Dreams In Aboriginal Beliefs

Dreams In Aboriginal Beliefs Like other religions, Aboriginal belief includes when things were created. They believe that their Ancestral Beings created land forms and animals plants. The Aboriginal word for this Creation Period varies according to each linguistic region throughout Australia. Aboriginal people often interpret dreams as being the memory of things that happened in this Creation Period. Dreams are important to Aboriginal people as it is a time when they are transformed back to their ancestral time. This connection of dreams to to the Creation Period has led to the commonly used term The Dreamtime to describe the time of creation in Aboriginal religion. The Dreamtime does not mean that a person is dreaming but it is a reference to the Creation Period. Definition of Dreaming The Dreamtime, or the Dreaming as it is sometimes referred to as, has no beginning or end but links the past with the present to determine the future. Dreaming stories explain the truth from the past together with a Code of Law for the present. The Dreaming or Tjukurrpa also means to see and understand the law as translated from the Arrernte language. Dreaming stories pass on important knowledge, cultural values and belief systems to later generations. Aborigines have maintained a link with the Dreaming from ancient times by expressing dreaming stories through song, dance, painting and story telling. Every part of Aboriginal culture is full of legends and beings associated with the Dreamtime. Each tribe has many stories, often containing a moral or a lesson to be learned, about duties, animals, plants and other beings. These stories are told to children, talked about campfires, and are sung and acted out during ceremonies. The Dreaming means our identity as people. The cultural teaching and everything thats part of our lives here you know? .. its the understanding of what we have around us. (Merv Penrith Elder, Wallaga Lake, 1996) Today we know where the Ancestral Beings have been and where they came to rest. The Dreaming explains how people came to Australia and the links between the groups throughout Australia. Connection between Dreaming, Land and Identity In essence, the Dreaming comes from the land. In Aboriginal society people do not own land but rather the land is part of them and it is their duty to respect and look after the land. The Dreaming did not cease when the Europeans arrived in Australia but just entered a different phase. Dreaming stories connect theories of occupation to the Aborigines close relationship with the land. This is often described by Aboriginal people when they talk about the land as my Mother. Aboriginal people believe that the same spirits who created the land, sea, waterways and life are involved with the conception and birth of a child. There is a direct link between Ancestral Beings and life. Land is fundamental to the well-being of Aboriginal people. For Aborigines the land is not just rocks or soil or minerals but it is the whole environment that sustains the people and is sustained by the people and culture. For Aboriginal people the land is the centre of all spirituality. This relationship between the land and the people continues to be central to the issues that are important to Aboriginal people today. Australian Aborigines were originally hunters and gathers with each clan or tribe having its own territory from which they gathered all they needed to live. These territories or traditional lands were contained by geographic boundaries such as rivers, lakes and mountains. Aboriginal people understood and cared for the different environments and adapted to them. Example of a Dreaming Creation story and significance to Aboriginal people Once the Ancestor Beings had created the world they changed the stars, rocks, watering holes and other objects into sacred places. These sacred places have special properties. The Ancestral Beings did not disappear at the end of the Dreaming but, according to Aboriginal belief, they remained in these sacred places. This concept of the presence of the Ancestral Beings with the land reinforces the idea that the Dreaming is never ending and links the past and the present, the people and the land. Our story is in the land . it is written in those sacred places . My children will look after those places. Thats the law. (Bill Neidjie, Kakadu Elder) The Creation or Dreaming stories, which relate the travels of the spiritual ancestors, are integral to Aboriginal spirituality. Mens and womens stories are often separated in Aboriginal culture. Knowledge