Written by Emma Morgan using information from the Museum of Victoria.
https://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/climate/kulin.html
Every Season Has Its Beauty
Every season has its beauty,
Fresh from the hand of God.
Look for it.
Listen to it.
Savour its goodness.
Every season has its beauty.
Remember what is past,
With joy and not regret.
Anticipate what is to come,
With hope and not with dread.
Every season has its beauty.
Embrace the new gifts of God,
And live into their blessings,
Full measure, pressed down,
Running out all over.
Christine Sine.
www.godspace-msa.com
Feature image: Unsplash – Angela Benito.ANGELA BENITO
Seven Seasons of the Kulin People
The Kulin have a detailed local understanding of the seasons and the environment. Each season is marked by the movement of the stars in the night sky and changes in the weather, coinciding with the life cycles of plants and animals. Overlaid on the seven seasons are two other non-annual seasons – Flood season which is likely to occur on average about every 28 years, and Fire season which occurs on average about every seven years.
https://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/climate/kulin.html
An intro to indigenous weather knowledge:
http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/climate_culture/Indig_seasons.shtml
January – February
Image of Tussock Grass.
Image source: http://bwvp.ecolinc.vic.edu.au/fieldguide/flora/common-tussock-grass#details
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (koolin) people, call this season in January and February ‘Biderap’ or Dry season.
Temperatures are high and there is low rainfall.
The brown butterflies are flying and the tussock grass grows long and dry – Long enough for the kids to play hide and seek in. Making good beds too for snakes lazing in the sun.
The Southern Cross is high in the south at sunrise.
Perhaps you have felt the dry, slow nature of this season.
Perhaps you feel the play and rest this season can bring.
Perhaps you are feeling the call of something significant in the new day?
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘A Closed World of Fine Feelings and Grand Design’ Aleksandr Tsiboulski.
March
Image of Manna gum.
Image source: http://angair.org.au/activities/local-nature-reports?id=77
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (koolin) people, call this season in March ‘Iuk’ or Eel season. Traditionally in this season the hot winds stop and the temperatures begin to cool.
The eels in the creeks that run into the Yarra are fat and ready to harvest.
The manna gum – source of medicine, sweet nectar, drinking vessels and shields is flowering. Days and nights are of equal length. Lo-An Tuka the brightest star in the night sky known as the Hunter or Canopus, is seen almost due south at sunset.
Perhaps you have felt the cooling nature of this season.
Perhaps you feel the beginnings of balance or the blossom of your labours.
Perhaps in your bones you feel the desire to hunt and gather good things for yourself or others.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘Dream 13 (Minus even)’ Max Richter.
April – July
Image of Tree- Fern.
Image source: https://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/plants/soft.html
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (Koolin) people, call this season in April – July ‘waring’ or wombat season.
Temperatures are at their lowest. Rainy days follow misty mornings. Waring emerge to bask and graze in the sunshine. The lyre birds perform their courtship dances. Their tail feathers stretching out and curling over.
The hearts of the soft tree-ferns were the major food source when no fruits were available. Days are short and through the long nights the constellation of Sagittarius rises in the south-east after sunset – indicating the midpoint of cold weather.
Perhaps you have felt the need to stretch and find new light or draw loved ones close.
Perhaps things are becoming more simple, with less fruit to gather.
Perhaps in your bones you have felt the need to make the most of the short days and the drawing in of the long nights.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘First Rays’ Anat Fort.
August
Image of Hyacinth Orchid.
Image source: http://orchids.rnr.id.au/Dipodium1/
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (Koolin) people, call this season in August ‘Guling’ or orchid season. The cold weather is coming to an end.
The guling are flowering. Their little star faces are beginning to appear after a long, quiet wait. Delicate flowers that can be picked to make a soothing tea for headaches. The silver wattles are flowering too. Colour is returning.
The nights are full of life, in the trees above the koalas begin searching for mates and below the caterpillars of the common brown butterfly feed on the grasses.
The star Arcturus is seen on the northwestern horizon soon after sunset.
Perhaps you are looking forward to the close of a long, cold season.
Perhaps colour is beginning to return to your life and signs of hope and healing are appearing.
Perhaps in your bones you feel the need to find fresh nourishment.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘Mini Waltz for Iluka Annie’ by Tony Gould.
September – October
Image of Yam daisy.
Image source: http://www.davidkphotography.com/?showimage=1206
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (koolin) people, call this season in September-October ‘Poorneet’ or tadpole season.
Temperatures are rising but the rain continues. Pied currawongs call loudly and often. It’s a good time for using frogs as bait to catch codfish.
Flax lilies are in flower and the tubers of the yam daisy are ready for eating. Days and nights are of equal length. The Lyrebird has finished its dancing, the baby koalas are growing in secret.
Perhaps you feel the growth of this fertile season.
Perhaps you feel the equal measures of warmth and the rain, dark and the light.
Perhaps in your bones you feel the finish of one dance and the beginnings of the next.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘Il Postino:Theme’ Itzhak Perlman, John Williams & Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra.
November
Image of Christmas bush.
Image source: http://plantnerdschoolforplantnerds.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/victorian-christmas-bush-mint-bush.html
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (Koolin) people, call this season in November ‘Buath Gurru’ or grass flowering season.
The weather is warm and traditionally it is often raining.
The kangaroo grass is flowering, attracting the butterflies and providing seeds that can be ground up and thrown into the damper. The Christmas bush begins to blossom in a mass of white flowers.
The sky is alive with insects that are caught in flight by the bullyong or bats. The Orion constellation is setting in the western sky around sunrise.
Perhaps you are feeling the busy nature of this warm season.
Perhaps there is new growth and opportunity in your life.
Perhaps in your bones you feel the responsibility of providing for those around you.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘Dawn Mantras’ Australian Brandenburg orchestra.
December
Image of Kangaroo Apple.
Image source: https://milkmaidmarian.com/tag/forest/
The traditional people of this land, the Kulin (Koolin) people, call this season in December ‘Kangaroo apple’ season. The weather can be thundery and changeable during the long days and short nights.
Two days before a storm, the cockatoos fly down from the mountains making an awful racket, warning everyone of the rain to come.
The kangaroo apples are fruiting as are the native cherries.
The goannas are out and about and the majestic ‘Bunjil,’ or wedge tailed eagles are looking for mates, soaring over the land they have watched over since time began.
Perhaps you are feeling the drama of this season, surrounded by life in full force.
Perhaps there is plenty to enjoy and feast upon in these long days.
Perhaps in your bones you feel flashes of storms and rain.
Let’s take a moment to be still and rest in the presence of our creator, life and love in every season.
Play track ‘ Cherry Pie’ John Mills.
