Gulaga Creation Dreaming: Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison

Max Harrison is an Aboriginal Elder of the Yuin People who lived throughout the south coast of New South Wales.

He shared his cultural knowledge and on this weekend organised by The Sutherland Shire Citizens for Native Title Reconciliation. I was very fortunate to be introduced to Gulaga and the Creation Dreaming sacred site by Uncle Max and members of his family at Narooma, New South Wales. 

Here is Max’s book cover.

I took very few photographs of the weekend because of the sacred nature of our activities and rely here mostly on reproduced images from Uncle Max’s book that are the sites we visited.

The weekend was a journey that opened the eyes, ears and the ability to feel the spirit of the land.

What is especially important about the approach that Uncle Max takes when he introduces people to his country and its dreaming is the ceremonies.

For me these ceremonies were profound and facilitated access to the land with depth that I have not previously experienced. Essentially, Uncle Max gave us the keys to certain experiences for that weekend. Keys that we keep for when we return to the glorious mother. The place were all things begin, where knowledge is gained and healing found.  She is the spiritual mother who demands both fear and respect.

Uncle Max began the weekend on Friday night with an introduction to his country and 27 people introduced themselves to each other, and family members who represented 4 generations. I had the sense that Uncle Max was preparing us for something.

Saturday morning we headed out to the beach for sunrise at 6 am and he asked us not to eat or drink beforehand. You can see from the beginning of the hymn below why it was important not to eat before the ceremony.

The ceremony was greeting and gratitude for Grandfather Sun.  The hymn begins:

Thanking Grandfather Sun (1) 

Thank you for your light,

thank you for your warmth that

you will give me today,

thank you for the food that you have raised that I will have to eat.

We began our walk up the mountain after breakfast. Over 60 million years ago Gulaga was an active volcano and its peak was some 3 kms high. Now it is less than 1000m high but still dominates the Tilba landscape. It can be seen from almost everywhere in the region. We started at the village of Tilba at the base of the mountain.

We walked in silence and fairly soon we spread out. It was a steady incline. Uncle Max had shown us how to rest on big rocks to draw from the mountain, the mother. After an hour or so I felt that I was walking alone in a tunnel and my world was a bubble that contained the mountain.

The beautiful rain-forest surroundings often formed a canopy that gave the appearance of a tunnel. Closer to the top the mist came down from the clouds, appearing to come from the end of the tunnel.

We arrived at the saddle that was the junction between the 4 x 4 track from the other side of the mountain and the walking trail that we had taken. Uncle Max was bringing the lunch and the rest of our gear in his truck. We soon heard on the walkie talkie that he was blocked by a very large tree trunk lying across the track. By this time the clouds from above had merged with the mist and we waited in light rain. I walked further towards the summit as far as I could with a slippery and rough track and was met by deeper rain-forest. Stunning softness, barely there but nonetheless thick and encapsulating. The softness of the mother was how the mountain could be felt. Find the softness and you are in the space of the mountain.

The tree was eventually removed by a mysterious farmer who came to the rescue not once but twice. His farm was on the mountain and I like to think that the mountain told him where to go to find Uncle Max. After the tree was initially cleared the farmer left and Uncle Max and his crew encountered another very large tree lying all the way across the track nearer the top. After deciding that they should walk the rest of the way, the farmer mysteriously appeared again, to make sure that Uncle Max got to the top without problem. Another tree cleared and this time the farmer drove all the way to the end of the track to be sure that Uncle Max got to his appointment with us.

About 2 hours had passed while the trees were cleared. During that time we all simply let go and I think ultimately we surrendered to the mountain. Perhaps this was the wisdom of the delays. The ceremony to allow us to enter the sacred site in the care of the ancestors was profound. I think we all felt that this was a sacred moment in our journeys. During the walk through the ferns to the sacred site, I felt the importance of surrender, no expectations, and gratitude for all that was given.

From Max Harrison’s book pp. 19-20.

Up on Gulaga there are many rocks and tors that form a straight line and each one tells part of the story of all things. Each tor is a chapter in our Creation Story. 

My first vision of the sacred site was a platform floating somewhat above the ground. It was a well defined area containing a series of rock structures and trees. Here I understood something that Uncle Max had said earlier when I mentioned that the trees in the area felt unique to me on the drive through. At times I thought they could speak. Uncle Max added that the trees formed tribes. These trees had something to communicate.