of the law and Dreaming stories is passed on at different periods of life for Aboriginal people. The serpent as a Creation Being is perhaps the oldest continuing religious belief in the world. It dates back several thousand years. The Rainbow Serpent is part of Dreamtime stories of many Aboriginal nations and is always linked with watercourses such as billabongs, rivers, creeks and lagoons. The Rainbow Serpent is the protector of the land, its people and the source of all life. However, the Rainbow Serpent can also be a force that destroys if it is not respected. The most common version of the Rainbow Serpent story relates that during the Dreaming the world was flat, bare and cold. The Rainbow Serpent slept under the ground with all the animals tribes in her belly waiting to be born. When the time came she pushed up and called all the animals to come from their sleep. She pushed the land out, making rivers and lakes. She made the sun, the fire and all the colours. The Gagudju people believe the Rainbow Serpent was called Almudji and was a major creature being. It made passages through rocks and created waterholes. Today they believe, Almudji is still a creator as it brings the wet season each year. This causes all forms of life to multiply and it appears in the sky as a rainbow. However, they also believe that Almudji is also to be feared as he can punish anyone who breaks the law by drowning them in floods. The Gagudju people still believe that Almudji lives in a pool under a waterfall. The Jowoyn people of the Katherine Gorge area of the Northern Territory relate how the Rainbow Serpent slept under the ground until she awoke in the Dreaming. She pushed her way to the surface and travelled the land, sleeping when she was tired. She left behind her winding tracks and the imprint of her sleeping body on the ground. When she had finished travelling the earth she returned and called all the frogs to come out but they were slow because their bellies were full of water. The Rainbow Serpent tickled their bellies and when they laughed, water flowed out their mouths and filled the tracks and hollows left by the Rainbow Serpent, so creating rivers and lakes. This woke all the animals and plants who then followed the Rainbow Serpent across the land. Traditional Aboriginal rituals and significance of these to Aboriginal people Ceremonial ceremonies are seen as the core of cultural life for Aboriginal people. Small ceremonies, or rituals, are still practised in some remote areas of Australia. These rituals take the form of chanting, singing, dancing or ritual action to ask the Ancestral Beings to ensure a good supply of food or rain. The most important ceremonies are connected to initiation of boys and girls into adulthood. These ceremonies can last for weeks with nightly singing and dancing, story telling and use of body decorations and ceremonial objects. During the ceremonies, songs and dances about Ancestral Beings are told. Some of these are for women and children to see and hear while others are restricted just to initiates to learn. Another important ritual is on the death of a person. Aboriginal people cover their bodies with white paint, cut themselves to show sorrow for the loss of their loved one and take part in a number of rituals, songs and dances to help the persons spirit leave and return to its birth place where it can be reborn. Burial rites differ throughout Australia. People are buried in parts of southern and central Australia but have a different burial in northern Australia. In northern Australia a burial has two stages with each accompanied by ritual and ceremony. The primary burial takes place when the body is placed on a raised wooden platform, covered with leaves and branches and left for several months so the flesh rots from the bones. The secondary burial occurs when the bones are collected, painted with red ochre and then scattered in different ways. Sometimes a relative will carry some of the bones with them for a year or more. Sometimes they are wrapped in paperbark and placed in a cave. In parts of Arnhem Land the bones are placed in a large hollow log and left in the bush. Conclusion All parts of Aboriginal culture contain many legends and beings associated with the Creation Period or Dreamtime. Each tribe has its own stories, often with a lesson to be learned from the story, about the Creation Period spirits, animals, plants and other beings. These stories are told to children and at different ceremonies throughout the life of an Aborigine to ensure that the Dreamtime is passed on to each generation.

