Sacred Art Retreat – 2016
Uluru Australia
When: August or September 2016
Investment: To be advised.
For more data and to express your interest email: [email protected]
For the past few months I have been receiving such a strong call to go to the Sacred Aboriginal space of Uluru in Australia. A huge crystalline structure, Uluru has now been given back to the aboriginal people to care-take in their sacred way.
According to Aboriginal Culture, Uluru is more than just a rock, it is a living cultural landscape that of which is considered sacred to the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people. These people of the land are the traditional landowners and guardians of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The Anangu people belong to the oldest culture known to man dating back 60,000 years. They believe that their culture has always existed in Central Australia and that this landscape was created at the beginning of time by the travels of great ancestral beings. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are said to provide physical evidence of these ancient events and have been used for traditional ceremonies and rites of passage for over 10,000 years.
Although, the once nomadic lifestyle of the Anangu people has changed, they still continue to live by these ancient laws and traditions passed down through Dreamtime stories from their ancestors. These laws, or Tjukurpa provide the foundations of this unique culture and governs all relationships between people, the land and all living things. These spiritual and cultural connections are still strong today.
The spirits of the ancestral beings continue to reside in these sacred places making the land a deeply important part of Aboriginal cultural identity. Each visitor to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is invited to share in these traditional beliefs and hear stories of this ancient land and how it came to be. Members of Anangu society have inherited and are responsible for their own Dreamtime stories and ceremonies associated with specific sites and their place of birth. The Dreaming is a complex network of knowledge, beliefs and practices belonging to their community, to families and to individuals. The Dreaming is seen as powerful living force that must be maintained and cared for, it is considered their duty to respect and look after the earth and pass these ancient traditions on for all of time.
Uluru Facts
Uluru is probably Australia’s best-known natural landmark. The ancient monolith is pretty impressive close up and boasts intriguing statistics. Here are some facts on Uluru:
- FACT: Uluru is better known as Ayers Rock; it named by William Gosse in 1873 after Sir Henry Ayers. Uluru is the Aboriginal and official name.
- FACT: The rock was created over some 600 million years, and the Aborigines have been in the area for the last 10,000 years. It originally sat at the bottom of a sea, but today stands 348m above ground. One of the most startling Uluru facts however, is that some 2.5kms of its bulk is underground.
- FACT: Uluru lies west of the Simpson Desert, not far from the ‘Red Centre’ of Australia, about 335kms southwest of Alice Springs (as the crow flies) and 463kms by road. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t the biggest monolith in the world; Mount Augustus in Western Australia holds that title
More Uluru Facts
- FACT: Other Uluru Facts: the rock is about 3.6kms long and 1.9kms wide, with a circumference of 9.4kms. The climb to the top is 1.6kms, much of which is at a steep angle, while the summit is generally flat. The surface is made up of valleys, ridges, caves and weird shapes that were created through erosion over millions of years. Surface oxidation of its iron content gives the would-be grey Uluru a striking orange-red hue.
- FACT: The nearby Kata Tjuta (or Olgas) are said to originate from a similar time. They are thought to have originally been one massive monolith, as opposed to the 36 separate domes they are today – one of the lesser known Uluru facts. They are a part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which was founded in 1950 as ‘Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park’, changing to its current title in 1995. The Aboriginals own the land, although the Australian government currently holds a 99-year lease.
How big is Uluru?
Uluru…
- is 348 metres (1141 feet) high
- rises 863 metres (2,831 ft) above sea level
- is 3.6 km long (2.2 miles)
- is 1.9 km wide (1.2 miles)
- is 9.4 km or 5.8 miles around the base
- covers 3.33 km2 (1.29 miles2)
- extends about several km/miles into the ground (no-one knows exactly how far)
How long does it take to walk around Uluru?
The Uluru Base Walk is a 10km walk on a flat marked dirt path, and can be completed in around 3.5 hours.
Below you can listen to a channelling
from Kryon in 2015 called “At the Rock”