The Rainbow Serpent

Words Don Rowlands OAM, Photographs and Illustrations Nick Sidle

Illustration

In the beginning, the earth was empty, dark, and cold. Nothing lived there and nothing could live there. It was a barren world without life, without the energy and joy that comes from life, without the purpose and soul and being that all the life in a place gives, without the life that makes a world exist. Deep, deep in the earth there was however a being beyond simple living as we know it, a being who could be even in the empty barren world. The Rainbow Serpent, the Great Mother Snake, was sleeping far down in the soil, dreaming, then a time had come and she began to awaken.

Illustration

She looked around and did not like this strange, empty place, so she flicked her enormous tail, and the spark became the sun, shining brightly up in the heavens, warming the surface of the earth. As she slithered through the sand illuminated by the light of the newly born sun, huge red dunes were created giving the earth texture and shape, and the largest of these was Big Red Sand Dune, now near Birdsville, and it became the guardian of the ancient landscape that lay beyond.

The Rainbow Serpent looked over her creation and felt joy. She named it “Wadlhu Nguruku” Wangkangurru – Yarluyandi -Ngana – Nguruku-Arla (this land belongs to life, to my people and it is truly beautiful)!

The land had day and light and form and landscape but it was still empty. She flicked her tail and called forth the mammals, who came out of the darkness and into the warmth and light of the sun, leaping and bounding upon the earth, exploring their new home with anticipation that they would find answers to their needs and a place to belong. The dingoes howled, the kangaroos jumped and almost flew in great bounds just above the earth, the wombats waddled but with a speed that earned them respect, and the echidnas shuffled along and might have been thought of as slow till they were seen to be digging so effectively in the earth that their belonging in the new world could not be doubted. It was the same for all the mammals, each finding the home which suited their needs best. The Rainbow Serpent watched them enjoying their new world, and was pleased.

Photograph – Western Grey Kangaroos, Macropus fuliginosus, South Australia

She flicked her tail again and the birds streamed forth from the earth, flying out with a great rush of wind and filling the sky with colour and noise. Cockatoos were screeching, kites whistled and the eagles soared to the heights above the earth but saw so much that they were even more part of and bound to it. The heavens were alive with sound and bright coloured feathers.

Photograph – Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, South Australia

The Emus, who could not fly, strode proudly through the desert sands and were the masters of the birds upon the earth. The Rainbow Serpent saw the birds were happy in their domain and was content.

Her mighty tail gave another lightning crack and fish, sharks, dolphins, and other miracles of the ocean appeared in a gushing torrent of water. This water spread throughout the earth, carrying the beings of the sea to their homes, silver scales flashing in the sun, gleaming teeth snapping at the air, playful dolphins leaping and laughing as they rode the waves with joy. The Rainbow Serpent laughed as she watched them travelling as one with the water and was pleased.

Photograph – Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, South Australia

With another flick of her tail, the insects started their journey from the earth’s core. They clattered and crawled, slithered and squirmed always upwards toward the warmth of the sun. Spiders silently crept, centipedes marched onwards, and grasshoppers leapt through the air, till they all found their homes among the rocks and the sand, and the broken, rotten trees they needed that were already scattered through the land. The Rainbow Serpent saw they were content and was happy.

The final flick of her mighty tail brought forth a man and a woman. They blinked as they stepped out into the sun. They looked around at the world the Rainbow Serpent had created and were amazed. The Rainbow Serpent looked at the Man and the Woman and was not sure if they would take good care of her creation, if they would accept its rhythms and balance, if they would understand their place in its whole and its purpose, so she spoke to them and gave them simple rules to follow:

You must respect and care for all the creatures I have called forth, for you and they are all children of the same creation.

You must respect and care for the Earth upon which you live, for it nourishes you, and gives you water. It was the life before your life and is the foundation of your being.

You are the guardians of this creation, not its owners. Men and women will be born and they will die, but the Earth will continue to live, and sustain life, for generations upon generations. You each have a time that is yours but your people can be for as long as the balance of this world remains.

This mighty sand dune, which you have named Big Red, was here before your time, and when you depart, it will remain. The sun will rise upon it and set behind it, the wind will change its form, creatures will seek shelter and plants will grow upon it forever. It is an ancient landscape and I, the Rainbow Serpent, want you to respect it. It was among the first, it shields what lies beyond its slopes, it was a foundation for life, it is a protector of life and if you fail in your recognition of this then you will have lost your connection with all this world is and with me.

Illustration

I name a sacred bond, if you look to the land then the land must look to you. If you ask of me, then I must be able to ask of you. If this creation is to serve you, then you must serve this creation. I gave birth to the sun in this world from a spark, there will be a need to renew the earth with a spark again. Fire burning for life is within your gifts, it is now your task to use that spark for being, to give, to serve. If you are at one with this creation, if you learn the order in what has been made, if you feel for every single thing that is here you will understand and know what your place in this cycle is, you will know what to do. I am here in everything that has been made because its making was my gift. You and your descendants can be in everything that is here if you have protected it and helped it to age, because you will be the reason it still lives, the reason it survives.

Don Rowlands OAM

Illustrations

Don Rowlands OAM, Ranger in Charge Munga-Thirri National Park, Queensland, Australia, and Wangkangurru Elder

Stories on Cùra Earth by Don Rowlands

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Rainbow Serpent