Australian Wheel of the Year - Aboriginal Seasons

The diversity of our land shows us we must live and celebrate our differences. We are in a wonderful exciting phase of Australian Pagan History. We have access to the most incredible amount of information about the history and customs created by our Aboriginal forefathers. We must listen and learn from them. Simply swapping Northern Hemisphere traditions for Southern Hemisphere traditions in the Northern created Wheel of the Year is simply not enough. We are not England and we all experience the changing seasons very differently. Even the definition of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter is not applicable to the incredible diverse ways our land changes through our cycle of the year. For example – Northern Tropical states of Australia experience their highest rainfall during their Summer months and in the Southern States of Australia, Summer months are hot and dry, described as Mediterranean.  Druids Down Under explain it as-

                By understanding the unique cycles of nature in our various localities in this vast and diverse land, by finding insight in the symbols and messages of the trees and animals, by learning about the history of the place we live in and the spirit of all those who have lived in and loved this place, we will come to find our own kind of Druidry, specific to who we are and where we are.

http://druidsdownunder.blogspot.com.au/

                Australian Magick in its creation was formed with the common passion for connecting to our own traditions, creating our very own ritual joy as we connect intrinsically to the elements, native flora and fauna and the amazing geography that surrounds us. We have watched Sabbat rituals that involve the blind following of traditions that have nothing to do with the land they are performed on. Performed inside as the weather outside may make people feel uncomfortable. We watch the changing cycles around us but do not include these in our personal rituals. The Wheel of the Year with its eightfold ritual calendar was created by Mid-20th century British Paganism.

While many historical pagan traditions celebrated various equinoxes, solstices, and even cross-quarter days for their seasonal and agricultural significances, none were known to have held all eight above all other annual, sacred times.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year)

                We try to honour the changing landscapes that surround us. We adorn our altars with the native flowers and branches we find in our gardens. We are constantly seeking more and more knowledge of the continuous cycles of native flora and fauna and its connections to the land.

The Aboriginal people have been living in Australia for at least 50,000 years and during this time have developed a unique method of living that has enabled survival to be maintained in sometimes incredibly adverse conditions.

A culture was developed in which all things past and present are interrelated, including the weather, landscape and previous generations, together with the plant and animal kingdoms.

All these are connected as a continuum in which everything is placed in a proper order and has distinct meaning g and relevance.

Climate and weather are vital parts of this continuum, and are largely controlled by supernatural forces which manifest themselves through the behaviour of the surrounding natural world.

http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/climate_culture/index.shtml

                As we look into creating a uniquely Australian Pagan Tradition, we must consider the ancient owners of this land and how they saw the various seasons, their ‘Wheel of the Year’. They do not see their connection to the land around them in the British based seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Each and every state and territory in Australia has a very unique seasonal change and how we experience our connections to the changes in the land are very different. To show our wonderful diversity, below is a table showing the Seasonal Cycles from Around Australia which was created by Julie Mills from Druids Down Under –

Our country has the most incredible diverse climates and there are many different tribes that see the changes very differently.  In trying to translate these writings and oral traditions to our traditional Wheel of the Year, we have discovered diverse and wondrous accounts of how the various changes in the natural world were intrinsic in knowing what season lay ahead. In the Yarralin area of the Northern Territory, flying foxes moving from the inland bush to nest in the pandanus trees that line the rivers in the dry season is an indication that the rains are imminent.  In the Northeast Arnhem Land, there are only two occasions when the White breasted wood swallows and the Mudlarks are seen together. These two occasions are the start of the wet and the start of the dry seasons.

As Australian Magick and Pagans Australia are located in Victoria, we look to the knowledge of the Kulin nation. Aboriginals define their social structure in 3 distinct ways-

1.       physical or geographical

2.       the religious and totemic

3.       social

                There are approximately 30 tribes located in Victoria alone and the Kulin Nation consists of 5 common language groups.

When Europeans first settled, a single bloc of Kooris consisting of five language groups owned the entire Port Phillip region as far north as Euroa. The five groups all spoke a related language and were said to form a confederacy or nation, which the Kooris themselves called "Kulin" from their common word for a human being.

http://www.vu.edu.au/about-us/vision-mission/acknowledgement-of-country/the-kulin-nation

                The Kulin nation mark the change in their seasons by the various movements of the stars, the changes in the weather and the life cycles of the local flora and fauna.

                Below is a comparison of various Aboriginal seasons from around Australia with the European calendar as we know it-

		Aboriginal Seasons
Month	European Seasons	Minang SW WA Temperate	Arrernte Central Australia Desert	Gadgerong NW NT Monsoon Tropics	Tasmania NE TAS Cool Temperate
DEC	Summer	Beruc	Uterne	Bandenyirrin (cont)	Wegtellanyta
JAN				Mayurr
FEB		Meertilluc
MAR	Autumn
APR		Pourner	Alhwerrrpeurle	Nguag/Gagulong
MAY					Tunna
JUN	Winter	Mawkur	Alhwerrpa
JUL
AUG		Meerningal
SEP	Spring		Ulpulpe		Pawenya peena
OCT			Uterne urle	Bandenyirrin
NOV

http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/climate_culture/Indig_seasons.shtml

                As we look to creating our own unique Wheel of the Year, we must take into consideration the traditional owners of the land and how they lived, intrinsically connected to the land. We here at Australian Magick do not have a set belief system on how we practice our Paganism in Australia. To us, it is an eclectic blend of traditions and legends from far and wide as well as from our own land. We interpret and use our knowledge and learnings of symbolism and traditions into our own unique worship of this beautiful land we call home. We do not believe we have the final definition of ‘how rituals and worship must be done’. It comes from the heart. We seek the knowledge and use what resonates with us. We do not believe that ours is the only way Paganism can be practised in Australia. Call it the Great Mother, Yahweh, The Rainbow Serpent etc.  All paths lead to the same truth.

Bright blessings to all (0)