because of it, there are also no instances of diphthongs or triphthongs. Moreover, there
7008-404: The only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He created Adam and Eve , the first man and woman." Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner. Monolatristic traditions would separate
7104-401: The opposite moiety from their mother's, making the baby Yirritja. Similarly, the Rainbow Serpent swallowing the sisters is also seen as an act of incest, as the serpent is also of Dua moiety. While it is unclear if Yulunggur, the serpent, is male or female because it is often referred to as both, the encounter between he/she and the sisters is often interpreted as a symbolism of sex. The story
7200-555: The order and method of creation itself differs. "Together, this combination of parallel character and contrasting profile point to the different origin of materials in Genesis 1:1 and Gen 2:4, however elegantly they have now been combined." An early conflation of Greek philosophy with the narratives in the Hebrew Bible came from Philo of Alexandria (d. 50 CE), writing in the context of Hellenistic Judaism . Philo equated
7296-417: The philosophical dimensions of Jainism, including its cosmology , karma , moksa and its moral code of conduct. Jainism asserts a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god. In polytheistic creation, the world often comes into being organically, e.g. sprouting from a primal seed, sexually, by miraculous birth (sometimes by parthenogenesis ), by hieros gamos , violently, by
7392-480: The process repeats and a person is reborn. A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide bakulu , or the ancestors, along the Kalûnga line to the spiritual world after death. They are also present during the baptisms of African American Christians , according to Hoodoo tradition . Pangu can be interpreted as another creator deity. In
7488-779: The rest of universe. In Shaivism , Shiva may be treated as the creator. In Shaktism , the Great Goddess creates the Trimurti. The Bakongo people traditionally believe in Nzambi Mpungu , the Creator God, whom the Portuguese compared to the Christian God during colonization. They also believe his female counterpart called Nzambici , the ancestors ( bakulu ) as well as guardian spirits, such as Lemba,
7584-420: The ritual or initiated Dua men. Gunabibi is a fertility ritual that is done during dry season; the song and dance cycles focus on recreating the part of the story where the land was flooding because of the rain. The transition from dry season to wet is often seen as a symbol of fertility in the story, making this the main focus of this ritual. For weeks, both men and women perform together non-sacred songs until
7680-490: The sacred nature of these rituals, there is a restricted access to them and a limited understanding of the knowledge shared during them. Djungguwan is considered the initiation ritual when young boys from the Dua moiety are circumcised and introduced to the cultural laws of their clan through the story of the sisters. In the narrative, the gender of the babies is ambiguous, sometimes they are referred to as sons or daughters, because they are yet to be circumcised. The removal of
7776-406: The sacred songs. At first, Yulunggur tries to hide that he/she had eaten the sisters and their baby but he/she, feeling unwell, admits the truth and regurgitates them. The serpent swallows and regurgitates them again, and the third time he/she swallows them and takes them back to Wawilak country where he spits out the two sisters which then turn to stone Each clan of Dua moiety has its own version of
7872-653: The same author, Bruce E. Waters. Anthropologist Ad Borsboom worked with the Djinang in the 1970s and has published papers about the Marrajiri ritual and song repertoire. Anthropologist Craig Elliott lived and worked with Djinang/Wurlaki people in the late 1980s and has also written about local cosmology and songs. His work contains much linguistic information. Djinang teaching staff, assistant teachers and literacy workers in Maningrida and Ramingining continue to produce literacy materials for use in their schools and for
7968-423: The same moiety. In some versions of the story, there is a strong focus on the pregnancy being a result of an incestuous relationship between the elder sister and a Dua clansmen; while they may not be directly related, they share the same moiety, which is why the act is frowned upon. When the baby is born, the sisters encounter for the first time something that does not belong to the Dhua moiety, as children take
8064-596: The seventh (i.e. the Biblical Sabbath ). In the second story, God, now referred to by the personal name Yahweh , creates Adam , the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden , where he is given dominion over the animals. Eve , the first woman, is created from Adam and as his companion. It expounds themes parallel to those in Mesopotamian mythology , emphasizing the Israelite people's belief in one God . The first major comprehensive draft of
8160-495: The single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a secondary creator from a primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator. Initiated by Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti around 1330 BCE, during the New Kingdom period in ancient Egyptian history. They built an entirely new capital city ( Akhetaten ) for themselves and worshippers of their sole creator god in
8256-416: The slaying of a primeval monster , or artificially, by a divine demiurge or "craftsman". Sometimes, a god is involved, wittingly or unwittingly, in bringing about creation. Examples include: Plato , in his dialogue Timaeus , describes a creation myth involving a being called the demiurge ( δημιουργός "craftsman"). Neoplatonism and Gnosticism continued and developed this concept. In Neoplatonism,
8352-549: The stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period. Shangdi is another creator deity, possibly prior to Pangu; sharing concepts similar to Abrahamic faiths. According to Kazakh folk tales, Jasagnan
8448-477: The story as the songs, dances and painting used to tell the story changes according to the relationship the ancestral beings had with the clan's land. The most common differences amongst the various interpretations are the places in which the sisters camped and the combination of plants and animals they gathered along the way. This is determined by the geographical location of a clan, as these details are often changed to make it more relatable to their context by using
8544-562: The story were made by the impact of Yurlunggur falling sick to the ground after swallowing the sisters and their babies, are considered sacred territory where ceremonies are held. Since the late 1990s there has been a shift in the way knowledge about the story is shared, making it more accessible to people outside of the Indigenous community from Arnhem Land, creating a better understanding of Aboriginal culture. There are still strong restrictions as to what type of knowledge can be shared, and
8640-417: The universe, the concept of god(s) and The One, and whether even The One knows how the universe came into being. The Rig Veda praises various deities, none superior nor inferior, in a henotheistic manner. The hymns repeatedly refer to One Truth and Reality. The "One Truth" of Vedic literature, in modern era scholarship, has been interpreted as monotheism, monism, as well as a deified Hidden Principles behind
8736-478: The way to prepare and eat later. They stop to rest and set camp near the Mirrirmina waterhole where the elder sister gives birth. While the younger sister prepared a fire to cook the food they had gathered, the elder sister takes the baby near the water to bathe him. Some of the residual afterbirth blood goes in the waterhole where Yurlunggur , the rainbow serpent, resides and attracts its attention. The food
8832-520: The way. Because of this, they are associated with the development of moieties and language in Arnhem Land. The myth is closely associated with the importance of moieties and the avoidance practices that go along with them. In Arnhem Land, the Yolngu clans are divided into two moieties , Dua , also known as Dhuwa, and Yirritja . According to the story, the sisters only travel through Dua territory, meaning that everything they encountered also share
8928-552: The world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin ) and the Sky (clear Yang ). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by
9024-420: The younger sister is pregnant while the elder sister already has a baby that is around two to three years old. It is unclear what gender the baby is as it is addressed as both male and female. They were creation beings who travelled through Arnhem Land performing song and dance cycles that revealed, for the first time, the names of the places they were walking through and the plants and animals they gathered along
9120-405: The younger sister was preparing comes back to life and crawls away from the fire and into the waterhole. The serpent removes a rock that was lying at the bottom of the well and throws it onto the land, the well starts filling up with more water and the land begins to flood. A dark cloud forms on top of where the sisters had set camp and a thunderstorm begins. Unaware that it was the snake causing
9216-535: Was an exhibition of the work of more than 100 Aboriginal artists held at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra . It was curated by Nigel Lendon and Tim Bonyhady. Artists represented in the exhibition included: Creator being A creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth , world , and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism ,
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