Tjurunga

It is, however, on the tjurunga that the most complex patterns are applied. The tjurunga are oval, pointed oval and circular slabs of wood or stone, flattened or slightly convex, and generally coated with red ochre. There are many different kinds, but their main function in the totemic and religious life of the tribes is that of an abode of the spirit of their owner, or of the species which is his or her totem. Power is exerted over both human beings and totems by means of magical religious rites in which the tjurunga play an important part; these ceremonies may be performed for the increase of food and other useful totems, for initiation purposes, and to portray the story of the spiritual ancestors of the clan.

The tjurunga, therefore, are extremely sacred objects. On them are incised designs in which the following elements are represented: concentric circles and portions thereof, such as the U-within-U figure, sets of parallel, straight, curved, and spiral lines, often encircling and twining in and about other elements, lines of chippings, rows and panels of dots, and tracks of birds and animals. In some instances the spiral ends in a series of concentric circles. In the western parts of Central and North Australia the concentric circles flatten and merge into concentric diamonds and squares; the three figures are to be seen on the bellbird totem tjurunga.

Each of the large number of totems has a distinctive traditional arrangement of the above elements which is never the same as that of another clan, for each pattern illustrates a story about the clan's own spiritual ancestors. A more remarkable example of the range of designs that may be assembled with so few elements, and to which different meanings are attached, could not be found.

According to Sir Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen the spirals and concentric circles usually represent the principal feature of the myth portrayed, such as the spiritual ancestor, places where he camped, went into or came out of the ground, distributed spirit children, waged battle with an enemy or rival, and so on. On one tjurunga they represent a frog, on others a tree, a waterhole, or other totem. A sinuous line may represent a snake, or the track of the witchetty grub ancestor, and it also occurs in the crane totem pattern. Wavy bands often, but not always, represent snakes. The curved U-within-U figures represent men sitting down; the number of U's denoting the number of men. The same elements might represent such various things as trees or tracks, frogs and their legs (frog totem), yams and their roots (yam totem), or individuals; thus their meaning is not constant, but varies with the totem.