What the Dreaming Means

The word "Dreaming" (or Dreamtime) is one of the most misread ideas in world art. It has nothing to do with sleep or make-believe. It names a vast framework of meaning in which ancestral beings shaped the land, set down the law, and gave every plant, animal, and person its place. Crucially, the Dreaming is not a finished myth from long ago — it is understood as ongoing, alive in the country right now.