Tjurunga? What does it mean?

What is a tjurunga?

A tjurunga is a secret-sacred stone of the Aborigines of central Australia. It represents the individual and the ancestral spirit of its owner. It evokes myths, songs and rituals that connect the owner to the world. Deep knowledge of the world dwells in a tjurunga. Tjurungas help make sense of a complex world.

We chose tjurunga as an apt name of our company out of the deep respect we have for Aboriginal culture.

Sometimes 'tjurunga' is spelt 'churinga' or 'tjuringa'. We prefer to use the spelling of the late TGH Strehlow, the gifted anthropologist who first unravelled their meaning for the non-Aboriginal world.

The tjurunga in Aboriginal culture

More on the place of the tjurunga in aboriginal culture and art by Roman Black.

A short article by Roman Black from his 1964 book Old and new Australian aboriginal art (Sydney, Angus and Robertson) pp 63 - 70. The article includes links to Black's pictures of tjurungas.

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