TY - JOUR
TI - The Issue of Sex Relations in Australian Myths – the “Matryoshka Principle”
AU - Szyjewski, Andrzej
TI - The Issue of Sex Relations in Australian Myths – the “Matryoshka Principle”
AB - 
	This paper discusses the ambiguity of sex identity within Aboriginal mythology. Male/female relations are the main point of the well-known Wawilag Sisters myth from Arnhem Land, based on a series of equivalent mythical unions: the penis in the vagina (male in female) ≡the serpent in the hut (male in female) ≡Wawilag sisters pregnancy (male in female) ≡Wawilag sisters devoured by the serpent (female in male) ≡subincised penis (female in male). The effect of such equivalencies may be compared to a “matryoshka”doll: the male (child) is in the female (sisters) which is in the male (serpent), which in a way also renders the male symbols female (this is why the serpent is called “pregnant”). The basis of such a construction may be understood as the creation of a series of transformations male>female>male>female etc., which eventually leads to realisation of the exchange of female with male blood; their equipoise is necessary for initiation ceremonies.
VL - 2012
IS - Volume 45, Issue 2
PY - 2012
SN - 0137-2432
C1 - 2084-4077
SP - 117
EP - 124
DO - 10.4467/20844077SR.12.009.0825
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/studia-religiologica/article/problem-relacji-plciowych-w-mitach-australijskich-zasada-matrioszki
KW - Australian Aborigines
KW - mythology
KW - Fertility Mother
KW - Rainbow Serpent
KW - gender relations
KW - bull-roarer
KW - initiation
KW - gender symbols