Descriptive Belief Records
Descriptive Belief Records are grouped here as a public-text classification across the AusFigures corpus. The category describes source framing and archive coding; it is not a claim that the underlying supernatural account is true.
- Search-ready records
- 168
- Public sources
- 7
- States / territories
- 5
- Dated span
- 1879–2025
Classification follows the public archive coding layer and may be revised when source context or terminology is reviewed.
Representative records — first 60
- ghost stories in Graham Seal Australian ghost stories#4157ABC Radio Perth's WA Afternoons listed Emeritus Professor of Folklore at Curtin University Graham Seal discussing real and perplexing phenomena in Australia and his book Best Australian Ghost Stories: Spine-chilling tal…
- ghost stories in Tamar Valley Tales ghost stories#4156ABC Hobart reported that Tamar Valley resident Jodie Lee had started Tamar Valley Tales, a blog with Tasmanian history ranging from folklore to ghost stories and extending beyond the Tamar Valley from small bites of hid…
- brother's spirit in Iolanthe spirit contact in Port Phillip Bay#4133State Library Victoria recounts that in 1883 two brothers went out on the boat Iolanthe into Port Phillip Bay and never returned. Their spiritualist parents employed the medium George Spriggs, who reportedly made contac…
- spirit haunted place in Fanny Balbuk spirit-haunted place context#4209ABC Education's Fanny Balbuk Yooreel transcript says every magic spot, every spirit haunted place, and every spirit baby stone, rock, or cave were known to Balbuk, and that her knowledge of her tribe's folklore was inti…
- yowies in Australian urban legends and ghost stories#4147ABC Religion & Ethics discussed Australian urban legends, including yowies and ghost stories. The article says Yowie stories were shoehorned into a Western hairy-man narrative after the Yeti story of the 1950s, and quot…
- ghost stories in Shadow Trackers Indigenous Australia ghost stories#4151ABC Life Matters described the Australian documentary Shadow Trackers as following two adventurers who go in search of real-life ghost stories of Indigenous Australia and tell listeners what they saw.
- ghost in Australian Ghost Stories#4149ABC Overnights asked whether listeners had seen a ghost, whether Australia is teeming with them, what ghosts have been seen throughout Australian history, who Australia's most famous ghost is, and where Australia's haun…
- Mimi in Jawoyn Mimi spirit people context#4210In ABC Four Corners' No Accounting transcript, Margaret Katherine identifies a Mimi image and describes Mimi as spirit people who live deep inside the cave and look after the land and the painting.
- local ghost stories in Alison Oborn Adelaide Gaol ghost stories#4144ABC Conversations states that Alison Oborn validates or debunks local ghost stories and takes guided tours around the famous Adelaide Gaol, which is said to have some ghosts of its own.
- medicine man in Australian Legends#1919t. At this corroboree the young chief worked himself up into a state of great frenzy and this communicated itself to all those present. He grew passionate with no attempt to check himself. In this way he increased in da…
- medicine man in Australian Legends#1918e of his unusual height. If my conjecture be right, based as it is upon the description brought down by a third generation and the last a white, then this man of unheard-of growth must have been fully eight feet high. H…
- medicine man in Australian Legends#1917erbore them and joined the river. A spirit often came out from that glen. it was speckled with glowing fires that flashed and were covered, and flashed and were covered, over and over again. The spirit was light and eth…
- spirit in Australian Legends#1903he side gushed the spring. In dry times It simply was swallowed up in peaty ground beneath the tea-tree and Leptospermum and Ceratopetalums, but in rainy times it o'erbore them and joined the river. A spirit often came…
- spirit in Australian Legends#1902des were far more dense than the steep sides of the river. The Leptospermum flourished there, and waratahs were in crimson splendour. Out from a rock wall at the side gushed the spring. In dry times It simply was swallo…
- Medicine man in Magic and Medicine#4183nd said to the old man, ameina; ngai wariji? what is it; shall I die? The old man answered, owoi, kutjeri ngeinyimma pari, wariji, yes, by and by you (will be) very ill, (you will) die. Nothing happened for a long time,…
- spirits in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3872ot, the women may eat. The old men also can make it fit for younger men to eat at this place by breaking the fish's neck. Mischievous spirits, belonging to another tribe, some- times place Nuppadaitba bones that they ha…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3871alled Mungauilada, only Kakadu men may eat them, no one else may do so under very severe penalties. If anyone should venture to break this rule and to attempt to catch and eat them there, his eyes and ears would swell u…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3870rub. While he is asleep, the friendly Yalmuru, or Iwaiyu, who 3i8 NATIVE TRIBES OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA chap. has rescued him, tells him that he has been taken away by a Yalmuru who belongs to another country or, as he sa…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3869ey also talk to him. Sometimes a medicine man happens to be close by when he comes back to the Banyan tree after one of his fishing excursions. Bubba Peibi says, Koyada ngainma bo, don't hit me. The medicine man