The Dreaming, also called Dreamtime, is a term created by early anthropologists to describe a belief system that includes religion and culture, connected to Australian Aboriginal mythology.
Francis Gillen first used the term, and his colleague Walter Baldwin Spencer later helped spread its use. A. P. Elkin later popularized it but changed his views over time.
The Dreaming refers to the concept of "Everywhen," a time when the land was shaped and inhabited by ancestral figures, often described as heroes or possessing supernatural powers.
The meaning of certain places and animals is closely tied to their origins in The Dreaming. Some locations hold special importance, such as Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (Mt. Olga), Wollumbin, and Baiame Cave.
Many Aboriginal Australians also call this world-creation time "Dreamtime." The Dreaming established the patterns of life for Aboriginal people.
The Dreaming is also used to describe a system of symbols linked to totems. An Aboriginal person may be connected to a specific Dreaming, such as a Kangaroo Dreaming, a Shark Dreaming, or a Honey Ant Dreaming, depending on their homeland.
This is because, in The Dreaming, a person's entire family history is seen as a continuous cycle. This cycle leads to the belief that all knowledge about the world comes from one's ancestors.
Creation in the Dreamtime
Creation is thought to be the work of culture heroes who traveled across a land that had no shape or form, creating sacred places and important locations during their journeys.
The idea of a life force in creation is often linked to sacred sites. Ceremonies held there are a way to reenact the events that created the site during The Dreaming. These ceremonies help keep the life force active and allow new life to be made. If these ceremonies are not done, new life cannot be created.
Nuance regarding the Dreamtime
The idea that all Aboriginal peoples' beliefs and culture are connected through the Dreaming provides a general overview but does not show all the differences between groups. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies notes that there are 250 different language groups, each with unique beliefs and traditions.
Dreaming stories change often across Australia, even when they share the same theme. For example, the stories about how the sun was created differ between Aboriginal groups in New South Wales (such as the Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri, Euahlayi, Ngiyaampaa, Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung, Eora, and Yuin nations) and those in Western Australia (like the Noongar, including sub-groups such as the Wadandi and Bibbulmun).
In the Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri traditions of New South Wales, the sun began as an event in the sky caused by a disagreement between the Emu and the Brolga (a tall, grey bird). During an argument on the plains, the Brolga took an emu egg from a nest and threw it toward the sky spirits. The egg hit a pile of dry sticks, causing the yolk to burst into a bright flame that lit up the world for the first time. The spirits were moved by the light and decided to light this fire every day, assigning the Kookaburra to wake the world with its laughter each morning so no one would miss the sun's return.
In the Noongar traditions of Western Australia, the sun is represented as Ngaangk, a maternal spirit who carries a smoldering cone from a Banksia tree as she travels across the sky each morning. She rises in the east and moves toward the western horizon, providing warmth and life to the earth. At night, she travels through an underground tunnel to return to her starting point. In this view, the sun is not a permanent object but a daily act of care and a renewal of fire for the people.
Examples of physical manifestation of Dreamtime entities
Some ancestors or spirit beings from the Dreamtime become part of the land's features, such as rocks or trees.
For example, the Anangu people believe that parts of Uluru (Ayers Rock) are the physical remains of ancestral Dreamtime beings, such as the carpet-snake people (Kuniya), who lived or fought there during the Dreamtime. Certain rock holes mark the locations of events, such as battles with the Liru (venomous snake people).
Another example involves the Gaagudju people of Arnhemland, for whom Kakadu National Park is named. They believe the sandstone escarpment that is a major part of the park's landscape was formed during the Dreamtime when Ginga (the crocodile-man) was badly burned during a ceremony and jumped into the water to save himself.
Stories include many themes and topics, such as the creation of sacred places, land, people, animals, plants, and laws and customs.
"Translations" and meaning
The term "Dreaming" comes from the Arandic word "alcheringa," used by the Arrernte people of Central Australia. Some scholars believe the term may have been misunderstood or mistranslated. Others suggest it means "eternal, uncreated," meaning it has always existed and was never made.
Anthropologist William Stanner said that non-Aboriginal people should understand the concept as a "complex of meanings." He called this idea "Everywhen," which describes the Aboriginal belief that the Dreaming is not a distant past but a timeless reality where the past, present, and future exist together.
Some Aboriginal groups find the word "Dreaming" inappropriate because it suggests something not real, while the concept is a daily part of life. By the 1990s, the word "Dreaming" became popular in movies, books, and other media, often based on simplified or fictional ideas about Aboriginal culture. Since the 1970s, the term has also returned to everyday use among Aboriginal Australians through popular culture and tourism.
