Carpet Snake Dreaming
The Rainbow Snake or Rainbow serpent is a common deity, often a god like creator of water in the mythology and a common motif in the art of Aboriginal Australia. Stories about the Rainbow Serpent have been passed down from generation to generation but the serpent story, itself, may vary according to environmental differences. Tribes of the monsoonal areas depict an epic interaction of the sun, Serpent, and wind in their Dreamtime stories, whereas tribes of the central desert experience less drastic seasonal shifts and their stories reflect this. It is known both as a benevolent protector of its people (the groups from the country around) and as a malevolent punisher of law breakers. The Rainbow Serpent’s mythology is closely linked to land, water, life, social relationships, and fertility. The most common motif in Rainbow Serpent stories is the Serpent as creator, with the Serpent often bringing life to an empty space.
Dreamtime (or The Dreaming or Tjukurrpa or Jukurrpa) stories tell of the great spirits and totems during creation, in animal and human form that moulded the barren and featureless earth. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains, and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is understood to be of immense proportions and inhabits deep permanent waterholes and is in control of life’s most precious resource, water. The close affinity between water and snakes may stem from the presence of most snakes in the vicinity of permanent water. The Walmadjari people of the deserts of the Northern Territory see the spirit of water as the Carpet Snake. This is of scientific interest in that carpet snakes cannot survive long without water and are almost always found near water sources.
(Source: Wikipedia—Rainbow Serpent, Jay Griffiths—Wild)