churinga

American  

[choo-ring-guh] / tʃʊˈrɪŋ gə /

noun

plural

churinga, churingas

1. an object carved from wood or stone by Aboriginal tribes in central Australia and held by them to be sacred.

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churinga British  

/ tʃəˈrɪŋɡə /

noun

1. a sacred amulet of the native Australians

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Etymology

Origin of churinga

First recorded in 1895–1900, churinga is from the Aranda word jwerreŋe

Example Sentences

Churinga, over a foot in length, they tell us, are not usually perforated; many churinga are not perforated, many are: but the Arunta do not p. 109know why some are perforated. 

From The Clyde Mystery a Study in Forgeries and Folklore by Lang, Andrew

‘Oh Lord,’ said Dr. Fogarty, and murmured, ‘Another of his lady friends!’ adding, ‘I must ask, Miss, have you the churinga?’

From The Disentanglers by Lang, Andrew

If it cannot be found, the men cut a wooden one from the nearest hard-wood tree, and this becomes the sacred stick or churinga of the newborn child.

From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3) The Belief Among the Aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea and Melanesia by Frazer, James George, Sir

Each of these Alcheringa ancestors carried about with him or her one or more of the sacred stones called churinga.

From Folklore as an Historical Science by Gomme, George Laurence

Dr. Munro, perhaps, would think wooden churinga, used for magical ends, “incongruous with the earlier Scottish civilisation.”

From The Clyde Mystery a Study in Forgeries and Folklore by Lang, Andrew