'HANDS OF CHILDREN' ROCK ART SITE
LAND OF AMAZING BOULDERS...
...AND SANDSTONE ESCARPMENTS
VERTICAL FACES...
AND SWEEPING PANORAMAS
FREAKY WIND-SCUPLTED FORMATIONS...
AND WUDJUB-GUYUN HIMSELF
A POWERFUL ROCK-BEING WHO IS...
OLDER THAN THE DREAM-TIME ITSELF...
GUARDIAN OF GARIWERD...
AND A VERY SPECIAL PLACE TO VISIT!
BEAUTIFUL SANDSTONE PATTERNS...
VIEW TO THE NORTH...
A COMPLEX NETWORK OF OPENINGS INSIDE
VIEW OUT BACK TO THE SOUTH
THE IMMENSE FACE OF TAIPAN WALL...
AN INTERNATIONAL MECCA FOR ROCK-CLIMBERS
REAR OPENING OF 'HOLLOW MOUNTAIN'
A FRANKENSTEINIAN FACE LOOKING UP!
REAR OPENING LOOKING WEST
THIS COULD EASILY BE 100,000 YEARS AGO
FRONT VIEW...similar to KAKADU NT
WORKS OF PRE-HUMAN GAIAN ROCK-ART!
GIVING THE FOOTSIES A REST
LOTS OF SWALLOWS SOARING ABOUT
LOOKING UP OVER THE ENTRANCE AREA
VIEW FROM WAY UP TOP, TAIPAN WALL
VIEW TOWARDS THE EAST FROM ABOVE
COMING BACK TO THE CAR PARK
GARIWERD EDUCATIONAL CUSTODIAN ROONY
WITH ME and 'ABORIGINAL FLAG'
designed by NT artist Harold Thomas in 1972
'Wudjub-guyun', or Hollow Mountain, is one of the most special places I've been fortunate enough to visit, not only in Gariwerd National Park but in all of Australia. I was also lucky enough to be there when no one else was around. The total absence of human noise and vibration, other than my own (which is relatively quiet and harmonious) enabled me really to feel the energy of the Earth there, theh spirit of the place, an other-worldly dimensional awareness of a beyond-time and space far older than anything the modern human mind can grasp.
I have also been very fortunate to become friends with Aroona, or 'Roony', the educational supervisor for Gariwerd Cultural Centre. A couple days ago I filmed an in-depth interview with him on all-things-indigenous in Australia and in this area. This was extremely powerful and deeply moving, as this was the first time in my 12 years of travel in Australia that I've been able to sit down with a black Australian and listen to their story. SO much horror has come down in this country, and there is SO much healiing that needs to be done.
I agree with Roony that education, mainly of the younger people, is a big part of the solution the on-going dilemma of black Australians, the REAL people of this continent. I have offered my services in any way that I can help, including working on making a film that tells these stories in a way that can inspire people to want to understand, to want to work to heal the wounds of past and present, and to work together to create harmoniously a beautiful and healthful future for ALL the people, ALL the life-forms, ALL the ancestors of Gariwerd, of Australia, of Mothership Earth.
Roony's interview will be up on youtube soon.
Enjoy these photos of a very special place during this 'sacred moment in time.' I was going to return to Wudjub-guyun tomorrow in honour of the solstice and the 'Mayan calendar' awareness, but will probably just stay put and work on the many paintings I'm finishing up now...in honour of my own highest path.
Let's all give thanks to the Great Spirit and Mother Earth for the beautiful gifts of life that we all share and let the immense beauty and power of being-here-now inspire us to wake up, to do our very best as human beings, to seek oour highest spiritual paths, to honour our own amazing powers of creativity, and to 'live simply so that others may simply live.'
JEFF PHILLIPS
GARIWERD NATIONAL PARK
20 DECEMBER 2012
