Rainbow Serpent

This article is about an Australian Aboriginal creator being. For the snake found in the United States, see Farancia erytrogramma. For the spirit in Haitian Vodou, see Ayida-Weddo.

Australian Aboriginal rock painting of the "Rainbow Serpent".

The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God,[1] known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion of many Aboriginal Australian peoples.[2] Much like the archetypal mother goddess, the Rainbow Serpent creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but when disturbed can bring great chaos.[3]

There are many names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and power of this being within Aboriginal mythology, which includes the worldview commonly referred to as The Dreaming. The serpent is viewed as a giver of life through its association with water, but can be a destructive force if angry. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most common and well-known Aboriginal stories and is of great importance to Aboriginal society.[4][5]

Not all of the myths in this family describe the ancestral being as a snake. Of those that do, not all of them draw a connection with a rainbow. However, a link with water or rain is typical.[6] When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another, and this divine concept explained why some waterholes never dried up when drought struck.[6]

The Rainbow Serpent Festival is an annual festival of music, arts and culture in Victoria.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bird was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mercatante and Dow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ The Mythology Book Big Ideas Simply Explained. DK Publishing. 2018. pp. 304–307. ISBN 9781465473370.
  4. ^ "The First Australians". SBS. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  5. ^ Big Black Dog Communications (6 March 2008). "The Dreaming". Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b Radcliffe-Brown (1926).
  7. ^ "About". Rainbow Serpent Festival. Retrieved 9 August 2021.