The myth and legend of the Rainbow Serpent can be seen in many regional cultures around the world, among which Australia and Africa are more common. In primitive mythology, the Rainbow Serpent slumbered underground until it awoke at the time of creation, and then rose into the sky to create ridges, mountains, and canyons.

Australia’s Rainbow Serpent is one of the most important creators in Australia’s primitive mythology. It is an animal believed and respected by all Australian indigenous peoples.

This is strikingly similar to the goddess Nuwa who patched up the sky in Chinese mythology.

There is a ruins at Yubier Rock in Kakadu National Park, Australia, called the Rainbow Serpent Gallery. There are simple but vivid Aboriginal rock paintings here: a long snake is painted on the rock surface. Although this snake does not really have seven colors, it vividly and powerfully presents the appearance of the creation of the universe. The local indigenous people call this period the "Dream Age". This rock painting is one of the oldest Aboriginal art paintings, and to this day, the Rainbow Serpent still has a cultural influence on Australia's Aboriginal people.

According to legend, the Rainbow Serpent emerged from caves in the water, or fell from the sky during the "Dream Age" to breed life and water, making the earth prosperous. As it meandered across this continent, the places it passed turned into valleys, mountains, and rivers, forming the sacred appearance of this ancient land.

As the Rainbow Serpent crossed the earth, it chanted and sang, and in its songs rocks, plants, animals, and humans were born. These sacred paths, invisible to the naked eye, are spread throughout Australia and are known as the "Song Map" or "Dream Path".

Australia’s indigenous people believe that this snake is the mother of the earth, carving out Australia’s terrain and creating the most colorful bird-the rainbow lorikeet. The orange-red giant volcanic rocks scattered in Australia, They are eggs laid by the Rainbow Serpent.

In different versions of myths from various places, the rainbow snake has both male and female, and may even be hermaphrodite; its names are also different, including Qionglonger, Kongmengger, Ungar or Urunge Er, there are many.

Some scholars believe that the association of snakes with rainbows symbolizes the cycle of seasons and illustrates the importance of water in human life. When a rainbow appears in the sky, the Rainbow Serpent is said to swim from one waterhole to another to ensure adequate water supplies everywhere. Large snakes snake across the landscape, creating valleys and rivers in the landscape, which explains why some waterholes never dry out, even during the dry season. If it were not for the power of the serpent, the rain would never fall from the sky, and the land would eventually dry up.

The Rainbow Serpent is also closely associated with the halo of the moon. The moon's halo is believed to herald rainfall and also has magical healing powers. Quartz crystals and scallops are both related to the serpent, and are often used as props in rituals to summon the serpent to appear. To this day, the aboriginal people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia still swear that they can see giant snakes in the rainbow in the sky, the inner walls of shells or the refracted light of puddles.

The Rainbow Serpent is also associated with human blood, especially menstruation. The ancients performed blood sacrifice rituals in the name of the Aboriginal Earth Mother Goddess Kunapippi. Kunapippi followed the Rainbow Serpent to the world and created humans, plants, animals and insects. Traditionally, female menstruation is sacred to the Rainbow Serpent, and the most well-known Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent mythology is the story of Sister Dollage. It is said that Sister Wolage took her children and trekked across this land. On the way, my sister who was pregnant with Liujia gave birth, and her blood flowed into the puddle where the giant snake lived. The snake followed the scent and found the sisters who were still sleeping soundly in the shack. It swam in through the door and swallowed the sisters and their child. Then the snake was bitten by an ant and had to spit out the sisters, thus creating Arnhem Land. To this day, only women are allowed in the shack, but tourists are not restricted.

The Rainbow Serpent is inseparable from the creation of life in several African mythological systems, including Benin, Nigeria, and Congo; it also appears in the mythology of Haiti, Polynesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is currently believed that Australian Aboriginals migrated from Africa to Australia about 50,000 years ago.

If this is correct, then it is very likely that they brought the archetypal image of the Rainbow Serpent, perhaps through oral storytelling, or perhaps formed a collective subconscious. As time went by, ancient residents spread out on this land and formed hundreds of tribes, each with their own language and culture.

The Fon people living in Benin, Africa, call the rainbow snake Aida Vidor, who holds up the sky for the androgynous creator god Nana Buluku. Another West African myth describes a giant snake coiled in seven thousand circles to support the earth's surface and protect it from falling into the deep sea. The giant snake scatters stars in the sky, shoots thunder and lightning to the earth, and allows holy water to flow everywhere on the earth, nourishing countless lives. When the first nectar fell, a rainbow appeared in the sky. The rainbow mated with the snake, and the spiritual nectar created by the two became women's milk and men's semen. Snakes and rainbows bring blood and life to humans - or in other words, menstruation and fertility are inseparable, and they also created the sacrament of the blood sacrifice of Voodoo, the primitive religion in West Africa.

To this day, the Aboriginal people of Australia and Africa still respect the Rainbow Serpent. Through songs, music and dance, they repeatedly told the story of the giant snake from the Dream Age that swallowed the doll Rag sisters in one bite. Australia holds the Rainbow Serpent Music Festival every year, and ancient mythological imagery can be found in the works of Aboriginal artists, which shows that today's artists are still deeply inspired by mythology.

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Reference: The Secrets of Universe in 100 Symbols by Sarah Bartlett.