Summary

Abram describes the Dreamtime of Australian Aboriginal peoples as an ongoing process, a time that existed before the first people and still exists within the current time. Australian Aboriginal stories depict ancestors who carved out the geological features of the land in song then stayed in the area—dreaming. Each Aboriginal person inherits a stretch of the song at birth, and this becomes a deeply connective place for the person throughout his or her life. For example, whenever this place is passed, whether by foot or car, the person recites the particular song of the Ancestor. The dreamsongs also provide a code of behavior for the community, such as taboos and customs. However, when collected and brought into a written form, an element appears to be missing—that is, the land itself is not present in the written book.

In Chapter 6, “Time, Space...