1. The Nature of Beliefs
S

2. Define the Supernatural
Dimension
S The Supernatural dimension is:
S Aspects of the human experience that is beyond its
comprehension or ability to explain.
S An element that is attributed to the creation or formation of
the current realm of existence

3. Transcendent Worldview
S A belief in a divine power and/or powers beyond the
human

4. Immanent Worldview
S Belief in a divine power and/or powers dwelling within the
individual

5. Characteristics of Religion
S Beliefs and Believers
S Sacred Texts and Writings
S Ethics
S Rituals and Ceremonies

6. Define the Chrateristics of
Religion
S Beliefs and Believers
S Beliefs – an acceptance of something as real or true.
S Believers – The adherence to a particular religion.
S Sacred Text and Writings
S Written, visual or oral texts that contain the truths of a particular
religion and provide guidance
S Ethics
S Moral principles that govern a person or group behaviour
providing guidelines to proper and improper behaviours.
S Rituals and Ceremonies
S A set or series of actions performed in a proscribed order for
religious meaning. The practice and practical application of
beliefs.

7. Examples of the
Characteristics of Religion

8. Dynamic Living Religion
S Dynamic
S A force that stimulates change or progress within a system
or process
S Living
S Alive, relevant and meaningful to the adherent

9. Characteristics Interact to
Create a dynamic living
religion
S Believers form meaning  Formalize their understanding
and record through Sacred Texts.  The Sacred Texts
inform Ethical Teachings and Rituals and Ceremonies. 
Believers abide by Ethical Teachings and Perform Rituals
and Ceremonies.
S Sacred Texts maintain the integrity of the Principle
Beliefs.
S As the adherents develop over time, their interpretation of
Sacred Texts can cause changes in its expression. (i.e.
Ethical Teachings and Rituals and Ceremonies)

10. Contribution of Religion to
Society - Individual
S Helps construct meaning
S Gives ethical guidance
S Gives a sense of belonging

11. Contribution of Religion to
Society - Community
S Social Cohesion
S Conservative force (sexual morality)
S Progressive force (social justice/reforms)

12. Aboriginal Beliefs and
Spiritualities
The Dreaming
S

13. The Nature of the Dreaming –
Definition of Dreaming
S A belief system of the Aboriginal People
S A complex concept of fundamental importance to
Aboriginal culture that embraces the creative era in which
Ancestral beings instituted Aboriginal society as well as
the present and future.

14. The Nature of the Dreaming –
Origins
S Refers to the ‘Dreamtime’
S The ancestral spirits interacted with the physical world,
shaping the landscape and instituting indigenous
culture/law/rituals.
S Eg, Rainbow Serpent

15. The Nature of the Dreaming –
Stories of the Dreaming
S Relate the stories of the ‘Dreamtime’
S Contain sacred knowledge (secret sacred) of the origins
of the universe, rituals and law as well as practical
geographical instruction (i.e. hunting sites, ceremonial
sites) which establishes connection to ‘their’ country
(land)
S Two primary styles of story
S Origin
S Etiological

16. The Nature of the Dreaming –
Sacred Sites
S The places where ancestral beings became a part of
‘their’ land.
S Can refer to communal, gender specific or sites restricted
to elders, initiates or non-initiates (eg, Karlu Karlu)
S Gives responsibility of the person/tribe to specific sites
linked to ‘their’ ancestor spirits (ritual estate)

17. The Nature of the Dreaming –
Art
S A visual expression of the spiritual reality.
S Art communicates the dreaming, enables passage of
knowledge and represents religious and social
relationships (kinship)

18. The Inextricable Connection of
the Dreaming, the Land and
Identity
S Dreaming  Land
S Time of creating and bestowing the land to the Aboriginal
people by ‘their’ Ancestral spirits
S Sacred sites represent the resting place of ‘their’ Ancestral
spirits
S Specific sense of responsibility to ‘their’ geographical centre
(ritual estate)

19. The Inextricable Connection of
the Dreaming, the Land and
Identity
S Dreaming  Land  Identity
S Expressed through the use of Totemic representation
S Identifies with an animal, plant or particular landmark through
which a person is linked to the Ancestral spirit responsible for
their existence.
S Celebrated through rituals and ceremonies
S Acknowledge the role of the Ancestral spirit in their past,
present and future
S Concreted through their place in a social structure or
‘kinship’ group and their obligations/responsibilities to that
group.