says, K…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3868nd cooks his fish there. Within the tree, also, he has a wife and children. The ordinary black-fellow cannot see him, but the Margi, or medicine men, can, and they also talk to him. Sometimes a medicine man happens to b…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3867, and, when once he has passed, either in or out, it closes up. At the top of the trunk there is a hole through which air comes in. He makes a fire inside the trunk and cooks his fish there. Within the tree, also, he ha…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3866min, handing the snake to Mukurlul, said, kara pierda, hold it hard. Koregora pierda, balera, poro mornda, look hard (or) afterwards your eyes will be bad. Then he put the snake under Mukurlul's arm, saying, the snake i…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3865Mornun, and Gunumaramila, are kumali to a man who is being made into a doctor. They all belong to what are called " hot " yams, which must be specially treated before being eaten, or else they cause much irritation in t…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3864min had a son called Mukurlul. When he grew old he said to the latter, balera ngaiya^ wariji, later on I die ; balera ngeinyimma unkoregora Numereji, later on you look out Numereji, which meant that the son was I The wo…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3863got a new Numereji. In the Kakadu tribe there is a close association between Numereji and the medicine men. They alone are sup- posed not only to be able to see him, but to have eyes that can withstand his glance ; othe…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3862his younger brother. Joemin had a son, called Mukurlul, and Numuraupu had one, called Kardimenjil. Joemin had stolen a small Numereji snake which he cut in two. The front half grew a new short tail, the hinder half died…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3861aper bark and ties it round with string. In his camp, when it is quite dry, he pounds it up until he can roll it into a ball and then, as in the previous case, places it in a hole that he makes in the base of an ant hil…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3860eans of dealing in a very special way with some of his excrement or korno. Because of this, everyone is most careful to cover over and hide from view all excrementa, one result of which is that Kakadu camps are more cle…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3859it is being carried about by a Belier youth, the old men immediately send a message to a medicine man living in a distant part of the country called Bebiba. The medicine man, who is known as Kuldungun, comes at once but…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3858the Bidu-Bidu are broken up and completely destroyed by fire. This is very different indeed from what takes place in the Central tribes, amongst whom the loss or destruction of a Churinga is a very serious matter. If a…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3857ed Spirit at the close of the Korno Ceremony. Kakadu Tribe 260 66.— The Old and the Young Numereji Snake. A Bark Drawing. Kakadu Tribe . . . 313 67. — Bubba Peibi from a Drawing on Bark . . . .313 68.— Medicine Man rubb…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3856ribe. ... . . 244 63.— Child's Bones carried about in Dilly Bag by her Mother. Kakadu Tribe. 248 64. — Ceremony of Korno 258 65.— Placing Sticks over the Buried Spirit at the close of the Korno Ceremony. Kakadu Tribe 26…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3853of, 24a shown the lurkun or coffin, Mungarai tribe, 252 ; Mara tribe, 255 not allowed near hut of young medicine man, Kakadu tribe, 299 restrictions on eating nuperdaitba, a fish, 319 two Nareuma, tradition of, 322 send…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3852initiation ceremony, 169 totemic system, 208 Numalga or Numalka, 385 Numereji, a snake, traditions con- cerning, 290 and the medicine man, 292, 295 in anthill, 295 men, tradition of two, 299 men changing into snakes, 30…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3851tribe, 315 Marukumana, 93 et seq. Marunga, medicine man, 298 Marungwum, iio, 114 McDougall's bluff, tradition con- cerning, 337 510 INDEX Medicine men and Numereji, 292 securing a Numereji snake, 295, 296 eyes made brig…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3850y a rainbow man, 338 Honey-bags found by two Nu- mereji men, 301 Humour, sense of, amongst aboriginals, 41 Hut, special one, in which initiates are hidden, Melville Island, 104 attack on, 107 special ones used during ce…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3846adu Tribe, spirit of dead person. Melville Island, name of a tribe, brush-tailed wallaby men during the Ober ceremony. Kakadu Tribe. special man during Kakadu Tribe, special man during Kakadu Tribe. Kakadu Tribe, the ne…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3845be heard singing out, yirkudda, quick, Koafungi, daylight, nungoitji, cold. They can be seen by the margi, or medicine man, wandering about in the bush, the man carrying a basket (drawn hanging from his left shoulder) i…
- spirits in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3844ich is covered all over with hair, called ngoinbu, and has also two masses called krabir, one on either side of its head. This particular spirit is friendly to the natives and flies about watching them. If it sees a nat…
