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

At daylight the man stands up alone and swings the churinga, causing it first to strike the ground as he whirls it round and round and makes it hum.

From Primitive Love and Love-Stories by Finck, Henry Theophilus

They are: but I was speaking of Australian churinga nanja, of stone. 

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

There is a legend that, of old, men hung up the perforated churinga on the sacred Nurtunja pole: and so they still have perforated stone churinga, not usually more than a foot in length.

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

The local example is found close to Alice Springs, where there are deposited a large number of churinga carried by the witchetty grub men and women.

From Folklore as an Historical Science by Gomme, George Laurence

He made a sketch of this object, from p. 24memory: if found in Central Australia it would have been reckoned a churinga nanja.

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