Threads of Waynha: Reading the Signs of Collective Awakening

As told through the wisdom of Yarraga (Spring) and the Gugurmin (the Celestial Emu)

In the intricate tapestry of ancient Indigenous knowledge, seasons are not simply marked by dates on a calendar, but by the profound conversations between sky, land, and living beings. Right now, as we move through the Wiradjuri season of Yarraga, this moment of spring's awakening, Gugurmin (the Celestial Emu) shifts its position across the night sky, signaling to those who know how to listen that something profound is stirring.

Embedding Indigenous Ways of Being: Global Charter for Transformation

During a recent Spring Equinox circle with my Coralus Indigenous sisters we explored the deeper meaning of this equinox as part of a global movement. Our conversation, guided by Vanessa and including Indigenous sisters Stacey, Joanne, Tammy, Carla, Erica and myself, centred on the profound waynha (transformation) emerging around us.

This gathering was part of Coralus's Global Indigenous Circles - special gatherings held every Equinox and Solstice to co-create a charter based on our collective ancestral wisdom. We discovered something powerful: that our work is to pull tense threads back together rather than focus on the breakages caused by external pressures.

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing reality obsolete." - Buckminster Fuller

Decolonizing Business Through Workplace Spirituality

Our circle guide, Vanessa, is a heart-centered mixed heritage Métis woman who is reclaiming her Michif roots. As the proud descendant of voyageurs and ancestors who were part of the Red River Resistance, she brings profound wisdom to decolonizing business through workplace spirituality. With a graduate degree in business and a masters in leadership from Royal Roads University, Vanessa co-founded Decolonize and Rize and holds citizenship with the Manitoba Métis Federation.

This Global Indigenous Women Charter we're co-creating represents a source of wisdom, strength and encouragement - harvesting ancestral knowledge to guide modern Indigenous leadership and business transformation.

Indigenous Leadership: Lessons from the Celestial Dinhawan

The Wiradjuri understand that when the Celestial Dinhawan (Gugurmin) appears on the eastern horizon just after sunset, it signals that the earthly dinhawan are laying eggs and should not be hunted. This isn't just mythology - it's sophisticated ecological knowledge that connects sky movements to earthly animal behaviour, teaching sustainable practices through astronomical observation.

Wiradjuri Astronomical Wisdom: The Milky Way as Living Narrative

In Wiradjuri traditions of central New South Wales, the Milky Way is more than a celestial phenomenon - it's a living river populated by Wāwi, the rainbow serpent spirit. This sinuous dark nebula between the Southern Cross and Vela represents Wāwi, who possesses magical powers and makes his den in deep waterholes, burrowing into riverbanks.

Wāwi's den can be located where rainbows end after thunderstorms, and Clever men (traditional knowledge keepers) are taught to engage with Wāwi, learning and teaching new songs. Remarkably, this same celestial interpretation is mirrored by the Quechua people of South America, who also see a serpent in the Milky Way's dark river.

Reading the Cultural Landscape

Uncle Larry Brandy, Aboriginal storyteller, reminds us that yarraga is the season where nights are still cold but days are becoming warmer. The garal (wattle) starts flowering, birds return from the north to make their nests, and when we see ngawang (False Sarsaparilla) blooming, we know it's time to go fishing because the fish are fat and ready to catch. The Galari (Lachlan River) fills up, wetlands come alive, and ngurambang (Country) begins its awakening.

This is not just seasonal observation - it's a masterclass in reading the signs of transformation that can guide business decisions and leadership approaches.

Wiradjuri Seasonal Calendar: A Business Wisdom Framework

Larry Towney's groundbreaking Wiradjuri Astronomy Project reveals how our ancestors understood that stars serve as calendars, law books, and guides for all aspects of daily life and Culture. His research shows how the Celestial Dinhawan, along with constellations like the Pleiades (Mulayndynang) and Baiami's eternal chase, encode complex information about:

• Seasonal changes and natural timing
• Navigation strategies for life and business
• Cultural laws and ethical frameworks
• Sustainable practices and reciprocity

The preservation work continues through initiatives like the seasonal calendar app project, where Elders from Wagga Wagga, Tumut, Condobolin, Dubbo, Narromine, and Gilgandra share their knowledge of the six traditional Wiradjuri seasons - each connected to hunting, gathering, healing, and survival.

Indigenous Transformation Practices: Time to Harvest Abundance and Reciprocity

We are in a time of harvest - not just of crops, but of consciousness. Change and abundance are flowing simultaneously, and while change can be unsettling, abundance brings reciprocity. The tension between these forces can fray the threads that connect us, but our work - like the ancient astronomers reading the Celestial Dinhawan - is to focus on pulling the threads together rather than watching them divide.

