Bila (also occasionally rendered Belah) is the
personification of the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
among the
Adnyamathanha
The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporary Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia, formed as an aggregate of several distinct peoples. Strictly speaking the ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternativ ...
people. She is a solar goddess, as befitting the general trends among Australian aboriginal peoples, which largely perceive the Sun as female.
Bila is said to be a
cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
, roasting her victims over a fire, the origin of sunlight. To do this she sent black and red dogs to drag her victims, resulting even in an entire village being slaughtered. In a myth the
Lizard Men Kudnu ("Goanna") and Muda ("gecko") were appalled by these acts and attacked, prompting her to flee and cast the world in darkness. He then used a
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
, catching her and making her move in a slow arc across the sky as it returned, it illuminated the world. For this act of heroism lizards like
goanna
A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...
s and
geckos are respected by the Adnyamathanha.
A similar, albeit likely unrelated myth, occurs in
Woodlark Island
Woodlark Island, known to its inhabitants simply as Woodlark or Muyua, is the main island of the Woodlark Islands archipelago, located in Milne Bay Province and the Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea.
Although no formal census has been conducted sinc ...
.
See also
*
List of solar deities
A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this ene ...
References
Australian Aboriginal goddesses
Solar goddesses
Mythological cannibals
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