Te Auahituroa returns!

Tu Tangata, Issue 26, 1 October 1985, Page 38

Te Auahituroa returns!

As you read this a great ball of ice, dust, gas and rock with a mass about equal to that of Aoraki/Aorangi hurtles through space at 40 km a second towards Sun and Earth. No not science fiction fact

for the most famous of comets is about to visit us again. Brian Mackrell, author of the forthcoming book Halley’s Comet Over New Zealand, looks at Maori cometary lore.

The ancient Maori, like all so-called “primitive” people, had an extensive astronomical knowledge, much of it now lost to us. Tohunga established the first meteorological and astronomical observatories in these islands at tribal tuaahu. Their only instruments were keen eyesight, sometimes aided by erection of forked sticks through which to concentrate the gaze on certain heavenly bodies to measure their movements.

Travellers and fishers, warriors about to mount a war expedition, planters of crops and persons interested in what the future held for the tribe: all consulted the Tohunga Kokorangi the experts who could read the sky and the portents of the gods expressed therein.

To many tribes of Aotearoa a comet was Auahiroa or Te Auahituroa The Long-standing smoke. Te Auahituroa was the son of the Sun, sent to Earth with the gift of fire for mortals. The comet descended to the planet and, for a time, was the lover of the beautiful goddess Mahuika. Their offspring were the Fire Children some of whom were gifted to humanity so that mortals could cook food and keep warm at night.

The demi-god Maui extinguished all the mortal’s fires and, on the pretext of rekindling them, induced Mahuika to give him more of her children whom he promptly killed by drowning. When Mahuika realised Maui was deceiving her she hid her surviving Fire Children within certain trees. Thereafter mor-

tals, to obtain fire, had to use the fireplough method; a man rubbing a stick in a grooved slab of wood held firm by a woman’s foot. Frequently a karakia to summon Te Tama a Auahituroa the son of Auahituroa the comet was recited during the fire making ritual.

Various tribes had both descriptive and personal names for comets Te Upokoroa, Taketake-hikuroa, Meto and Puaroa are but some of them. Their appearance and position was studied by Tohunga to interprete the message from the gods. A long-tailed comet with sparkling or flashing light was an evil omen but if the light was calm and steady this was a good portent. A multitailed comet Meto was said to herald a coming hot summer while a comet with a misty tail Puaroa was regarded as a whetu-tapu sacred star and favourable omen.

Particularly bright comets were regarded as messengers of the shining god Rongomai. The Great Comet of 1882 was so bright it was visible in daylight and for a time appeared over Taranaki ‘‘like a white feather attached to the mountain” according to a European observer. This was of great significance to the people of Parihaka whose leader Te Whiti o Rongomai (The flight of the shining god) was at that time held prisoner by the government in the South Island. Te Whiti's peace symbol was the white feather raukura and here it was emblazoned in the sky above the sacred mountain affirming his mana even though he was a

prisoner of the Europeans. A song composed by Te Whiti’s fellow Chief, Te Whetu, appears to refer to the Great Comet’s omen ‘‘Let me affirm it was right To cast off the cloak of the Queen; Raised on high is the message of Te Whiti, Lifted high over Parihaka. Here the white feather is in its place

Let winds from without come to break it At the darkest hour his presence remained....” Some comets were interpreted as signaling the outbreak of war or the death of a great Chief. During Halley’s Comet 1910 visit King Edward VII died and the Maori lament at the official mourning declared: ‘‘Go then, oh, our Ariki... Go to thy ancestors in Heaven. Go on the path of Awanui-a-rangi (Great River of the Sky: Milky Way) which even now gleams from the sky earthwards, a glowing sky-print known as the Auahiroa (Comet Halley) and as the messenger of Rongomai. It appears as a brilliant ladder whereupon thou mayest ascend to the tenth heaven. G 0....”

And once again Te Auahituroa returns becoming visible to the naked eye for the first time since 1910 in December 1985; but not at its best until March-April 1986 after it has rounded the Sun on its endless 75 year voyage through the Solar System. And. like a magnet, Te Auahituroa draws people to it. We in the southern hemisphere, as in 1910. are to be graced with the best view of this once-in-a-lifetime sight (though some people have/will make it a twice-in-a-lifetime sight) and multitudes will descend on Australia and New Zealand from the northern hemisphere to view Te Auahituroa at its best.