Aboriginal Folklore

Recently I've been carrying Aboriginal Legends - Animal Tales by AW Reed around in my handbag to read whenever I get a moment. The tales are fascinating, but often seem inexplicable in the way that the different animals interact with each other and with humans. That and the fact that animals often become human and vice versa. There's certainly a closeness to nature inherent in the stories.
I remember seeing an exhibition of Aboriginal art several years ago and again I found it very beautiful and interesting but there were layers of meaning that would take a lot of study for me to unravel. The beautiful Aboriginal film Ten Canoes was showing briefly in Edinburgh and that offered another insight into the Aboriginal culture, concentrating this time on storytelling and the morality of human relationships.

I'm always fascinated by different cultures and its sad that 'progress' so often seems to not only destroy nature but also our connection with nature. We could have a lot to learn from that aspect of aboriginal culture.