Family and community Essay

Several factors influence student’s learning. These may be enumerated as individual experiences, talents, and prior learning, as well as language, culture, gender, health, family, and community. It is essential to understand and analyze these factors to make successful students from the perspective of the teacher. Individual experiences Individual experiences of students influence student learning as it is only through the use of meaningful information, personal experiences and the student’s thoughts and beliefs that they can develop their knowledge and enhance their learning strategies and cognitive skills. Their experiences and responsibilities make them goal oriented and they contribute to their individual learning. Through their experiences, they will be able to access their preference of learning and its pace. However, as these preferences may not always help them, the educators must help them with their experiences and preferences and modify whenever required. Experiences also create individualism and differences among the students. Thus, the educators must be sensitive to their differences and allow them to adapt in their own ways, building their individual approaches and strategies. As the student learns to relate new information with his or her experience, his knowledge broadens and deepens. As we will learn later on, individual experiences, both academic and personal, builds our prior knowledge, which is very important for the students and effects student learning. (Edelman, 2005) Talents Some individuals are born with and some develop their individual talents and capabilities. The talent of an individual determines the nature of the relation among his new experiences and new information gathered. Thus, his talent can reorganize, modify and even add to his existing knowledge. However, there is some distinction among talent and giftedness. While giftedness requires one to possess and use his spontaneously expressed and completely untrained natural abilities or gifts or aptitudes so that he can be among the best in his age group, on the other hand talent requires the capability to systematically develop knowledge and skills or abilities in one field so that the child can be above others in his age group. Thus, talent influences the learning abilities of a child greatly. As talents are nothing but natural anilities of a child, faster and easier learning processes help to develop greater natural abilities or talents in a student. Talent affects the intelligence of a student, which determines his ability to reason things. A student’s talent also motivates him to perform better than the others helping in his learning process. (Kar, 2006) Prior learning A student’s prior learning affects his capabilities, approaches and strategies thus, influencing his learning abilities. As said earlier new knowledge needs to be integrated with the student’s prior knowledge to increase his learning abilities. Nevertheless, if the student does not have any prior knowledge then this integration will not take place isolating the new knowledge, which the student will not be able to utilize in his new tasks. In addition, those students who have some idea about a certain topic learn faster than others do. They can readily link their prior knowledge to the new one infusing them to increase their knowledge database. Prior knowledge also generates curiosity and interest in the student to learn more thus, helping him in his learning. Students also learn faster and can remember things better if they can link new information to an appropriate prior knowledge. This mainly helps during examinations. The students also listen to their educators and pay better attention increasing their learning. Prior learning definitely influences student learning since it builds up self-esteem in the student and they find themselves in familiar grounds when attending a lecture. In addition, the process of learning begins with prior knowledge and proceeds with newly presented information. In addition, if the students do not have any understanding or knowledge about what they are learning they may become frustrated feeling inadequate and unsuccessful. (Edelman, 2005) Language A student’s language greatly affects his learning abilities. As most of the students are proficient in their native languages, they are more comfortable when taught in the same language. They understand more and thus, are able to learn more. Nevertheless, they also need to learn the universally dominant language, English, even if it may be difficult for some students to learn. All the educators may not be proficient in the student’s native language and thus, if he is not able to understand the language used in the lectures he will be left behind in his studies. Thus, there should be a common language of interaction between the students and educators and among the students themselves so that they can communicate with each other. Thus, the more the student is academically sophisticated in his language skills the easier it will become for him to increase his abilities and knowledge. (Fletcher, 2005) Culture Culture includes religion, ethnicity, socio-economic background and even at times gender. Thus, it is evident that culture definitely affects student learning. Their individual experiences in their early years and values of their cultures affect their process of learning. As students remember and learn things faster when they can relate new information to prior knowledge, if they can link their classroom instructions to their experience and culture they will be able to familiarize with the topic faster. In addition, students having same cultural backgrounds have similar styles of learning and can thus, help each other to learn and perform better. This is also important as sharing information increases ones knowledge database. A child’s roots and cultural values and experiences affect his academics and learning process as it makes them independent in their thinking and open to learning new things. It also affects their accuracy, objectivity, analytical thinking and independence. Their values and cultures transform into their learning experiences increasing their knowledge, aptitude and thinking and improve their learning abilities making them better competitors. A student’s personal and cultural experiences also influence his language, which plays an important role in his learning abilities. (Kar, 2006) Gender Gender is also one of the factors that mildly influence a student’s learning process. Sometimes not only the gender of the students affect their learning process but also the gender of the teacher. This is because most of the times, female educators consider male students inattentive and disruptive and female students are a little hesitant to approach male educators. Also sometimes, the educators prefer only male or female students in their class depriving the other sex valuable instructions. It has also been seen that since female students outscore the male ones, the educators prefer to teach the female students. However, this can have negative affects on the learning process of the male students who deserve equal opportunities. Nevertheless, it has also been seen that most of the boys attend their educational institutions less than the girls attend and thus, sometimes fall behind the girls in their academics. On the other hand, in some communities the girl students are not allowed to attend schools and colleges due to their culture. This affects the learning process of the girl students who, even if they are interested in learning, are not allowed to do so. Sometimes the gender of the educator affects communication between the student and teacher as some students pay more attention and give better performance if taught by a teacher of the same gender. However, the gender of the educator does not matter as long as the educator is able to support and recognize the talent in the students and the students are able to learn from them effectively. (Edelman, 2005)

