Dharamulan

The supreme being and primordial god of the Yuin. He plays an important part in initiation rites, separating the youths from their mothers and teaching them the Burbung ceremonies, and knocking out a tooth. He also gives the medicine men their power. Daramulun's voice is heard in the bullroarer, which is frequently called dharamulan, and in the thunder. He can change his shape, making his body smaller or larger at will.

His name means "Leg-on-one-Side," from dhurra, "thigh," and mulan, "one side." The Wiradthuri say that one leg terminates in a sharp point of bone. He is regarded to be a sort of half brother (or near relative) of Baiame.

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References

Sources

  • Eliade, Mircea. (1973). Australian Religions. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 4-7.
  • Howitt, A. W. (1904). The Native Tribes of Southeast Australia. London: Macmillan, p. 431.
  • Matthews, R. H. 1904. "Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria," in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. xxxviii.
  • Spencer, Baldwin; Gillen, F. J. (1968). The Native Tribes of Central Australia. New York: Dover, p. 246.
  • Wales, H. G. Quaritch. (1957). Prehistory and Religion in Southeast Asia. London: Bernard Quaritch, p. 7.