Baiame the Sky Hero
Classification: Creator God
Culture: Australian aboriginal
Period of worship: from antiquity
Biame is a creator god revered as the supreme being and instrument
of good. Principally by the Wiradyuri and Kamilaroi groups of aboriginals in
the southeast of Australia.
His voice is represented when the bull roarer native instrument
is swung. .
The Baiame story tells how Baiame came down from the sky to
the land and created rivers, mountains, and forests. He fashioned two men and
two women from the Red Earth of Australia He then gave the people their laws of life,
traditions, songs, and culture. He also created the first initiation site. This
is known as a bora; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had
finished, he returned to the sky and people called him the Sky Hero or All
Father or Sky Father
He is the father of Daramalan and is identified in the
Heavens by the Southern Cross
It was forbidden to mention or talk about the name of Baiame
publicly. Women were not allowed to see drawings of Baiame nor approach Baiame
sites—which are often male initiation sites (boras).
In rock paintings Baiame is often depicted as a human figure
with a large head-dress or hairstyle, with lines of footsteps nearby. He is
always painted in front view; Dharramalan is drawn in profile. Baiame is often
shown with internal decorations such as waistbands, vertical lines running down
the body, bands and dots.
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