Primal religions, sometimes referred to as tribal, are the first religions usually contained in small groups where oral tradition dominates because literacy or writing is lacking. Although they are diminishing, primal religions still exist in Asia, the Pacific Islands, Siberia, and with the Indians of North and South America. (Smith 365)
The most authentic primal religion still in existence is the Aborigines of Australia because they were untouched by the Neo-lithic period happening 10,000 years ago. During this time, farming and stone tools were introduced. Because of the lack of influence from the outside world, the Aborigines have no organized religion or worship. Their lives are almost entirely ritual modeled after archetypes that exist in a different world. (Smith 366)
Although they believe in a single world that includes their normal life, which is measured by time, they also believe in a parallel world, which they call “the Dreaming”, which time does not influence. These two worlds are not really seen as separate, but as one world where the latter is a backdrop to the first filled with archetypes that they view as sacred. Examples would be the first male and female or the first hunter. (Smith 367)
–Bibliography —
Smith, Huston. The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991
