In the time before time, when the Dreaming first shaped the earth, all living beings were eternal. People, animals, and spirits walked together in a world without sorrow or age. Each sunrise was the same as the last, and no one knew the passing of seasons. The trees bore fruit unendingly, the rivers sang forever, and the fires of life never dimmed.
Among the first people was a sense of peace, yet there was also a quiet stillness that the Creator watched with growing concern. Without endings, there were no beginnings. Without rest, there was no renewal. The earth itself longed to breathe, to see change and rebirth. So the Creator called upon two messengers from the spirit world to carry a sacred message to humankind.
The message was simple: as the moon dies and rises again, so too will people die and live once more. Death, the Creator decided, would not be an end but a transformation, a return to the spirit world before being born anew.
The first messenger was a possum, small but swift, known for his careful words. The second was a lizard, clever but proud, who often twisted stories for his own amusement. The Creator told them, “Go and teach the people. Tell them that when they die, they will rise again, just as the moon returns to the sky.”
The two messengers set out. They traveled across the plains, through the red earth and into the forests. The possum hurried ahead, eager to deliver the truth. He climbed trees and called to the people below. “Do not be afraid,” he said. “When your time comes, you will return to life, for the spirit is eternal.” The people listened with joy and began to prepare songs of renewal.
But the lizard lagged behind, grumbling at the dust and the heat. He did not like that the possum had spoken first. Out of jealousy, he decided to change the message. When he reached the next group of people, he stood tall and said, “The Creator has spoken: when you die, you will stay dead forever.”
His words spread quickly, carried by echo and wind. Confusion grew among the tribes. Some believed the possum, others the lizard. The world was filled with argument and fear.
When the Creator heard the noise, he called both messengers back. “What have you done?” the Creator asked. The possum bowed his head and told the truth. The lizard looked away and said nothing.
But it was too late. The false message had already taken root in the hearts of humankind. The balance of life had shifted, and the power of death had entered the world. From that day forward, no one would live forever.
The Creator sighed. “So it must be,” he said. “The word once spoken cannot be undone. Death will now remain among the people, to remind them of the importance of time, kindness, and the cycle of all living things.”
When the people first saw death, they wept and sang songs of mourning. Yet over time, they came to understand. The earth needed rest so it could renew its life. The rivers needed to dry so they could flood again. Even the stars faded at dawn so that new light could rise.
Elders tell this story around evening fires, when the sun sinks low and the shadows lengthen. They say that if the possum’s message had spread first, people would live as the moon does dying and returning each month. But because the lizard’s words reached the people instead, death became final, and only the spirit renews.
Still, the moon remains as a sign of what might have been. Each time it fades and returns, it reminds the people of the Creator’s first promise that though the body may die, the spirit never truly ends.
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Moral Lesson
This story teaches that words hold great power and that carelessness can change the destiny of all living things. It also reminds us that death is not punishment alone but part of the sacred balance that allows life to renew and the world to remain in harmony.
Knowledge Check
1. What was life like before death came into the world?
All beings lived forever in peace, and there was no aging, sorrow, or change.
2. What message did the Creator give to the messengers?
That people would die and rise again, just as the moon disappears and returns.
3. Who were the two spirit messengers sent by the Creator?
A possum and a lizard.
4. Which messenger changed the message, and why?
The lizard, because he was jealous that the possum had spoken first.
5. What was the result of the lizard’s false message?
Death became final for humans, and mortality entered the world.
6. What does the moon symbolize in this story?
It symbolizes the eternal spirit and the renewal that continues even after death.
Source: Adapted from “The Coming of Death” in Aboriginal Myths: Tales of the Dreamtime by A. W. Reed (1978), Terrey Hills, N.S.W.: Reed.
Cultural Origin: Australian Aboriginal (Dreamtime, pan-regional)