In 1896, Francis Gillen, a station-master and ethnographer, first used the term in a report about Aboriginal cultures. Along with Walter Baldwin Spencer, Gillen wrote a book in 1899 called Native Tribes of Central Australia, where they described "Alcheringa" as "the name applied to the far distant past." In another book in 1904, they linked "Alcheringa" to the word "alcheri," meaning "dream," and noted that similar terms were used by other Aboriginal groups.
In English, anthropologists have translated the concept in many ways, such as "dream spaces" in French and "Snivanje" in Croatian, which comes from the word for "to dream." However, the concept of the Dreaming is difficult to explain in English because it covers many aspects of life, including rules for living, moral codes, and ways to care for the environment. It is described as a way of life that includes the past, present, and future with deep respect.
Another definition says the Dreaming is about the relationships between people, animals, plants, and the land, including how these relationships began, what they mean, and how they must be kept alive through daily life and ceremonies. For the Warlpiri people, the term "Jukurrpa" includes their laws and cultural knowledge, similar to the concept of the Dreaming.
A Dreaming is often tied to a specific place and may be connected to certain ages, genders, or groups. Dreamings can appear in art, such as the painting Pikilyi Jukurrpa by Theo (Faye) Nangala, which shows the Dreaming of Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs) in the Northern Territory. This artwork belongs to the Japanangka/Nanpanangka and Japangardi/Napanangka groups.
Etymology and translation disputes
In 1908, Carl Strehlow, a German Lutheran pastor and missionary, wrote a book called Die Aranda (The Arrernte). He questioned the accuracy of Spencer and Gillen’s English translation of the Arrernte word altjira (also spelled alchera). Strehlow said that Arrernte people described altjira as an eternal being with no beginning. In the Upper Arrernte language, the correct verb for "to dream" was altjirerama, which means "to see God." Strehlow believed the noun altjirrinja was the proper word for altjira, but Spencer and Gillen had written it incorrectly and gave it the wrong origin. Strehlow stated that Arrernte people did not use dreamtime to describe a specific time in their history.
Strehlow explained that Altjira or Altjira mara (with mara meaning "good") was the Arrernte word for the eternal creator of the world and humans. He described Altjira as a tall, strong man with red skin, long fair hair, and legs like those of an emu. He also had many red-skinned wives with dog-like legs and children.
According to Strehlow, Altjira lived in the sky, which he described as a land connected by the Milky Way, a river. However, by the time Strehlow wrote his book, most of the people he spoke with had become Christians. Some critics, like Sam Gill, suggested that Altjira might have been a word used by Christian missionaries to replace a gap in the Arrernte language for describing the Christian God. This may have changed the original meaning of Altjira to fit Christian beliefs.
In 1926, Spencer did a study to test Strehlow’s claims about Altjira. He found records from the 1890s that used altjira to mean "associated with past times" or "eternal," not "God."
Sam Gill noted that Strehlow used Altjira in different ways, sometimes to describe a supreme being and sometimes to describe a spiritual being that was not necessarily supreme. He believed the disagreement partly came from Spencer’s belief that Aboriginal people were at an early stage of cultural development and could not believe in a supreme being, while Strehlow, as a Christian missionary, saw belief in a divine being as a way to spread Christianity.
Linguist David Campbell Moore criticized Spencer and Gillen’s translation of Dreamtime. He said that "Dreamtime" was a mistake because the connection between "a dream" and Altjira was only true in a limited area. While there was some link between the two words, "Dreamtime" does not fully explain the meaning of Altjira.
— David Campbell Moore, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306037801_Altjira_Dream_and_God
Cultural practicality / effect of Dreamtime beliefs
The Dreaming acts as a system that stores information about how to care for the environment. For the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land, Songlines are detailed maps of the land that include important information about where water is found during different seasons and how to use controlled fires to manage the land. These traditional stories are now used in "Two-Way" land management programs, which combine knowledge from Indigenous communities with Western scientific methods to reduce the risk of bushfires and protect plant and animal life.
The Dreaming also functions as a set of rules, often called The Law or Malak, that guide how people live. For groups like the Pitjantjatjara, stories about ancestors help determine "skin groups" and kinship systems, which set rules about marriage, responsibilities to others, and how to resolve conflicts. These traditional laws are often the main way people stay connected and work together in remote communities, offering a different or additional way to handle problems compared to the Australian legal system.
A key idea in Dreaming philosophy is that land should not be treated as something to own, but as a "kin relation" (a family member). For the Noongar people of Western Australia, the land is seen as a living being with memory and the ability to act. This belief is shown in the practice of "Singing to Country," which helps keep the environment healthy spiritually and physically. In modern city planning, these beliefs mean that planners must consult with Traditional Owners to ensure that new developments do not harm the spiritual balance of places connected to important beings like the Waugal (Rainbow Serpent).