MAORI BELIEFS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19135, 2 October 1936, Page 11

MAORI BELIEFS

SIMILARITY TO THE BIBLE BISHOP'S ADDRESS The major portion of Ihe annual meeting of the Hastings Historical Society was devoted to a reading by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, of an interview with aMi". lnaw Hid aim. of Waipawa, dealing with the spiritual beliefs and customs of the Maori people. Mr. ffutana, who is 94 years of age, was visited by the secretary of the society. Mr. W. T. Chaplin. and this information was obtained. Bishop Bennett made various comments on the, subject matter in his reading. The early Maori spiritual beliefs were practically the same as those records in the Old testament of the Bible, he said, the basic principles being a belief in one great supreme God, with a number ot lesser deities, images and idols did not enter into the Maori worship. "It is an extraordinary thing that Hie Maori conception of the Creation is so similar to that of the Bible," commented Bishop Bennett. "The Maoris knew that the vegetation was created before man. and they refer to the trees as their 'elder brothers,' and they had a wonderful feeling of unity with -Nature. NOT IDOL WORSHIPPERS "The Maoris were not idol-worship-pers. These wonderful pieces of Maori curving which we see may represent demi-gods or spirits., but there were no carvings or images representing the Supreme. Being. They felt that they could not visualise such a one." The speaker mentioned that the differentiation between demi-god and ordinary human images lay in the fact that the supernatural ones had three fingers to their hands, while the others had five. In the Maori baptism branches of the karamu and honeysuckle were dipped in water, and this was sprinkled over (he baby.' The child, was then dedicated to an appropriate deity, such as the God of War. if the child' were a rangatira or chief. The Maoris also made a practice of offering the first-fruits of their labours to their gods. Before commencing a meal, portion of tho food was cast over the shoulder, and the first fruits of the harvest were offered to the gods in a. similar manner to that carried out in the Old Testament. ri.ANTING OP FOOD In planting their food, the Maoris turned to the sun when planting, as, it was thought- that this ensured a good barvest. The first fish caught and the first birds snared were also kept separate and handed to the tohunga, or priest, who offered these up to the gods, in the Sacred Place. Referring In this. Bishop Bennett said that some years ago a. Maori village on the West Coast was the centre of an outbreak of n disease, and this was al • trib'uted to the failure of the membersof the village to offer up the first fish caught. Tho Maori conception of the Flood was that tho earth was covered with water, called tho "Wave of Aratnpu," and those who escaped climbed a mount or island called Hikurangi. This flood waft believed to be the .result of a quarrel between two of the demi-gods, Ruatnpn and Packia.

Man's descent, from God was. mention ed in ancient Maori song.