Cyclone Dreaming 6 – Wandjina

Wandjina
In north western Australia the WANDJINA are renowned for the exceptional violence of their creative acts. They are depicted with no mouth. It is said that this is because they would otherwise cause perpetual flooding of the landscape. These two features are no doubt packed with significance for the initiated. They invite speculation by other interested observers to the effect that the violence may have been that of cyclones; and that there has been a change of climate in the region. In this regard it is interesting to note that since records have been kept no cyclone has ever made landfall along the three hundred kilometre coastline of the region.

Speculation aside, the mythology of the Wandjina whose awesome violence leaves a legacy of abundance is perhaps the oldest surviving form of the conviction that creativity and destructiveness are both necessary aspects of being.