Dreaming experience

Australian aboriginal beliefs tell of a time, prior to formation of this world, when beings were not fixed but changed from one creature or feature of the environment to another. This was the time when the law was laid down and is referred to as dreaming. Such dreaming did not cease to exist with the fixing of creation and continues as an invisible surrounding presence which may be experienced, in particular by a shaman or medicine man, through penetrating the screen between the two worlds. Ritual contact with the dreaming also occurs during group rites, when the individual may be absorbed by the dreaming essence of his totem, in particular during rites of passage.