CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
DESTINATIONS
DESTINATIONS
The Dreamtime, or the Dreaming, portrays the Aboriginal beliefs in spiritual existence. According to the tribes that first settled down in the continent, the Dreaming's roots date all the way back to the very begging of the creation of the world. The meaning and ideology of the term is generally not so well-understood by non-indigenous people as it is referred to as part of the culture of one of the early nations, which differs from modern perceptions.
The Spirits were the creators of everything. They made the land and the seas, the rocks and the plants, the sky and the earth. They were the higher power and the Australian Aborigines spent their lifetimes honoring this power, which guided their path and shaped their way of thinking. Not only creators of everything, which could be seen as well as felt, the Spirits also gave the Aborigines the Dreaming.
The time when everything started existing according to the initial Australians, was called the Dreaming. This is the foundation of the continent's culture. The origin of the Dreaming goes way back - 65 000 years back in time to be exact. The Ancestors of the nation shaped the land, forming some parts of it as sacred. The Aborigines were very careful and overprotective of those places, strongly believing in their significance.
The Australian Aborigines are known to have believed that the world didn't have any shape and was therefore empty. Darkness dominated, and life was simply asleep, but this changed when the creation began happening. After the Dreaming and the influence of the Spirits, objects began taking shapes and came to be. They created the four elements: water, earth, air and fire, as well as all the planets, the Sun and the Moon. The Dreaming therefore is a continuous process, which never ended. It is a small cosmos on its own, unifying the past, present and the future into one.
The Australian Aborigines' home riches so many vivid areas of the continent, including Fraser Island, Tasmania, Palm Island, Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island. The Aborigines had very strong believes in relation to the powers of the land, claiming that they never owned it - it rather owned them. The only reason they were able to call it their home is because they were looking after it and the land was taking care of the people in return.
Equally important to the Dreaming was the tribes' understandings of the disappearance of the Spirits. There came a time, when the creators of everything vanished from sight. Some of them were thought to have started living in sacred places, which is why the Aborigines perceived their homeland to be so sacred. The ancestors of today's Australians used to believe that the creators started living in rocks, in water holes and some went up to the sky to guide the people from above and keep them safe. Others transformed completely, taking the forms of the rain, the lightnings and the thunderstorms so they could be part of peoples' life.
Among the hundred's different Aboriginal languages, there isn't a word to describe 'time', because to them this simply doesn't exist. Dreaming and Dreamtime are used to replace it and summarize the ideologies of the Aborigines about everything they knew, everything they could see, feel and experience. This is why the Dreaming has such a vivid, and overwhelming meaning and has survived the obstacles of time. For the past couple thousand years, the Dreaming has built a rich cultural heritage that can identify a whole nation.
Read more about the Land, its connection to people and the way it has been perceived from different generations in the very first print issue of ORIGIN. The Land Issue covers varied topics, most of which remain related to cultural aspects of the land and its importance.
A lot of people travel to explore places and learn about them which is the message that ORIGIN wants to spread. With traveling, however, comes certain responsibilities that we should all be aware of. Elephants riding has become a popular way to explore locations by land. People have been doing this as part of their trips, mostly to places such as Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and other parts of Asia. It is a common thing to see in certain places in Africa as well. We investigated the activity to explain why it is wrong and riding elephants should be banned everywhere.
Our first print issue studies culture and traveling represented through the land. We explored various location around the globe and learned what makes the land so valuable, which nations cherish it and how it helps us establish an identity. Traveling is important to us but traveling responsibly and making an impact is what we feel proud to stand behind. This is why riding elephants as a way of amusement should be reconsidered.
Let’s talk about the details. Elephants are very caring and extremely intelligent animals. It is a well-known fact that they never forget anything. When kept in captivity instead of spending their life in the wild, elephants die younger. Unlike in other species, this is common for the gentle giants and is often a result for stress.
Many African cultures respect elephants, believing they symbolize strength, loyalty and power. However, power can be a very tender concept. Elephant used as a tourism tool suffer from great pain daily. Elephants can be hurt very severely from the weight of carrying people and a trainer on their backs. The reason for this is the design of their spines. They have sharp protrusions, extending upwards from their spine instead of having round spinal disks. The protrusions and the tissue that serves to protect them can be harmed easily from weight pressure. Once a damage to their spine has been made, there is no going back and sometimes the harm can be irreversible. While this can’t be physically seen, the harm that the chairs can do to the elephants’ skin is. It is often the case that the chairs and the weight on their back can damage the animal’s skin and cause pain to their body. The chair, called Howdah, that gets attached to their backs, rubs on their skin and can cause blisters, which can sometimes get infected.
The training that elephants are required to go through when in captivity sometimes adopts a traditional Thai ‘phajaan’ or ‘crush’ technique. Explaining the technique would compare it to the animals’ spirits constantly and continuously being broken by the means of torture and social isolation. This is done in order to tame them. Elephants are wild animals, this is their nature as they are born in such conditions. Making them safe and obedient around people requires them to go through such training. As horrible as it sounds, in some places young elephants are taken away from their mothers to be abused with nails, bull hooks and bamboo sticks to make them obey rules, given by people. The animals often lack sleep and are starved to become submissive.
Actions from such nature are cruel and harmful as the technique is used to crash the animals’ spirit. Once wild and free, elephants become a source of tourism and entertainment. Nobody, who cared about sustainable tourism should ever ride an elephant.
