Aboriginal Astrology and Cosmology in Victoria and Australia: Stars, Law, and Influence
Across Victoria and Australia, Aboriginal peoples have gazed at the night sky for tens of thousands of years, incorporating cosmology into their laws, ceremonies, and daily lives (Hamacher, 2012; Stanbridge, 1857). While “astronomy” describes the careful observation of stars and planetary movements, “astrology” points to the ways these celestial forces are believed to influence human lives, spiritual balance, and ecological rhythms.
Aboriginal astrology is not the same as the zodiac systems of Babylon, Greece, or India. Instead, it is rooted in Dreaming cosmology, where stars, planets, and even dark spaces in the Milky Way are ancestors, lawgivers, and teachers (Hamacher & Frew, 2010). These celestial beings influenced birth, marriage, hunting, and ceremony, linking human fate to the wider cosmos.
The Cosmological Foundations
The Dreaming in the Sky
The Dreaming is not only inscribed on land but also written in the sky. Ancestral beings such as Bunjil the eagle, Waang the crow, or Tchingal the emu are seen as constellations or dark shapes in the Milky Way (Stanbridge, 1857; Hamacher, 2012). Their movements encode laws of behaviour, seasonal change, and spiritual guidance.
Time as “Everywhen”
Unlike Western astrology, which assigns personality traits at birth based on star signs, Aboriginal astrology situates human life within cycles of stars and seasons (Norris et al., 2013).
When someone is born, totems, clan duties, and spiritual “gifts” may be tied to celestial alignments.
When ceremonies are held, stars dictate timing for initiation, corroborees, or tanderrum (Barwick, 1998).
When harvesting occurs, constellations signal when to take eggs, catch eels, or hunt kangaroos (Clarke, 2009).
Thus, the sky is a calendar, a moral code, and a mirror of human destiny.
Aboriginal Astrology in Victoria
Tchingal – The Emu in the Sky
In Boorong (Wergaia) traditions, the dark dust lanes of the Milky Way form Tchingal, the Emu (Stanbridge, 1857; Hamacher & Frew, 2010).
When stretched across the sky in autumn, it signalled emu egg-laying season.
When crouched in winter, it warned that eggs must not be taken, reflecting the laws of sustainability and ethics.
Here, astrology functioned as practical law: human behaviour was aligned with celestial movements to ensure ecological and spiritual balance.
Bundjil – The Eaglehawk
For the Kulin Nations, Bundjil, the creator eagle, lives in the stars, watching over the people. His position in the sky was interpreted as guidance, influencing kinship, warfare, or ceremony (Broome, 2005). Bundjil’s celestial presence reinforced ethics — courage, care for Country, and responsibility to kin.
Purra – The Kangaroo in the Sky
Purra, a giant kangaroo, appears in constellations near the Southern Cross. For Kulin and Wadawurrung peoples, its appearance marked hunting cycles. Births during Purra’s prominence were sometimes said to link a child to kangaroo spirit qualities — endurance, swiftness, and resilience (Hamacher, 2012).
Wadawurrung Star Knowledge
The Wadawurrung, whose Country includes Geelong, Ballarat, and the Bellarine Peninsula, drew upon constellations for law and ceremony (Clark, 1990). The Wadawurrung people of Victoria hold one of the most significant pieces of Aboriginal cosmology in Australia: the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement, located near Little River.
Astronomical Alignment: Wurdi Youang is a carefully arranged oval of basalt stones, some up to 1.5 metres high, aligned with the setting sun at the solstices and equinoxes (Norris, Hamacher & Abrahams, 2013). This indicates a deep observational knowledge of solar cycles, predating many other global observatories.
Bunjil and Law: For the Wadawurrung, Bunjil the Eaglehawk creator is often associated with the sky, watching over people and ensuring that law and ceremony are upheld. Oral traditions describe celestial beings as overseers of tanderrum ceremonies (welcome gatherings), linking stars and diplomacy (Clark, 1990).
Seasonal Cycles: The timing of eel migrations in the Barwon River and harvesting cycles on the Bellarine Peninsula were guided by celestial markers, including the appearance of constellations such as Purra (the kangaroo) and Tchingal (the emu) (Hamacher, 2012).
