Dreaming, the

A fundamental concept of Australian aboriginal religion that refers to a mythological period of time before living memory when the world was shaped and humanized by the actions of mythic ancestral beings. Some of these beings were in human or animal (totemic) form while others changed their form. They were responsible for creating the different types of plants and animals, including humans, as well as for establishing local social order and laws to live by. In aboriginal belief, these ancestors are spiritually as much alive today as they ever were. As a belief system, the Dreaming includes totemism: man is regarded as part of nature, not fundamentally different from his mythic ancestors or from animals, all of which share a common life force. This connection is often made visible through the use of totem figures.