Dreams of the Yir Yoront [western coasts of Cape York paeninsula]

by whom dream is sent

p. 14 "a dream may be "sent" by another person, but how this is done is never clear."

{Actually, because in every case it is clearly stated that the determination of from whom the dreams was "sent" is made on the basis of that person belonging to the totem of some emblem praesent in the dream, therefore it would appear that this ascription is an honorific implying that the dream was sent by the totem-deity on behalf of (in honor of) some person who is a member of that clan.}

deduction as to impending arrival of visitor

p. 105

example of dream involving clan-members [dream by woman] :- "Dream of ghost-with-septum-ornament. I dreamt that some men of the ghost clan ... came up and announced that a ghost-with-septum-ornament would come up to this camp."

resurrection of the dead

p. 56

"such resurrection occurs ... among the Kiwai and the Baiga, where 67% and 58% of all deaths in these two groups, respectively, are resurrected in much the same way as the Yir Yoront."

p. 61

"Suddenly I died from the fall. ... I defecated, though I was dead. I was hung up on a forked support with my head to the east. I was bound with cane grass. ... I stood alive (kun tin li). ... The cane grass was cut off me with a knife."

p. 65

"We were doing this Whistle duck dance. ... The corpse was up on the bank. The ghost turned up an eye. ... The corpse moved his lip, "aaap, aaap, aaap." ... The corpse said, "Aaaap, aaaap, aaaap" again. ... The corpse tried to stand up in the forked support."

pp. 71-2

[71] "I was climbing up a blood wood tree ... for honey ... Suddenly I fell off, turning over and over [like a windmill ...]. I fell down, dead. ... They took me away, tied me up, and cut my [72] knee tendons. I was suspended from the forked support and they eviscerated me. ... I was left behind and stood up. ... Perhaps someone sent the dream from ... south".

p. 74

"I’m making a forked support for the corpse [of a woman]. I saw [my sister’s] vagina. Her legs were far apart. {"my sister, was simply mourning the corpse."} ... The North people cut me up. They took my bones out. ... They ate my liver and flesh after cooking it. I came alive again. I had healed up but had no bones, which had been smashed up and the marrow eaten. My brains, bones, etc. were all eaten. Wil [also was eaten]. ... Women were jabbing sticks in their vaginas".

p. 77

"I died. I became alive again (kun tin>li). ... I went up to sky on ancestral rope."

p. 101

"I died. They left me on a sand beach. ... I came alive."

p. 106

"Buried her. Stood up alive. She walked along. Returned. Then she went down into the grave again.

p. 107

"There was a long corpse, pam kit tolot, up on the support. A dog was eating it. I chased away the dog. The corpse stood up alive. ... I call the corpse ... hermaphrodite".

p. 117

"We exchanged blows. We were struck dead. Then we stood up alive."

spirit of the dead

p. 60

"Spirit came into hut. ... Spirit went south ..."

p. 61

"the spirit (nger tui) ... visited him last night, bit him on the finger to wake him up, and then lay down with him and talked : "I’m dead."" {cf. p. 72 : "I dreamed about a water rat ... and the rat bit my finger."}

p. 75

"The two children belonged to the ghost, therefore they were ghosts too. ... I knew it was a ghost (wangar min-im) because I saw a crocodile ... Ghost has long fingernails, hair all over body".

p. 76

"She was in pain. Medicinal leaves were applied ... Wanger yo melam appears. ... It flies up, up and disappears. Swore at the ghost, "Pam yup" (skeleton). Wanger nger tu>i weler appeared. I saw it. ... The wanger yo melam had a stick in front of him".

p. 98

Adversary "changed into a ghost (wangar). He changed back and threw at me."

p. 102

"A tall old woman sat down. She had a knife. ... She tried to cut our bunch in the necks. The old woman chased us ... The old woman was a ghost (wangar waritz)."

p. 104

"A corpse in a forked support ... His viscera hung from his body to the ground. He had burst out. The body stood up as a ghost. ... Then we went south ... Ghost ... and I went along. We found a heap of coconuts on the ground. {[Vaidik] Varun.a, the god of coconuts, is also bailiff restraining the ghost of the dead} ... We all opened and ate them [including the ghost]. We had gotten used to the ghost. ... [The ghost] died again. He was hung up on forked support again. I folded up his knees. ... I was covered with black paint."

p. 105

[dream by woman :-] "I dreamed a great many min marl (ghost shadows) came flying at me, alighted on my back {cf. Bauddha expectation of male saints to be carried on the back of women, in remote future times}, and wrestled with me. ... Min marl are the shadows (mang) of dead men; they look like flying foxes (min liltin) and fly like them."

p. 112

"A bad ghost (wangar waritj) sat face to face opposite me. It was a bush ghost (wangar kar>alin). Many ghosts appeared and sat opposite me. ... The ghosts had a kind of grass (war pan) growing on their backs, arms, chests, and the rest of the body, like hair. ... They had small mouths, long finger nails, ugly faces. They were colored like grass. ... They hide in the bushes."

p. 114

"ghosts [variety which resides in tree holes]. ... Wiiiiii [sound of approaching ghost]. Ghost (wangar mo>pinowin) made a noise, "Tjau!!" He came with a shout. ... Ghost had a tremendous bag full of snakes. Min pu, min polt, min melngon, min ko>an, etc., etc., etc. ... I grabbed his neck, put it against a tree and cut head off. His head was separate. ... Many ghost came up. Same kind of ghosts. ... The ghosts took the severed head of the corpse and put it in a bag. ... They took the head back east".