Steinbeck Model of “Paradox and Dream: Personal Essay

Victims of Love One of the generalities most often noted about Victims of Love is that we are impatient, incomplete, and unsatisfied once we discover what love is and that is possible for anyone to have. We complain when we want it, yet take it for granted when it’s ours. We say we cannot stand to live with our lovers, yet we proclaim it is unbearable to live without them. We claim to be strong and fearless, but in the face of love we fall weak to our knees with open arms reaching for all it has to offer. Love is endless, limitless, and powerful beyond measure.It has the ability to give you the best feeling no one other thing can, yet it has the power to hurt you beyond compare to anything else. We claim love is blinding to those lucky enough to have it, but are we really blind? Can we really not see beyond love’s overwhelming nature, or do we choose to not see the bad because its potential to be such a wonderful thing outweighs its negative qualities and its faults? On ce we fall victim to love and all it’s worth, an untamed fire is lit beneath the deepest layer of our hearts, burning brightly until greeted by the only conquerer of love- death.As we as victims of love believe, when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. We, as greedy, impatient people chase after love when we want it, yet we fail to realize we don’t find love, love finds us. We can choose who we hate, but we cannot control who we love. We love those who hurt us, but hurt those who love us. Victims of Love want to grasp onto love once they find it and never let it go, yet we learn that if you love someone, you have to set them free. We long to always be with those we love yet we are blind to see that distance makes the heart grow fonder.Because of this, we are left asking ‘what? ’. What is so addicting about love? Do we love imperfection, love to feel wanted, love the vision of love that ends with a happily ever after? I t is often portrayed that you cannot love what you do not know, yet, according to Paul Valery, it would be impossible to love anything or anyone completely because love is directed towards what lies hidden in its presence. We, as living paradoxes, fear the unknown, yet we have a passion and curiosity to know what lies beyond our existing knowledge.We search for our perfect vision of love, and we are disappointed with our results. We fail to see that true love doesn’t come by finding a perfect person, but by finding an imperfect person and learning to love them perfectly. We question to why sometimes love fails, but we make no effort to see it was our fault because we have failed to love. We are slaves to pleasure and pain once we have it, and use love as a motivation to find it. We try to make sense of love and the feelings that overcome us and thus become incapable of feeling it.We foolishly live a life for love instead of a having a life with love. When we have love, we fee l we do not need anything else and when we do not have it, we feel nothing else we have really matters. To have love is to have faith; those with little faith have little love and those with a lot of faith have a lot of love. We search for love with our thoughts and eyes and forget that love lies beyond what we see and think; it exists where we feel, it exists in our hearts. Love is a strange thing; it requires no inquisition, just acceptance.Love is an inevitable force of nature. We can choose to avoid it or choose to surrender to it, either way, it strikes back like lightening, unpredictable and irrefutable. Love does not come in favor of our own stipulations and conditions, hut it comes independently of our desires and wishes as does the moon, stars, and darkness of night with no regards to the day. Just as we may obtain the ability to control the time of night and day, we risk damaging a balance of laws without fully knowing the consequences of our intentions.In the same way, we practice elements of love, such as marriage or intercourse, yet we are left dismayed and puzzled, angered and suffering, questioning as to if our reason behind our insensible actions was truly love after all. We dream of a love inexplicable beyond words-one that proves without it, we are merely individuals limited to our ability of what we can do, but with it the boundaries are limitless with possibility at its fingertips. Our dream lies beyond not only understanding what love is, but also learning the ecret to keep its burning flame lit with passion and all the qualities that make for a perfect, successful expression of all that love is. We say we wish for a love without any pain, but how can we measure the power and endurance of that love if it only endures the easy road of life? What we truly, honestly long for is a love that shows its strength, surpassing even the most difficult obstacles and the harshest pain and coming out victorious, proving to us that in the end, love does conquer all.