Cultural Continuity: Today, the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation continues to reference the night sky in cultural education, teaching how Wurdi Youang and stellar cycles are part of living law.
This case study highlights how Wadawurrung cosmology blends astronomy, astrology, and ceremony into one framework — where the stars are both scientific markers and ancestral presences guiding social, ecological, and spiritual balance.
Influence on the Human World
Aboriginal astrology was not about individual horoscopes but collective influence:
Seasonal births: Children born when certain stars rose were connected to totems or clan roles (Hamacher, 2012).
Marriage rules: Moieties (e.g., Bunjil and Waang) had celestial correspondences, reminding people that stars reinforced social law (Broome, 2005).
Dreaming visions: Elders sometimes received messages from ancestors via stars or meteors, seen as spiritual signs (Hamacher & Frew, 2010).
Colonisation and Suppression
Colonisation fractured Aboriginal cosmology:
Missions replaced celestial Dreaming stories with biblical cosmologies (Broome, 2005).
Star knowledge was dismissed as superstition, while oral traditions were suppressed.
Dispossession from land also meant disconnection from the skies above, as stars were always read in relationship to Country (Norris et al., 2013).
Yet fragments survived. William Stanbridge’s 1857 records of Boorong astronomy preserved key constellations, and oral traditions maintained by Elders continue to keep Aboriginal astrology alive.
Global Comparisons
Aboriginal astrology resonates with world traditions while remaining unique:
Greek and Babylonian astrology: stars as gods influencing human fate.
Māori traditions: Matariki (Pleiades) marking seasonal harvest, similar to Victorian Aboriginal star calendars (Hamacher, 2012).
Hindu cosmology: planetary cycles influencing karma and destiny echo Aboriginal recognition of celestial influence on human law.
The key difference is that Aboriginal astrology is inseparable from ecology — it regulates harvesting, ceremony, and kinship.
Contemporary Revitalisation
Today, Aboriginal astronomy and astrology are being revived through:
Cultural education: Planetariums, schools, and cultural tours (e.g., Lake Tyrrell) teach Aboriginal star stories (Hamacher, 2012).
Research collaborations: Scholars such as Duane Hamacher work with Traditional Owners to record and interpret sky knowledge (Hamacher & Frew, 2010).
Ceremony: Smoking rituals, welcomes, and corroborees increasingly reference celestial beings.
Truth-telling and treaty: Recognition of Aboriginal cosmology is part of restoring sovereignty and cultural authority (Barwick, 1998).
Conclusion
Aboriginal astrology and cosmology in Victoria and Australia reveal a worldview where the stars are not distant objects but ancestors, teachers, and regulators of law. Unlike Western astrology, which individualises destiny, Aboriginal astrology ties fate to community, ecology, and ceremony.
The Wadawurrung case study at Wurdi Youang shows that this knowledge was both scientific and spiritual: a solar observatory aligned with cosmological law, proving Aboriginal astronomy and astrology as among the oldest continuing traditions in the world.
Colonisation attempted to silence this knowledge, yet it endures in stories, ceremonies, and revivals. Looking at the Milky Way through Aboriginal eyes is to see not only stars but the living presence of Dreaming beings who continue to shape human life.
References
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I.D. (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Melbourne: Monash Publications.
Clarke, P.A. (2009). Australian Aboriginal Ethnobotany: An Overview. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
Hamacher, D.W. & Frew, D. (2010). “An analysis of the astronomical knowledge and traditions of the Boorong people of north-western Victoria.” Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, 13, pp. 89–96.
Hamacher, D.W. (2012). “On Aboriginal Astronomy in Victoria.” Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage, 15, pp. 121–134.
Norris, R.P., Hamacher, D.W. & Abrahams, R. (2013). “Wurdi Youang: An Australian Aboriginal Stone Arrangement with Possible Solar Indications.” Rock Art Research, 30(1), pp. 55–65.
Stanbridge, W.E. (1857). “On the Astronomy and Mythology of the Aborigines of Victoria.” Proceedings of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, 2, pp. 137–140.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025
Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land and community.
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.