{"resurrection of the dead" and "ghost" are really the same thing : on p. 104 the revived corpse is labeled "ghost". It would appear from this that every ghost is actually a revived corpse; whether the process of revival was witnessed (in the dream) or not.}

sexual behavior

p. 62

"She pinched my back [love gesture]. ... We copulated. ... The hole was a subterranean tunnel about a half mile long. ... In the tunnel we walked, ... then we returned. The tunnel was dark, it came into the light at the other end." {cf. p. 96 "I dug tunnel for flood water to drain off. ... An old woman ... had been digging with me."}

pp. 63-4

[63] "containers with wild turnip in it [sic!]. ... [64] An adolescent girl lay down. ... I stretched my erect penis. I stretched it a long way out. Penis very long stretched. Penis went into her labia. Trt! I copulated. ... I put my penis into her vagina without touching her [i.e., from a distance]."

p. 66

"I threw out for shark. ... The flood of water roared. ... The child ... pinched the skin of my arm. Then I grabbed her genitals. Put my hand right in. ... She became excited (walin). ... Then I got an erection. Her labia, her fat vagina, stretched out. Her labia became long. ... I began to copulate. She became more excited." "I awoke ... I went to sleep again kept on dreaming. ... Yirip [rain serpent] roared, MMmmmmmm. Rain is coming now." "

p. 70

"I dreamed about a girl. ... We ... copulated. The semen came (but I didn’t wake up)."

pp. 72-3

[72] "I dove down along a water-lily stem to get lily bulbs. ... [73] It was cloudy and cold. ... Then I dreamed I was asleep. A woman appeared. I copulated with the fat vagina."

p. 79

"She has been promiscuous (purpm)" with a man.

p. 84

"The woman was sighing or panting. We copulated. ... We kissed and sucked lips. ... There I manipulated the purpm (loose woman). Increase stones. I speared a cockatoo (temer). I struck down a bush cat, tak! ... I don’t wake up when I copulate in a dream."

p. 85

"I dreamed of a small girl bathing. ... We lay down. Tak (orgasm)!"

pp. 86-7

[86] "She ... spread her legs. ... She said, "Vagina! Copulate! Copulate now, now!" She opened her labia and her clitoris broke off. I left it to one side. Finished copulating. Tried to stick clitoris on again. She (kor par kawn-ur, i.e., clitoris possessor) said, "... it won’t fasten on again. ..." I kept ... trying to fasten it on. "It is fixed; [87] strong," I said. She spread her legs wider. I flicker her clitoris with finger ... There was much semen in the dream, but when I woke I could find none around. I never wake up wet after a dream of copulation. Some people do." {in Australia there is widespread belief that in mythic times women had long clitorides until these were amputated.}

p. 95

"A woman was walking alone. ... We lay down. Copulated. Her fat vagina was open [loose]. Copulated. I pulled it out. I went away. ... The woman came behind. ... I her vagina copulated, at night. Copulated. Tak!!"

p. 100

"I manipulated her vagina. With my fingers I tickled her vagina. (Kort yor mumelin.) ... I put my finger in her vagina. ... We both swelled up. We were dead. We both whispered to each other. We were on an island some distance out at sea."

pp. 114-5

[114]"I copulated vaginas. Copulated with three vaginas [three women]. ... Copulated, copulated, copulated. ... She sent me away. Copulated again. This time with [another woman]. Again I copulated with her. ... Copulated with another woman. ... [115] Copulated, copulated, copulated. Finished copulating. She went away. ... Sometimes I get semen with a dream, sometimes get semen and no dream."

p. 120

"I spread her legs, trt! I went between her legs. I put my penis in, trt! I copulated once, tak! ... A big fat shining vagina. I manipulated with my finger. ... Plenty of fat vagina. ... I again copulated with my penis. Copulated, tak! Her vagina was fat, her clitoris small."

pp. 121-2

[121] " "Copulate with my vagina," she said. ... I inserted my penis, trt! I copulated, tak! I kept on copulating. ... [122] I copulated with her vagina again."

storm

p. 63

"Made a fire. ... Lightning flashed out. ... A cockatoo sang out, "Ijen, tjen, tjen," and looked at me [as a storm warning]. Ta!! Lightning crack]. ... The lightning struck once. Once again it struck."

p. 80

"On a cold night I was walking along. ... Lightning struck near me. ... I speared a wallaby. ... I speared a sting ray."

weird being or malevolent magic

p. 71

"When going to sleep I saw a three-headed man. ... Feel as though capsizing or whirling around."

p. 85

"He strangled me by putting his foot on my neck. ... He took my magic blood. He ate it. ... He burned me with fire. Then I was alive."

p. 88

"A ngwul came down from the sky with a [rushing] noise. A water rat dog appeared and looked up at the noise. A cockatoo screamed in fright on seeing the ngwul. ... The ngwul came up, grabbed ..., and ascended into the sky with his rushing noise. The water rat dog followed the ngwul up.

