Star Stories of The Dreaming

The emu up among the stars?

When I was last down in Canberra, I stopped to take a look at the Old Parliament House and noticed an indigenous protest camp across the road named Sovereign City.
Kangaroo vs Emu: The Coat of Arms of Oz?

I wanted to find out more about this camp which ironically sits in between the Australian War Memorial and the Old Parliament House.

Sovereign City would be positioned where the number 19 is in the above photo.
I Googled Sovereign City and came upon its web site, but I landed on a page about a movie called, 'Star Stories of The Dreaming'. 

It looked interesting from the trailer I found at the web site. 

I liked how the Milky Way really does look like there is an emu pictured among it, which made me think of the emu on the coat of arms of Australia.

"The Red Kangaroo and Emu that support the shield have never been designated as official animal emblems of the nation.
They owe their unofficial recognition to the fact that they are native Australian fauna (found only on that continent), and likely chosen because they are the most well-known native Australian animals large enough to be positioned together in scale holding up the shield. 
It is often claimed these animals were chosen because neither animal can move backward, only forward – i.e. symbolising progress. 
In reality both animals can move backwards, although only infrequently."
What I like about the shot I took in Canberra of the coat of arms right at the top of this post is that the kangaroo and emu are looking at the star ... which is meant to be a federation star with seven points, but to me it looks like the animals are looking into the nighttime sky, or space as my friends in the band, 'It's Not Night, It's Space' would tell you. 

"A background of two sprays of Golden Wattle was added to the coat of arms of Austraia, but it has never been an official part of the armorial bearings, even though the Golden Wattle was proclaimed Australia's national flower on 19 August 1988 by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen."

Golden wattle, more than just a pretty flower
"Dr Murphy says he has been contacted several times by people interested in the plant’s ability to produce an unusual and illicit psychedelic drug known as DMT.
DMT is associated most commonly with ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogen used in the Amazon by shamans as part of spiritual practice.
A proposal to amend the federal Criminal Code Act in 2011 to stop the potential production of DMT could have made our national floral emblem illegal to grow or own in Australia."

That coat of arms seems to be loaded with shamanic themes, whether intentional, or not.

Even the other coat of arms on Old Parliament House has a mythical unicorn with a horn some shamans say represents the third eye.

Old Parliament House

If you take a "trip" to Canberra you might want to bear all of the above in mind?-)

I also like how the Canberra based band, 'The Church' had a big hit with a song about being under the Milky Way.

If you would like to watch the movie 'Star Stories of The Dreaming' for free, then click on the link below -
Star Stories of The Dreaming