(I am pronouncing Wuruma as WUH-ruh-muh.)
The Wuruma Wheel applies to the seasons occurring on the NSW Central Coast.
It is not the same as the Southern Wheel. (For Southern Wheel click label at end of article.)
The Wuruma season, the windy season of two months, begins on or about the 1st of August. It is windy and dry and ends around the end of September.
In 2009 I celebrated it on the 21st of August. The winds had come just a few days earlier and on the next windy day (the 21st) I went out and had the ritual.
It was very informal ritual. Formal ritual seems out of place on the Wuruma Wheel.
I went down to a quiet spot beside the river and sat down under some Casuarina trees. In even the slightest breeze the Casuarinas make a soft sound like distant voices and it's said that to the Aborigines this is the sound of the spirits. It certainly seems like it to me.
It was a good spot but it was fairly public so I held onto my pelican feathers (representing Air) and cast a mental circle and spoke to the winds, thanking them for bringing rain to water the land and for sweeping away unwanted things.
I sat there with my eyes closed for quite a while, just letting the wind pick up my mind and blow it about like a leaf. It was very comforting though I can't say I know in what way.
After that, I uncast the circle and that was it. Very informal. Just the essentials.
During the night the wind got stronger and I could hear garbage bins and unlatched gates clattering and banging in other people's gardens. It gave me a feeling of peace.
The Southern Wheel & the Wuruma Wheel
Wuruma season is not marked on the Southern Wheel. The Southern Wheel is based on the European and other northern hemisphere Wheels.
The next festival on the Wuruma Wheel is Wuruma Spring. It comes around the same time as the Wuruma season begins.
Wuruma Wheel explanation & dates