In a sense, elephants have a human soul. They socialise and feel everything – pain, happiness, grief, sadness etc. They spend their life building families and finding friends. The largest land animals are a gift from nature and it is our responsibility to take special care of them and make sure they live according to their nature. Many animals, who are kept in captivity, are forced to live in isolation and carry heavy loads all day long, which is a wrong way to treat them. Their strength and power shouldn’t be abused but treated gently and celebrated by people. Elephants require minimal care to stay happy and healthy, which comes from giving them freedom to behave naturally and socialise. It is our responsibility to be culturally aware while traveling and make sure to spread awareness about the problem.
You can read the rest of the article as published in the LAND issue.
CELEBRATING THE DAY OF THE DEAD
Take a look at how people from different countries around the world celebrate Halloween and the Day of the Dead to see what the end of October means to their cultures
Words: Emily Georgieva
Photography: Luke Besley
31 October 2019
Halloween Eve is upon us and there is nothing like the end of October to give you the autumn feels. Today millions of people put a spin on this Celtic tradition and celebrate this day according to their culture. We take a look at what the end of October means to people from different countries around the world.
MEXICO - DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
Parts of Latin America and Mexico honour the spirits of their friends and loved ones, who have passed away. The day is well-known across the world for the flower crowns that people wear and the black and white makeup that makes them look like skeletons. Mexicans believe that at midnight on the 31st of October the Gates of Heaven open up and the souls of children, who have passed away, return to Earth so that they can reunite with their families for one whole day. Two days later, on 2nd of November, the souls of adults come down to Earth to join in so that the living can reunite with the spirits of the people they love. This day that honours the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, has a beautiful message. It is a celebration, which has been around for 2,500–3,000 years.
PERU – DIA DE LA CANCION CRIOLLA
In true Peruvian style people celebrate the criollo culture of the country through Día de la Canción Criolla. The day was officially established back in 1944 on October the 18th by the Peruvian President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche and the then Minister of Education Pedro M. Oliveira. The celebration revolves around honouring the Lord of Miracles. People perform on the streets. There is dancing and music everywhere in celebration of the Creole culture, which reflects a lifestyle that has Old World roots, but originates and started in the Americas.
In EUROPE
POLAND - DZIEŃ ZADUSZNY
The locals in this European destination spend the end of November by going to cemeteries to visit the graves of their loved ones. They take candles and flowers with them to honour the memory of their family members and sing prayers together. This is not much different to other European countries, such as Bulgaria, where people tend to visit the graves of their family members as often as they feel the need to throughout the whole year. They light up candles and bring flowers and food with them to offer the spirit of the person who had passed away the things they loved to have whilst they were alive – for example it is a common practice to light up a cigarette if the person was a smoker and wait for it to burn out, or spill some wine in the ground to satisfy their thirst.
ROMANIA - DAY OF DRACULA
Transylvania is the place to be on 31st October. Each year the place hosts dozen people from all around the world to celebrate The Day of the Dead. Bran Castle is a popular destination as it is the home of Vlad “The Impaler” Tepes, also known as Count Dracula. Other parts of Romania also pay their respects to the Halloween celebrations, but Transylvania seems to attract much more attention because of the mystery around the city. There are guide tours that can take people around Bran Castle on Halloween Eve – a cool and spooky way to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
In AFRICA
NIGERIA - AWURU ODO FESTIVAL
This celebration in the African country lasts up to six months. People honour the spirit of the dead and praise their return to the world of the living. The festival is often complimented by music and beautiful feasts. Locals wear masks and dance in the days before the spirits of the dead come down to Earth. It is a belief in the Nigerians’ culture that the spirits only visit the world of the living once every two years, which is why the festival is not a yearly occasion, but it is celebrated every other year.
In ASIA
CAMBODIA - PCHUM BEN
Cambodia celebrates the spirits of the dead in a similar way to Europe. Families gather together mid-October to celebrate this religious tradition. They go to temples with baskets of flowers to pay their respect to the dead. Cambodians also give away beans and sticky rice that have been wrapped up in banana leaves. This tradition goes beyond the spirits. People also pay their respects to the elderly so that Pchum Ben is also held in their honour.
THE PHILIPPINES – PANGANGALULUWA
On this day, children in the Philippines go door-to-door knocking and sing songs and say prayers by pretending to be souls lost in purgatory. The people who answer the knocking of the doors are expected to give something to “the lost souls”, which they can bring back with them to the world of the non-living. Even though it has become more commercialised with time, some locals are trying to bring the day of Pangangaluluwa back to its roots.
HONG KONG - THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL
The Hungry Ghost Festival is not just a one-day celebration – it begins mid-August and lasts until mid-September. In the East Asian culture, it is believed that the Gates of the Afterlife open. Then, the spirits of the dead are being released around this time of the year so they could be free to roam the Earth. The living ones are supposed to offer them all the money, food and goods they may require living peacefully in the afterlife. The “hungry ghost” term translates to a being, who is influenced by its emotional needs in an animalistic way. The festival originates from the Chinese Buddhism and has been celebrated for a long, long time allowing people to worship their ancestors.
In AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA – ALL HALLOWS’ EVE
Australian celebrate Halloween pretty much the way the Americans do. You can expect kids dressed up in costumes and, of course, trick-or-treating is a must. However, some houses don’t follow this tradition. It is a relatively new thing for people to leave an orange balloon outside their front doors – if there is a balloon hanging outside, people are welcome to come over looking for sweets; if there isn’t a balloon, that means the house is not part of the celebration. Halloween originates from the ancient Celtic harvest festival known as Samhain, but today people keep the tradition alive with pumpkin carving and ghosts stories. Black cats, spiders and bats have all become symbols of the autumn celebration form America all the way to the Australian continent.
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NOMADSofORIGIN is an independent annual publication with a focus on sustainable travelling and global cultural values. Each issue features interviews, engaging articles and photo guides, which take our nomadic readers through different destinations and introduce them to local people's perspectives.
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