Aboriginal Sun-Woman Myth

The power of the sun has fascinated cultures throughout time. This awe has, in turn, led to the creation of sun myths. Of all these, none are more beautiful than the Australian Aborigine versions.

The first version is the most simplistic of the three versions, but it has held strong in the many tens of thousands of years it has been passed down. Three women would rise from the earth at a certain rock and the Sun-Woman would leave her sisters in order to travel across the sky.

The next version is very beautiful. This has the sun woman waking up in the east and lighting her fire. Then she creates a torch with which she will light up the sky. Before she leaves her camp, she carefully applies red and yellow ocher to her skin and then begins her course through the sky. As she leaves, she spills the ocher, which creates the sunrise. When she reaches the west, she freshens her decorations before she leaves for her underground trek. When she leaves, she spills her paints again and creates the sunsets we see. Her journey beneath us, warms the foliage and makes it grow and gets her back to the east where she makes camp and sleeps before she does it all again the next day.

The final version must begin before there was a sun. It tells of a desperate woman who leaves her son in a cave in order to find some food for him. Since the world was dark she became lost and wandered into the sky. To this day she lights her torch in the sky and wanders from east to west, looking for her son.

Many cultures have legends about the sun rooted in fertility and creation. The Aboriginal Sun-Woman tales do this while engaging the senses and tugging at the heart.