Contact with the power of the Cult Heroes was made through sacred rituals in which painting, dancing, singing, and music played vital roles. Through artistic activity, a man could summon the forces controlled by the Heroes to guarantee the continuation of everyday life, the course of the seasons, adequate supplies of food and water, and the prevention of misfortune. In western Australia, for example, the Aborigines ensured fruitful seasons by continually retouching the Wandjina paintings. These huge figures sixteen feet or more in height, were ornamented with striped crescent shapes symbolizing rain thunder, and lightning, or the blood of life and their white faces were mouthless, because the Wandjina could no longer speak. The paintings were kept alive and fresh for thousands of years, because failure to perform the sacred rite was thought to allow the Wandjina to dim and vanish taking with them rain and fertility.