Looking for good information on Australian Aboriginal Mythology

Question

Looking for good, uncomplicated sources on Australian Aboriginal Mythology - books, web, whatever. Not heavy scholarly stuff, but with plenty of detail

Answer 1

Australian Aboriginal myths in some regards are a little unique in the sense that many of their creatures are derived from the traditions of Aboriginal Dreamtime.

A word of caution: many of these creatures are derived from the traditions of Aboriginal Dreamtime. To understand them, the reader must have a decent understanding of what the Aboriginal Dreamtime is. The only problem is that it can be quite difficult to understand. So here’s a quote from Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (1977) to help sum it up:

Aboriginals believe in two forms of time; two parallel streams of activity. One is the daily objective activity, the other is an infinite spiritual cycle called the ‘dreamtime’, more real than reality itself. Whatever happens in the dreamtime establishes the values, symbols, and laws of Aboriginal society. It was believed that some people of unusual spiritual powers had contact with the dreamtime.

Basically, the Dreamtime is a sacred era of time in Australian Aboriginal mythology. It is a kind of “time before time” wherein the universe was created, mankind was created, and the Creators laid down the rules for how humans should interact with themselves and their environments. During the Dreamtime, the Ancestor Spirits came to earth and gave birth to the land, plants, animals, and humans. Afterwards they turned into other objects, such as animals and geologic locations such as hills. If you are still confused, the topic of the Aboriginal Dreamtime is further discussed and detailed here on the internet. - Top 10 Australian Mythical Creatures.

This stated there are several sources of Australian Aboriginal mythology to be found on the internet as follows:

• Top 10 Australian Mythical Creatures
• Some Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines by W. J. Thomas
• Australian Mythology from Myths and Legends of the World Myths Encyclopedia
• Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines by W. Ramsay Smith
• Aboriginal Mythology - A biography of the Australian continent
• Wikipedia has a list of Australian Aboriginal mythological figures
• ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIA ART & CULTURE CENTRE - ALICE SPRINGS
• The Dreaming from the Australian Government

Hope this helps!