Moving to a New City Make this Change to Your LinkedIn Profile

Moving to a New City Make this Change to Your LinkedIn Profile More than 1Â  out of 10Â  people moved last year. Our economy is becoming more and more fluid, and the job market is changing with it. But if you know you want to move to Chicago next year, and are starting to hunt for jobs there, make sure to change your LinkedIn profile to reflect your desired job location, not your current home. Why?First of all, companies want local candidates. They don’t necessarily want to shell out to move anyone or make the effort to recruit people who are settled elsewhere. Even if you’d eventually need to negotiate moving expenses, change your location to be in the same area as your dream job. The rest can be accomplished and explained once you get the interview.Companies are also worried that they (and you) will take the time and energy and resources to relocate, and then you might not like your new city or your new job. Time, energy, and resources wasted. Given the risks, most companies start searching locally first before expanding their net.Recruiters might even search for possible candidates solely based on LinkedIn searches by zip code. You could be left out of the game before you even realize.If you want to make a career change that involves a move, start online! Make sure you can be found by the people who can help you make that happen.Use the Location Where You Want to Work on Your LinkedIn Profile

The New Economy essays

The New Economy essays Medieval guilds and merchants were subject to local regulations, and usually worked within limited areas. Because most prices were fixed, and the business was small, most of the masters of the workshops made very little profit. Whatever profit he could manage, was used to upkeep his shop, and take care of his family. The ideas of unlimited surplus and expansion of capital had not yet been introduced. The displacement of guild control allowed enterprising merchants to take over industry. They brought in raw materials and hired semi-skilled workers. The workers were paid, but the overall ownership of the enterprise and products stayed with the merchants. They sold the finished product in the international market at whatever price they could. Any profits that were yielded belonged to the merchants, not the workers. Profit seeking is one of the major reasons businesses and industries strive for success in todays society. Companies and entrepreneurs have learned about partnerships and their values by looking back on the successful family firms of the fifteenth century. They have also learned about the importance of the way they treat their laborers. Once profit seeking became the major drive behind business and industry, ideas such as reinvesting and expansion were born. These two basic ideas are the basis of our capitalistic society today. The downside appeared to be the limitations that were imposed upon the workers. The workers were paid at a low rate, and had absolutely no say in the manner in which the business was conducted, and were prohibited by law to organize or strike. This destroyed master worker relationships that existed in the past, and put a limitation on the workers creativity. I believe this to be the reason that the us vs. them atmosphere is still present in the workplace today. In all, I believe that the turn to unlimited profit seeking was by far a b ...

