To have Altjira-Alcheringa in the Third House is to both receive and to tell of the life-giving of the Creator: how to live, how to be in a skin group, how to belong to a country with its song. One is both a custodian and memory keeper of country.
A thought can be best described as a set of vibratory frequencies within the Dowie. If these vibratory frequencies are transmitted through electromagnetism to the physical brain, the thought rises from the unconscious into the region of objectivity. The individual is then objectively conscious of a thought that may have been present for either a long or short time, in the unconscious, without being aware of it. If there is a sensation coming from the physical world, the vibratory rates of the brain which are set into motion are then transmitted through electromagnetism to the Dowie or subtle brain, where they are registered and compared with other rates of motion set up by previous experiences; Such a comparison, when it rises into objective consciousness through its motions being transmitted to the physical brain, is said to be a definite perception. The force at any given time depends upon the intensity of the thought. The vividness depends upon the ability of the thinker to separate the factors of which the thought is composed. This is accomplished through concentration. The intensity, however, depends upon the number of separate, mental factors utilized, the energy contained in each, and the completeness with which they are joined to act as a single organisation of thought energy.
So it is that mental force results from utilizing the experiences of life as integrative factors in the process of building clear-cut mental pictures. If such a force is to result in physical phenomena, or is in any way to operate directly upon physical substance, it must be vitalized with electromagnetic energy.
In Aboriginal teaching, all life began in response to the psychokinetic power of images within the mind of the all- pervading Super-intelligence and Creator — Baiame. The universe was formed as the result of a definite image which radiated the energy to create. The carrying power of a thought and the amount of work it can accomplish depends upon the energy associated with it. A thought which is associated with any emotion whatever has considerable ability to perform. It has considerable “horsepower” and is used to advantage by the medicine-man.
We are looking to the presence of the Divine (signified by Altjira-Alcheringa) in the Third House, where reside story and song, songlines that explain how we belong to the Country, the memory keeping for a sacred land where intitation and mystery lead to the fulness of manhood, womanhood in indigenous culture. It is sometimes referred to as the house of collective history (the tribal group’s relationship with land) with the corroboree that builds collective history and connection.
The Third House
When we look at a house in astrology, we consider archetypes, needs, states and elements.
The Archetypes relevant to the 3rd house are the Chronicler, the Custodian of the narratives, the Bard who tells the narrative and the Trickster who first lulls the listener; then tells uncomfortable stories that break social norms in order to reveal deeper moral truths.
The 3rd house presents certain needs which must be satisfied, else one is in perpetual conflict attempting to satisfy these needs. In the case of the 3rd house, the needs are information, knowledge, learning and communication. Learning comes with stages of life, with ‘”mens’ business, womens’ business”, knowledge and learning that occurs when one is ready for transformation, a shedding of an earlier state of life, and like the snake, emerging with a new skin, a new connection to Country, a new role in one’s tribe and skin group.
When these needs are satisfied, the states of the third house become apparent: one is a contemplative teller of tales, a charismatic communicator, grounded in one’s story of the land and belonging. One moves from student with many questions to narrator, one who is the chronicler of the land, the gods, and their actions. Catharsis happens: reason and intellect become the foundation of shared wisdom.
The key values of the Third House are the collective history of the tribe and its lands; the function of the memory keeper with story and song, the maintenance of songlines and the Corroboree, the telling of the Dreamtime and the acts of the Ancestors and Gods.
The Third House is the place of the sacred custodian. Here, one has physical objects, sacred land, ritual items, and unveils artifacts and symbols. It is the place of the Message Stick, rock art and painting. One encounters Tjurunga, Bullroarers, Maban Crystals – objects that are direct manifestation of Ancestral Beings and secret Law. Message Sticks and Sounding Instruments facilitate inter-clan safe passage, trade, and ceremonial communication.
Aboriginal Art as a form of Communication
Aboriginal art tells a story (or several stories) with many layers of meaning. The first layer is the surface layer. The most obvious one, it is open and accessible to all. It is what you notice first — be that colour, texture, movement, sound or something else. Second and further layers are not so obvious and usually require some degree of experience/expertise or relationship with the artist and language group. The deepest layers are sacred and are only for the initiated Aboriginal person. These are the ones that give the full story, with all details, meanings and significance. Aboriginal art are unique forms of communication. They can be religious, political, geographic, social, and even humorous in nature. They can relate something of the time of the Ancestors; make very specific and explicit claims to areas of land; describe the features of a river or mountain range, or the flight of a bird. At times they can even be used to call people together; and example is the bullroarer (a flat piece of wood or stone that is swung around on a thong) which is used on some occasions to imitate the voice of an Ancestral Spirit or to call for ceremonies. They are used to communicate many different elements of culture and life.
With Altjira-Alcheringa in the Third House, the Divine Presence here leads initiation and its mystery into sacred connection: land is God as immanent in nature. This means within/without: one has the land and its meaning and the acts of the Creator Gods occurring within the person as sacred events, and also occurring outside the person in events led by the group: the Corroboree is the primary example.
A Corroboree is a specific form of ritual carried out by Indigenous peoples across the continent. During the ceremony, an interface between humanity and the Dreaming – a period of time which constitutes a major part of Indigenous belief – is created, via the use of singing, dancing, costume, and artistic expression.
Corroboree is principally about connection.
In the Corroboree the participants find meaning, connection, mindfulness, a source of personal rituals and the ethical connection to land and life. The Corroboree is a binding event, the same as the Jewish covenant that binds man and God.
Altjira-Alcheringa in the 3rd house is that ongoing story telling: the place of the singer of songs, the trickers who wakes you up to the deeper truths of belonging to tribe and country, the place where the story shapes the person both within and without with meaning that makes connection to all that exists. One lives with the story of Altirja-Alcheringa with a charismatic grounding of collective history, artifacts, initiation, mystery and meaning.
