Bundjil
A supreme being, the All-Father who created the earth, the trees, mankind, and the animals. Afterward he withdrew and lives beyond the "dark heaven," manifesting his will through the rainbow. He bestows powers on the novice medicine man and is associated with initiation rites. Bundjil is the father of Bimbeal and Karakarook.
Some regard him as the demiurge and the star Altair.
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References
Sources
- Eliade, Mircea. (1958). Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. Rosemary Sheed. New York: Meridan. (Translation of Trait d'histoire des religions, pp. 41, 42.
- Eliade, Mircea. (1973). Australian Religions. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 4, 134, 139.
- Fallaize, E. N. (1925). "Sun, Moon, and Stars (Primitive)." In ERE, Vol. 12, 62-65, p. 63.
- Howitt, A. W. (1904). The Native Tribes of Southeast Australia. London: Macmillan, p. 492.
- Wales, H. G. Quaritch. (1957). Prehistory and Religion in Southeast Asia. London: Bernard Quaritch, p. 7.