churinga

[ choo-ring-guh ]

/ tʃʊˈrɪŋ gə /

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

Origin of churinga

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

The Arunta who has been rubbed with his churinga feels himself stronger; he is stronger.

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life |Emile Durkheim
A woman who has seen a churinga or a man who has shown one to her are both put to death.

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life |Emile Durkheim
But the virtues of the churinga are not manifested merely by the way in which it keeps the profane at a distance.

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life |Emile Durkheim
They also occur on wooden slats, (churinga irula,) commonly styled “Bull roarers” by Europeans.

The Clyde Mystery |Andrew Lang

So, in Strehlow's own expression, the churinga is "the body common to the individual and his ancestor."

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life |Emile Durkheim

churinga

/ (tʃəˈrɪŋɡə) /

a sacred amulet of the native Australians

from a native Australian language