The Wandjina are rain and cloud spirits from the mythology of First Nations peoples of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are depicted on rock arts from the area and are estimated to be around 4,000 years old.

These pictures may remind you of something . Similar faces with large black almond eyes have become embedded in our own cultural stories and myths. There are many people who claim to have met beings bearing some resemblance to the Wandjina.
You don’t have to dig very deep into the internet to find wild abundance of websites, books and articles comparing the Wandjina (as well as other ancient art paintings and petroglyphs) to modern images from our stories of visitations, alien abductions, or of beings met during psychedelic experiences or dreams.

To me this speaks less of the likelihood of ancient alien visitations, and more to some deep archetypal collective experiences (often during altered, non-normal states of consciousness) that cultures and individuals have accessed and interpreted across our history. Things are not as they seem.

So. Who where the Wandjina?

Wandjina is the most significant Creation Spirit, associated with rain and therefore the seasonal regeneration of the land and all natural resources. The body of Wandjina is often shown covered with dots that represent the rainfall. The cyclonic wet season brings rain to the Kimberley, and elements of the torrential rains, lightning and thunder are often included in the imagery around the head of the Wandjina. Ceremonial dances that pay homage to the Wandjina Rain Spirit can include headdresses that symbolically refer to lightning and thunder.

The facial characteristics of Wandjina can be seen to represent climatic features. The eyes of the Wandjina can represent thunderstorms and even the line between the eyes resembles a nose, but is actually a power line which is used to transfer energy. Small brush marks on the Wandjinas body usually represent rain drops. When depicted with only head and shoulders the Wandjina is said to be moving across the sky in a cloud or storm. A full-bodied Wandjina is said to be present walking the Earth.

For people of Mowanjum community, near the town of Derby in the Kimberley, the Wandjina brought the law, the culture and the language of their people. Their Dreaming stories tell of the first Wandjina, called Idjair, who lives in the Milky Way and is the father of all Wandjinas. The Wandjina Wallungunder was Idjair’s first son and he created the Earth and all life upon it. After that he created the first human beings, the Gyorn Gyorn people.  Wallungunder travelled back to Idjair to bring back more Wandjinas to give the Gyorn Gyorn people laws to live by. There are three Wandjinas which represent the three language groups of Mowanjum. They are Namarali for the Worrorra people, Wodjin or Wanalirri for the Ngarinyin people, and Rimijmarra for the Wunambul people.

David Wroth. Original Source.