Ngwul : class of ancestral supernaturals, ... belonging to Moiety I (pam bib). Rushing noise is characteristic; pam lul (moiety II) ngwul make noise like thunder and lightning."

p. 89

"I dream that I am asleep. During my sleep someone puts yetin [form of malevolent magic] through the lower parts of my fingers."

p. 107

"I went back to the place to wait for the ghost of the malevolent magician (wangar pam yorma). ... I saw the ghost. ... The crocodile was his."

animal

p. 72

" "wrestling" (nomele) with a crocodile."

p. 73

"Then I saw a water snake, which bit me in the neck. My jaw swelled up."

p. 75

"A pig was formerly lying dead. Pig stood up alive."

pp. 77-8

[77] "A poison snake bit my hand. ... Suddenly I died. ... I went away and stood up alive. My lips moved, without a sound {cf. movement of revived corpse’s lips, on p. 65} ... I went away through the sky country." [78] "Sky country is very fine. Animals".

p. 78

"arc tip (sting ray) belongs to (is totem of) half castes. Whites and half castes always send dream of sting ray."

pp. 81-2

[81] "A poison snake bit me. It bit me on the leg. ... I struck him down. .... I cooked him." [82] "I should have pricked my gum on waking ... This is done "to open your eyes," wake you up, make your neck light; otherwise you remain stiff, should also warm neck over fire."

p. 85

"I found it was Arcman [a variety of sting ray] I had struck. ... I had a sting ray pin hooked in my foot. I pulled it out. Blood ran out. I crawled long on my knees holding the pin".

p. 89

"A male turtle was copulating with a female turtle. She was underneath. He had a very long erection. ... The I saw two goanna copulating tail up."

pp. 89-90

[89] "I was bit on the foot by a scrub snake (min lar>ti). ... I died there ... I was put on a forked support. Everyone cried out, "He comes alive." " {"as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up" (Gospel according to John 3:14)} [90] "When I was dead I looked at my true life (kun). I as a live person looked at my own corpse (pam kit). Alive person [in a dream, looking at his own corpse] is like a manp or shadow."

p. 95

"I saw a poison snake. ... I broke off its head. I threw it to the east."

p. 106

"Martiyar wuram (ghost) swam over. Crocodile carried the ghost away and put him inside a tree hole. ... A sting ray stuck me in the leg. I pulled out the barb ... I stood up well [sound]. ... Martiyar wuram – ghost which "stops along [lives] inside fish." "

p. 108

"A leech fastened on to my penis ..."

p. 109

"A crocodile ... struck my leg. My leg broke off, leaving the bone. ... I stood up cured."

pp. 110-1

[dream by a woman :-] [110] "I was being eaten by a saltwater crocodile in my home country ... I was dead. " [111] "I was crying out in my sleep, frightened."

p. 112

"Crocodile ... grabbed me and pulled me to down so that I knelt on the bottom. I came out ... Poison snakes two I struck. They went into their hole".

p. 119

"Swimming across. A crocodile which I could not see grabbed my thigh. He took it away. ... I had only one leg."

   

airplane

p. 82

"Plane landed on the water. ... I have never seen put lon (plane)."

p. 94

"Airplane cane along in the sky. It fell down on the plain ... with much buzz and crash. ... I was in the plane still. Put plane together again. ... The plane was very red."

reaching sky

p. 90

"I stretched my legs out and out, (in my sleep) extending them to the sky. Sky made a noise Pirrrrr."

p. 91

"I went up to the sky. Looked like canvas. I hoisted myself and canvas, like a sail, hand over hand. ... I went up to the sky ... alone, someone ... threw rope down."

pp. 99-100

[99] "I climbed high up the magic rope. ... The rope was like a ladder. ... At the top were two ropes; it was flat between, one could walk along as on a path. ... I dove in the water. ... I stood on an island on the other side. ... [100] I didn’t reach the Sky Country. I walked along the rope half way between earth and sky. ... I climbed the rope like a possum."

p. 102

"I climbed a high tree and was able to grasp the Sky Country. I saw some water and went along a sand ridge. [There were some] logs lying flat, and I walked along on top of them, then got off them."

p. 106

"The dream action occurred in the Sky Country."

ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES, No. 1 = David M. Schneider & Lauriston Sharp : The Dream Life of a Primitive People. American Anthropological Association, 1969.