Solar eclipse, 10th May 2013. Townsville, Australia.
Yhi the Sun Woman makes her endless journey across the sky daily. She travels overhead, carrying her burning torch before she descends over the western horizon to make her journey, through a tunnel beneath the earth, and emerges in the east of a new day.
In one Dreaming from the Nullarbor Plains[1], it is the Sun Woman who first awakens all the creatures of the earth with her light, acting as the catalyst for life as we know it. Sun at dawn is a wake-up call!
In another Dreaming[2], Bila the Sun Woman has sole possession of fire and refuses to share it. A crafty goanna/lizard man and his companion, either a red-breasted robin or other creature, plot to take it for themselves. They succeed by throwing a magic boomerang, which pushes Bila into her fire, creating the sun. A hot sun might remind you not to ‘burn out’ in some way, to broaden your focus and ‘give’ more on some level.
Solar eclipse shadows filtered through a tree
In another Dreaming[3], the Brolga and Emu have an argument, and in anger, Emu tosses one of Brolga’s eggs into the sky where it shatters and bursts into flames, creating the sun. If this image captures your imagination, you may relate to impulsive emotional expression, and see Brolga’s egg as a reminder to think a little, cool down a little, before things go “too far.” Don’t jump to conclusions!
There are many Dreamings about the sun, and in Aboriginal culture she is universally female, whereas the moon is male. In most other cultures worldwide, it is the reverse with the sun embodying masculine qualities and the moon feminine aspects.
If the reds of a sunset or sunrise capture your attention, this is the dust from the ochres Bila uses between the two legs of her journey[4] – the one across the heavens (day) and the one beneath the earth (night.) As a symbol, ‘painting up’, appearances and preparations might have you as rosy as Bila!
[1] Isaacs, Jennifer (ed.) “Australian Dreaming.” [2] Mountford, Charles P. “The First Sunrise.” and “Before Time Began.” [3] Mountford, Charles P. “The Dawn of Time.” Reed, A.W. “Aboriginal Myths, Legends & Fables.” [4] H. Rule & S. Goodman, compiled by. “Gulpilil’s Stories of the Dreamtime”