rainbow serpent

The Cheeky Rainbow Snake of Australia Created the World

This myth starts off nicely enough. In the beginning, we were all asleep and dreaming, and the world was silent and empty. The first to wake up was the Rainbow Snake, and it emerged from the ground, determined to shake things up. It began waking up creatures one by one, starting with the frogs. On top of that, this new world needed water, all of which was in the stomachs of the frogs. The snake quickly found a solution.

The Rainbow Snake tickled the frogs until they started laughing. Their laughter caused them to cough up water. The water flowed, creating plants and waking up other animals. Any animal that obeyed the laws set by the Rainbow Snake became a human, while anyone who broke the laws turned into the rocks you see all over Australia today.