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From the point of view of psychoanalysis the data in this book are remarkable because of the transparent sexual symbolism: for example, large conical mats used in rituals consciously represent the uterus; the rangga sticks, beside being totemic emblems, are penes which when not used ritually are kept in these mats. The parallelism with Central Australia is striking; there the tjurunga symbolizes the penis, the totemic caves, the uterus. However, in Central Australia this content is not conscious and when the reviewer demonstrated its meaning many years ago, anthropologists looked incredulous and very wise. The myth of Djanggawul is very close to the Central Australian 'wild-cat' mythology in which Malpunga, whose penis breaks through mountains, is the leading hero.
Djanggawul had an elongated penis and his two sisters had elongated clitori which dragged on the ground as they walked. From time to time Djanggawul would lift their clitori to one side and put his hand into the uteri to remove many children of both sexes which are the ancestors of the present aborigines (p. 7). Translated into the language of Central Australian mythology, this would mean that the phallic wild-cat ancestors wandered about and left spirit-children—which emanated from their tjurungas or pouches—wherever they went.
In the Central Australian version, the feminine element is repressed and represented by symbols only. Whereas up to the present all other Australian tribes have been shown to have a male type of religion and mythology, Berndt presents something quite different: 'This Mother is always present behind the ritual, the dancing and the singing. She is a symbol of the productive qualities of the earth, the eternal replenisher of human and natural resources; it was from her uterus that human and totemic beings came forth. She has no totem herself nor is she a totemic concept; she does not herself perform totemic ritual although her neophytes do' (p. 13). Compare this with the Eua