The Power of Words
Understanding that words and songs have power to affect reality.
In Aboriginal worldview, words are not merely descriptive but creative and powerful. Songs sung during the Dreaming created the world; songs sung properly today maintain that creation. This understanding imbues language with sacred responsibility.
A word once spoken goes out into the world and does its work.
This understanding parallels concepts of performative language in philosophy.
Oral Tradition
Written about in
- What Aboriginal tradition says about what to leave unsaid
Words in this tradition are not descriptions but actions: the Dreaming was sung into existence, and songs sung properly today are held to maintain that creation. If speech does work, the question is never only whether a thing is true, but what saying it will do.