Just as Wiradjuri wisdom teaches that Wāwi's den can be located where rainbows end after thunderstorms, we too are learning to find healing in the aftermath of colonial disruption. Our work is to be the 'Clever people' - engaging with the serpent of historical trauma, learning new songs of unity, and weaving back the frayed threads of our collective experience.

Remarkably, this journey of restoration is not unique to one culture. Like the Quechua people of South America who see a similar serpent in the Milky Way's dark river, Indigenous communities globally are reclaiming their power to transform pain into collective strength.

These are not just personal metaphors. They reflect what's happening globally in 2025: geopolitical tensions in Taiwan, Ukraine, and Gaza; political polarisation; ideological differences being dealt with through violence rather than acceptance that we are all different, and it's important to love who we are while allowing others to be - unless they are causing harm.

Many of us Indigenous people across the globe are of mixed heritage, carrying the complexity of fractured families due to removal and colonial disruption. When our Indigenous brothers and sisters try to pull us down because of our mixed heritage or limited connection to Indigenous family, it's crucial we redirect the lens to colonialism and recognise how this thinking has been caused by colonial systems. It's harmful to use lateral violence to pull another down - instead, we focus on lateral love.

Coming to the Fire Circle: Aboriginal Leadership in Practice

We come to the fire - to the circle - sharing and growing stronger together. As Richard Mananase reminds us:

"Truth is we are all related, all connected, all belong to each other... every rock, plant, creature and person... we are part of a circularity... we live because each of us lives."

This is the profound wisdom emerging from our yarraga season: we focus on our collectiveness and heal together, and the planet will heal.

Key Themes for Indigenous Business Leaders

The themes that emerged from our Coralus circle - part of the ongoing Global Indigenous Charter development - reflect this ancient understanding:

• Walking the talk vs talking the talk - authentic action over empty words
• The tension of 'code switching' - navigating between different worlds with integrity
• Building bridges to experience and deepen connection to Culture - creating pathways for genuine understanding
• Humour is medicine - the healing power of laughter and lightness
• Unity and bridge building - the core theme of our Spring Equinox gathering

Like the Celestial Dinhawan (emu) moving across the sky, we too are in a moment of collective awakening. The constellation teaches us about timing - when to act, when to wait, when to gather, when to preserve. It shows us that everything is connected: sky to earth, season to survival, individual transformation to collective healing.

The New Model: Embedding Indigenous Ways into Modern Business

In this yarraga season of waynha (transformation), informed by our global Indigenous charter work, we're called to:

1. Read the signs with ancient wisdom
2. Pull threads together rather than focus on division
3. Embrace our complexity and mixed heritage as strength
4. Practice lateral love over lateral violence
5. Remember our interconnectedness across global Indigenous communities
6. Trust in collective healing and charter-building

The Celestial Dinhawan continues its eternal journey across our night sky, reminding us that transformation is not a destination but a continuous conversation between all living things. In this spring of awakening, we are all part of the same constellation - each of us a point of light in the vast tapestry of connection.

Waynha is here. The question is: are we ready to read the signs?

Acknowledgments

• Uncle Larry Brandy, Aboriginal storyteller and keeper of Wiradjuri seasonal knowledge
• Uncle Larry Towney and the Wiradjuri Astronomy Project
• Wiradjuri Elders of Wagga Wagga, Tumut, Condobolin, Dubbo, Narromine, and Gilgandra
• Vanessa from The Mindful Managers and my Coralus Indigenous Entrepreneur Circle sisters
• Vanessa, Stacey, Joanne, Tammy, Carla, and Erica- sisters from our Coralus Global Indigenous Circle
• CSIRO, ABC, and Bureau of Meteorology for their ongoing work in preserving Indigenous ecological knowledge
• Richard Mananase for wisdom on interconnectedness
• Cover photo: Artwork depiction of Celestial Emu in the Wiradjuri sky in spring by Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney now featured on the special release Australian $1 coin, through the Royal Australian Mint

This piece honours the living knowledge systems of Wiradjuri people and acknowledges that this wisdom continues to guide us through times of transformation.

Sources:

Cover Image: Gugurmin, the emu in the sky in Wiradjuri traditions - artwork by Scott 'Sauce' Towney - Landscape: Peter Leiverdink: Cosmos Education: Learning the Star Knowledge of First Australians

Image: Celestial Emu in the Sky dark constellation visible in the Milky Way arc over Australian outback landscape at night (without emu outline) - NITV: The Point

Image: Yarraga (spring) Learning Card, showing the seasonal indicators of Spring - by Uncle Larry Brandy, the Wiradjuri Keeper of the Seasons

Image: Painting by Artist: Miguel Aráoz Cartagena depicting Mach'aqway (the Serpent) which the Quechua people of South America see in the Milky Way's dark river, very similar to the Wiradjuri Wāwi (creator serpent) - from Aracari Travel: Weekly Insight #17: Inca Astronomy