Our first stop was Creation Rock where Uncle Max took us through an unforgettable sacred experience. For me a descent into the depths of the mountain. Deep, black and soft. A sense of return. There are still times when I find myself being drawn back to the spaces of this rock in my meditations. And other times when I am having difficulty finding my equilibrium, I find the space of Creation Rock and the disequilibrium is resolved.

From Max Harrison’s book p. 20:

The story starts with the first rock of connectedness; we call this the Energy Rock of Creation Rock. This rock tells how Daramah, the Great Spirit, created the heavens and the earth and all nature.

So much more took place that words cannot describe. Here is more from Uncle Max’s book. Pregnant woman’s rock below.

From Max Harrison’s book p. 22:

“The three rocks that sit on top of one another. These rocks are one of the most valuable things about Gulaga to me. When I am in trouble in my mind, body or spirit, my mind goes straight to these rocks. They show me where I come from, where I am now and where I am going to in the spirit world”.

From Max Harrison’s book p. 29:

“The Rainbow Serpent, who went underground and created all the rivers. Here he is coming up to look at all his good work. The story of the Rainbow Serpent is common to all Aboriginal Tribes”.

From Max Harrison’s book p. 29:

“The Whale Rock. Can you see him breaching? This rock signifies the whale coming up out of the water to spread his lore so we can understand more about the sea”.

The Whale take me directly to the final ceremony of the weekend. Sunday morning Uncle Max took us to a lagoon inlet to the beach where we participated in the Whale Dreaming Ceremony. Again, we were held in remarkable softness. Here are my snaps of that closing to our time with Gulaga and Uncle Max.

Our Saturday night sharing with Uncle Max revealed that each person had been touched deeply by the sacred site experience. A gift from the Yuin Ancestors of great magnitude.

Quotes from RW Emerson’s essay Nature (2) say more than I ever could about this experience.

“Nature is made to conspire with spirit to emancipate us”.

“The best moments of life are these delicious awakenings of the higher powers and the reverential withdrawing of nature before its God.”

Family members taught in the sacred ways by Uncle Max offer cultural tours at this website: http://www.ngaranaboriginalculture.com/

Here is an interview conducted with Uncle Max. I consider him a national treasure.

(1) First verse from the hymn ‘Thanking Grandfather Sun’ pp. 44-45.

(2) Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nature. PRS E Book. http://prs.org/wpcms/?page_id=8&category=58

My impressions of central Australia came from a trip which had essentially 3 phases and will result in 3 separate posts. This post is mostly about the first phase where we started at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The perfect beginning to the adventure. The presence of spirit there is massive and impossible to miss. Our discernment progressed each day as our subtle bodies became familiar with the ancient land energies and the seemingly endless array of beings. It was a tour of the cosmic ladder on a grand scale. Ancient presence holding the land, imprints of different ancient forces that shaped the land, Aboriginal ancestors minding the land and so much in between.

For me, exploring land energies in Australia in 2009 was a kaleidoscope of presence and forces and ultimately a journey into the consciousness of time. I doubt that there many places like this in the world today where the consciousness of time reflected through the land is so accessible.

From these places we can tune into Gondwana when Australia was connected to the western end of Tibet and parts of south east Asia. 600-500 million years ago Australia, Antarctia and India formed a nucleus of continents which gathered in the southern hemisphere. Another continental cluster, including components of Africa and South America, was also pushing southward. The two groups compacted into a single vast icepack of continents and shockwaves echoed through their linkages. This is referred to as a titanic jostling where Australia’s main internal seam gave way under the compression. It fractured and heaved into a chain of mountainous folds and overlaps that bisect the continent. This 2000 km birth scar of the supercontinent can still be seen in Australia.

This incredible force, a shockwave, crushed Australia and passed through Antarctica. One of the shockwaves reached Australia 640 million years ago. The effects were felt far inland, the evidence appearing mainly in central Australia. Over a period that might have lasted tens of millions of years this huge internal seam gave way once more, buckling and fracturing under the pressure, it gradually rose thousands of metres into the air, leaving the continent bisected by a 2000 km chain of snow capped peaks.

Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the remnants of debris from the intercontinental collision and joining of continents. These magical places commemorate the birth of Gondwana. (2)

We arrived at Uluru at sunset and were immediately pulled into what seemed a breathing organism that was Uluru. And it just happened to be the full moon.