- spirits in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3843ark nights. It lives amongst the bamboo trees, hanging on to special ropes made out of banyan-bark string, called Mokino- F F 2 436 NATIVE TRIBES OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA chap. borbu. It has flaps projecting from its body,…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3839ng men and, if he finds one alone in the bush, tries to lure him away and take his Iwaiyu, or spirit part, from him. The only way in which the Iwaiyu can be recovered is by the aid of a medicine man, who, earring a Nume…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3838t hand is called Nangintain, and is a spirit associated especially with the Geimbio tribe. This is one of those mischievous individuals who, every now and then, leaves his own country and visits the Kakadu and other nei…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3835den snatch at it and caught its head. No one but himself and Mukalakki could see it. He held it very firmly and carefully unwound it from Mukalakki's body. When he had done this successfully, he rolled the snake up in h…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3834ma kutjeri, what have you eaten (to make) you ill ? Mukalakki remembered what the old man had told him long ago and he answered, Kuljoanjo. Then the old doctor said, umhordera wariji — to-day you die. He was very ill th…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3833He immediately places it in the mother's head, from which it passes down into her breast and the child, who is at once put to the breast, drinks it in with its mother's milk, or Kumilungornu. If the father finds out, wh…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3832rit would immediately leave its body, run to the water hole, and be drawn under and swallowed up by a Numereji snake. If, 346 NATIVE TRIBES OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA chap. by any chance, the mother breaks the rule, the fath…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3831ld is born, and while it is young, the woman must not drink out of a deep water hole, the water must not reach above her knees ; the husband tells the woman that she must not break this rule or the child will die. Also,…
- spirits in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3830d men may eat it. It must also be struck with a short throwing stick, called mumbarnbo, while it is still on the spear point. If these conditions are complied with, and unless there be a good supply of fish probably the…
- medicine man in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3828s. In the early days Joemin was the first medicine man, and he made others, and showed them what had to be done. At first Joemin's eyes were like those of other men, and he could not see Numereji. One day he went to a w…
- spirit in Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia#3788— Water-pouring Ceremony. Kakadu Tribe .... 242 61.— Men Painting themselves and Children with Nack. Kakadu Tribe ... 244 62.— Women wearing Armlets called Kundama, during Mourning Ceremony. Kakadu Tribe. ... . . 244 63…
- Numereji in Magic and Medicine#1328king out of a deep water hole its spirit would Immediately leave its body, run to the water hole, and be drawn under and swallowed up by a Numereji snake. If, {p. 346} by any chance, the mother breaks the rule, the fath…
- Medicine man in Magic and Medicine#1327ild is born, and while it is young, the woman must not drink out of a deep water hole, the water must not reach above her knees; the husband tells the woman that she must not break this rule or the child will die. Also,…
- Medicine man in Magic and Medicine#1273At length Morpun, the great medicine man, arrived. For a while he stood silently, some distance off, watching Mukalakki. First he ordered the women to go away, along way off. Mukalakki sat up. Once more the snake came o…
- Medicine man in Magic and Medicine#1272The natives, realising the gravity of the case, had sent away to a place, called Oenpelli, fourteen miles away, for a special, celebrated medicine man, named Morpun, who fortunately happened to be reincarnated at that t…
- Medicine man in Magic and Medicine#1270He was feeling very bad indeed and an old medicine man said to him ameina jau, ngeinyimma kutjeri, what have you eaten (to make) you ill?
- spirit in Magic and Medicine#1269by any chance, the mother breaks the rule, the father, mother, and child, accompanied by a medicine man, go to the water hole. The father gives the mother a little water in a bark basket. The spirit of the child is attr…
- devil in Across Australia, volume 2#3175il magic, 292 Decorating for corrobboree, 238 Decorations in Warramunga cere- monies, 397 Demoralisation of tribes, 301 Descent, counted in direct male line in Mara tribe, 479-80 Desert country around Lake Amadeus, 104…
- medicine man in Across Australia, volume 2#3174doubt among the onlookers as to his having really done this. Then once more the projecting of the Atnongara stones is repeated, and after this, crouching down over the sick man, he places his mouth upon the affected par…
- medicine man in Across Australia, volume 2#3173ll, the verdict is that one of the Iruntarinia has placed in his body an Ullinka, or short barbed stick attached to an invisible string, the pulling of which by the malicious spirit causes great pain. If such be the cas…
- medicine man in Across Australia, volume 2#3172have come a long distance, gravely examines him and consults with any local practitioners who may be present, and with the more immediate relatives of the patient, as to the nature of the illness. The diagnosis always o…
This collection contains 168 search-ready records. The complete record set remains discoverable through the paginated public record index.