However, the hope expressed in a rainbow is frequently tinged with pathos. According to Irish legend, the end of a rainbow marks where leprechauns have buried a pot of the gold they stole from the Vikings. But since you can only see a rainbow if you are far away from it, and they appear to move as you move, the promise remains elusive. Somewhere over the rainbow, “dreams come true” and “troubles melt like lemon drops”, as Judy Garland sang in the Wizard of Oz musical. But this magical place is unattainable, she laments: “Birds fly over the rainbow – why then, oh why, can’t I?”
Spirit in the sky
Rainbows are a relatively common meteorological phenomenon, presumably seen by every human since the dawn of our species, and across the world cultures have sought diverse meaning in a translucent arc in the sky. For the Aboriginal people of Pennefather River in North Queensland, Australia, the rainbow is a very brightly coloured snake that appears to stop rain that has been made by their enemies. The rainbow-serpent is a very important and powerful spirit throughout Aboriginal Dreamtime culture, thought to be the oldest continuous religious belief in the world, and is depicted in rock art dating back at least 10,000 years.