THE RELIGION OF THE MAORI

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE RELIGION OF THE MAORI

The whole universe was, according" to the ancient belief, divided into three great states, of winch Rangi (the Heavens) represented the Spiritual, Papa (the Earth) Mortality, and Te Po (the Darkness) Death. In JRaiigi. the spiritual world, there were no less than 20 divisions, each with its presiding deity and attendant spirits. The highest heaven was known as Tt' Rangi-a-mai-waho, and was the abode of To, or A, the Creator. To this heaven ascended the essence of the offerings of praise or thanksgiving, and the supplications for help. Here was the heavenly temple Nalic-rangi. and from here were dispersed rewards and punishments both to the spirits of the remaining heavenly regions and to the dwellers on earth. Each successive region, counting downwards from Te Rangi-a-mai-waho, was the abode of beings diminishing in perfection and excellence in proportion to their distance from the highest heaven — the source of good. The soul of man was believed to be a ray from the power or "Mana" of To or A, which, becoming detached in the heaven of Tama-rau-tu, dwe't there for a period equalling the average earth life of man, descended through the successive heavenly regions until it reached the lowest heaven, Te Rangi-o-tane. Below the fully-developed soul, now awaiting" its earthly casket, lay the vast uninhabited space containing sun, moon, and stars. This was variously named by different tribes "Whiti-nuku," "Papa-tv A-nuku," etc. Across this sea of ether must each soul take its flight ere it might be shrined in the body of a mortal infant, where the dim flutter of "Quickening" was the signal of its arrival. Below the abode of man lay the regions of Te Rienga, or Te Po — the world of shades, — also divided into twenty planes of darkness and oblivion. It may, however, be noted here that some eminent Maori scholars, among them the Rev. Mr Stack, consider the celestial regions as well as the under-world only numbered ten divisions each, though White emphatically enumerates twenty. These regions of the under-world were

inhabited by the spirits who for their rebellion against To, A, or Rangi, were hurled from the heavens to eternal banishment. They were also the abode to which some of the ■souls of men descended after the death of the body on earth. Whatever might be the cause of death, it was believed that the freed spirit, assisted, as we shall see, by certain solemn and impressive rites, set out on its journey to Muri Whenua, a point at the extreme north of New Zealand. There, on the edge of a precipitous bluff jutting into the sea, grew a great Pohutu-Kawa tree, whosei roots, thrusting over the rocks, reached the foot of the cliff. A vast cavern burrowed its gloomy depths beneath the trliff, and fronted the ocean, on whose eternal tides a mas si of seaweed moved, slowly lapping the face of the rock as the tide rose and fell. Beside the gnarled tree the spirits kept their last tryst, chanting wild farewells to their respectivp tribes, and joined in the wierd chorus by the spirits of dogs Then followed a wild and frenzied dance, after which, one by one, the human spirits descended the over-hanging roo', glided into the cave, and vanished in Te Uranga-o-te-ra, or the first region of the Shades. In this Uranga-o-te-ra was a river named Karo-Karo Ponamu, where was stationed an ancient ferry woman, Rohe. Here, too, lies another close analogy to the Greek myths, for here is the dusky counterpart of Charon, plying his grim traffic over the brooding Styx. All those to whom Rohe granted a passage, irrevocably went down the dusty way to death. Those who recovered from the insensibility caused by a blow, a fit, or swoon were supposed to have been refused a passage by the ancient ferry woman, and sent back by her to finish their earth life.

The period of existence in each plane of Te Po was considered to equal the average length of life on earth It will thus be realised how small a portion of the soul's existence the Maori conceived to be embodied in his earthly life. Nothing can exceed the hopeless gloom of this passage through the Shades. In striving to realise it one -cannot cease to wonder at the Maoris indifference to death, and the extraordinary frivolity of the causes which incited him to suicide. As the spirit descended to one Shade after another the darkness deepened, the powers of the soul ■deadened, until at last, reaching Toke, the lowest abyss, it •assumed the shape of a worm, crawled blindly back to earth, and dying, won at last long-deferred extinction Such was "the tale of the soul's life and death for the common people, ihe "canaille."

Very different was the life eternal, which was the heritage of the chiefs and priests. They were the descendants of those gods or godesses — such as Tango-Tango, — who "saw the children of men that they were fair," and realised in primitive •conception ''the loves of the angels." The spark of divine parentage, however remote, was inextinguishable; thus th.> spirits of priests and chief alike returned to the heavens when the brief earth life released them. Again, the souls of •children, still-born, were supposed to be of a singularly malevolent character. Frustrated in their desire for an earthly incarnation, they remained to haunt the abodes of men as plagues, pains, blight, misfortune, and afflictions of all kinds. Similar superstitions as to the malignant nature of still-born, and the mournful exile of unbaptised children, are frequently •met with in the folk lore of different countries. Broadly speaking, however, it will be seen that the Maori believed m eternal life for the souls of their nobles — i.e., priests and

chiefs — and gradual but complete annihilation for the souls of the peasants or common people. Abundant and interesting evidence of this was found, as we shall see, in their burial lites.

tions, and the performance of songs and dances. The seasons of autumn and winter, when the storing of the crops was completed, was the period in which the various 1 classes for instruction was held ; for we must recognise that long before the coming of the White man the Maori had his system of education clearly arranged and scrupulously carried out. The priests were the teachers, and though the priestly office was hereditary, other qualifications were necessary to complete the character of a powerful Tohunga. To birth and intellect must also be added the evidence of unlimited courage arid lavish hospitality. Each of the five principal Atuas, or presiding diviniti.s — namely,