Identify a corporate situation that could disturb you as a manager Essay

Identify a corporate situation that could disturb you as a manager. Evaluate the situation and use marketing research methodolo - Essay Example It also stages quarterly fashion shows to showcase their new styles of children’s clothes. The company explored internet and social media advertising to boost their sales and indeed, sales increased more than 100% in just one year. The report shows evidence that advertising through Google ads, Facebook, Twitter and other internet websites can be very effective marketing strategies to gain more profits for a small business such as Twinkles Children’s Gear. ... This development provides much hope for small and medium enterprises to widen their exposure and reach a bigger market. Twinkles Children’s Gear is a small enterprise that sells customized clothes for aged children (7-12 years). Established in 2010, it is a relatively new company that has thrived on traditional marketing to sell their products. They stage fashion shows in hotels to show their new line of clothes on a quarterly basis and advertise these shows in local newspapers, posters and distributing leaflets in local shops, fast food outlets, schools, clinics and establishments catering to children and their parents. The manager of the business found the advertising strategies too time consuming and inconvenient and even encountered difficulty in securing permits for signage. Hence, they were ambivalent in posting signs everywhere to advertise their business. At the same time, expenses in staging fashion shows were getting higher. This pushed them to explore internet adver tising to supplement their present marketing strategies. Traditional advertising methods brought them more business as it was able to stir up interest from customers that it kept them coming back or calling for more information regarding show dates, studio location, new styles, etc. When they began exploring the internet as a possible platform for marketing, they found out that possibilities were endless. Upon setting up their first website, they were able to direct their potential customers to it for more in-depth information. At the end of the same year, they promoted their website with Google ads by paying for web hits. This caused traffic on their site to dramatically increase

Global Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global Business Strategy - Essay Example The study also includes the opportunities and the threats that might be faced by the organisation due to globalisation. It also highlights the varied assets and resources of the organisation, which has helped in expanding its functions in global markets. The study also aims to spotlight the numerous issues of Valero Energy Corporation that must be condensed in order to prosper and to sustain in future among other competing organisations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 History and Internationalisation Process of Valero Energy Corporation 4 Current External Environmental Conditions 5 Industrial Conditions 6 Resource Audit of Valero 7 Identification and Evaluation of Firm’s Current Strategy 8 Analysis of Strategic Approach of Valero to the Global Management of Its Operations 11 Issues Faced By Valero 12 Recommendations 13 References 16 Bibliography 20 History and Internationalisation Process of Valero Energy Corporation Valero Energy Corporation is one of the largest and autonomous oil refineries of the United States. It is a reputed brand and a Fortune 500 corporation with its head office located in San Antonio of Texas. Valero is the producer and the marketer of transportation oil along with varied other petrochemical products. Along with refining, it also functions in two other segments namely retail and ethanol. In addition, Valero encompasses and functions with the help of 15 refineries throughout the entire United States, Canada, Caribbean and the United Kingdom. With the help of the acquisition of the refineries, Valero produces a capacity of approximately 2.9 million barrels of oil every day. The prime objective of Valero is to offer its customers clean and sterile fuel and other petroleum products in order to enhance its consistency and dependency (Valero Marketing and Supply Company, 2012). Valero is a leading manufacturer of ethanol as well encompassing of a capability of generating about 1.1 billion gallons each year in order to satisfy the needs and the demands of its consumers. Valero is one of the foremost retail operators of refined fuels and markets its products on a wholesale basis throughout bulk and rack networks along with 6,800 retail outlets named as Valero, Beacon and Diamond Shamrock. The organisation was established in the year 1980, with the aim to diversify itself into an international conglomerate operating in oil and gasoline sector. Valero started its operation as a spinoff of a Coastal States Gas Corporation and is also recognised as the global manufacturer and dealer of transport fuel (Valero Marketing and Supply Company, 2012). Valero is a vehicle of advancement which always attempts to enhance its business operations throughout the world with the help of varied mergers and acquisitions such as Basis Petroleum Inc, Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and Pembroke Refinery. This strategy has mainly resulted due to the increasing demand of fuel in the eme rging markets across the globe in order to develop and update their economies along with sluggish growth rate of oil in the markets of the United States. It is one of the most imperative strategic challenges faced by Valero, which forced the management to undertake this tactical step. It proved quite beneficial for Valero to augment its international functioning resulting in improvement of its net revenue to US$ 125,987 million in the year 2011 as compared to US$ 82,233 million in 2010 (Valero Marketing and Supply Company, 2012). Moreover, the operating income also enhanced to US$ 31, 293 in 2011 from US$ 20, 561 in the year 2010 (Valero Energy Corporation, 2010). Thus, international business dealings helped Valero to augment its brand identity and equity among other competitors of this segment in the global market. The objective of the