In the morning, after a cold sunrise, we made our attempt to pay respects to the Anangu custodians of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We were incredibly fortunate. We took a cultural tour of the Mala walk run by the Anangu. That morning Happi Reid an Aboriginal Elder decided to be the Aboriginal guide for our tour. Apparently a rare event for this respected Elder to join this tour. We were honored to have her formally introduce us to the land of her people.

Tuning into Happi was a feast of vision. She held a beautiful connection above her head and walked gracefully on clouds. Everything about her was delicate and as gentle as a soft breeze. It was such a gift to meet her and be introduced to her world of spirit.

I loved Uluru. Its force was compelling and raw. We walked the base and sat and drank the presence where ever we could. Managed a few quiet tune-ins and meditations around the base of the rock but had a hard time getting away from the crowds. We of course did not attempt to climb the rock. The traditional land owners request that people do not climb and we respected their wishes.

Kata Tjuta was different. So soft and subtle and yet more powerful in a totally venusion way. Not nearly so many people go there and there is so much to see that they tend to be spread out so its relatively easy to find privacy to sit and tune in. We arrived for sunrise of course. Although my own view is that sunrise was a bit overrated. Sunset seemed much more active.

We started with the Walpa George walk has Mount Olga on one side. The force of the energy here really shook me. At times I had to hold onto something to prevent falling. Well there was a single block 7 km deep of presenced rock below me. Eventually we managed to sit and tune in at the end of the gorge and a beautiful presence arrived to help. From then I was fine.

The gorge is totally feminine and sexual.  At one end it reminds me of a cervix and at the other end a vagina. Phenomenal presence at the enclosed part where the two heads meet.

Next was the Valley of the Winds walk. An incredible experience, about 8 km in total going high up to the top of one of the ‘many heads’ and coming to the top of a valley that was breathing massive presence. Then climbing down into the valley which led into the centre of Kata Tjuta. We were in the belly of the presence and some magical stuff happened to our subtle bodies. Its only from the Valley of the Winds walk that you can get a true sense of the magnitude of Kata Tjuta above and below. It was clear to me when the 7 km of rock that had been beneath me was gone. A bitter-sweet parting.

Finally Kata Tjuta at sunset. From this angle it is just one tiny corner of the monolith that is this magnificent place.

(1) Samuel Sagan defines Land Energies as the way a place makes you feel.

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana

I am more than fortunate to have a spiritual teacher who reinforces the experience not the explanation, of which there are too many. Dr Samuel Sagan of the Clairvision School (www.clairvision.org) has influenced my understanding of land energies (1), how I engage them and how they can engage me.

From all that I have read and seen, I am confident that mystical experiences in nature have an awakening effect on us. Something inside wakes up, often spontaneously. Something usually hidden within us can be engaged. The Spirit within recognises the Spirit in Nature and we have beautiful experiences. But what is it in nature that evokes these experiences? Is nature inherently sacred? I think not always but sometimes the forces above and the forces below come together as something Divine. When we find that, we find something wondrous.

Where we take those experiences would seem to depend on ourselves. It can be a quiet interlude in an otherwise hectic life or an adventure into the relationship between the Land and the Spirit.

Unsurprisingly I prefer the later. For me exploring land energies awakens Devotion. Through the Spirit of the Land I remember more of who I am beyond the biped you can see here.

To open up this blog topic, one of massive wonders I recently visited seems an ideal choice. Here is something of the Grand Canyon in the spring of 2010. Vastness hardly describes it. Wind, snow and water created these magnificent canyons. The Colorado River is comparatively a tiny stream running at the bottom and yet over aeons that river has relentlessly has dug its way into the rocky landscape. For me, the Spirit of the river is what makes the canyon grand.

As a meditator, I often many temples in the land formations of the Canyon. This photo shows a team of trekkers beginning their descent into the Canyon. It is usually a day hike to the bottom depending on the route taken. This was my first visit and I did not take any of the hikes to the bottom of the Canyon. I think that was a mistake. While I was entranced by the vastness of the Canyon, I never really got beyond that sense. I think that taking one or two of the hikes would have given my a much more rich perception of the spaces and land energies that are there but pretty much eluded me. It was just too big for me to take in from an energetic standpoint. More to do there.

Not only the bipeds like myself are captivated by the Canyon. This critter appeared to be the master of all he surveyed.

I could not separate the Grand Canyon from the Colorado River. I felt it as a mighty but silent or perhaps hidden force that ruled the Canyon.

(1) Dr Samuel Sagan coined the term ‘Land Energies’ to describe non physical forces that are engaged in particular locations.

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