My Mother The Frog

Day 148: An explanation of the title of this image would require several pages covering the complex spiritual kinship system practiced by the Australian Aborigines of old. Indeed, many still hold with the traditional beliefs today, if often privately and under a superficial cloak of more generally accepted religions. There is something of the Native American "totem" in this theology, much of the animist, and even more of a bond with all things in Nature. The rules dictate marriage and other social relationships, and carry with them certain obligations to the "spirit" represented. It is all part of the Dreaming (also called the Dreamtime).

Suffice it to say that, as many of my readers know, I am a Crow. My mother was a Frog, and this soapstone carving was one of her keepsakes. When my mother passed away, the stories from her Dreaming...the history of how Frog created Mystic Lake on the north side of Mt. Rainier, for example...came to me to tell along with those of Raven and Crow. Some day, this little fellow will reveal to me why he is smiling so cheerfully. For now, I will just have to wonder