Demonism Among the Maoris.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XI, Issue 1, 1 July 1920, Page 298

Demonism Among the Maoris.

In a previous, article;: piiblished m" the " Gazette " : a few. months , ago, certain definite statements were made with regard tp what we, , arid very icany of .the! |laorisj ■believe to be.ppsseHsion by, ievil spirits or demons ; and a: promise was: given that the subject was to be: continued; V ; .We^iste m support^pf and^iri . rwtosi£p]lp:ws^^

that the, cases .. ; depoyilb,Qd-.haye coipe under the. personal :,obsei;yatjph ; either of one of us albne, or oi both, acting together.,; ■'.■• .;._, v ' " ' .' .^ ■'' ' No doubt some of pur readers, not haying.seen the ,popr sufferers, wlirbe; nl>le to explain to toeir own; satisfaction the; phenomena fe.wfdeii, arid may., also- be able .to: persuade others infp ..believing their theories. : It . win.p^Mbly jtie. said ,tha| -j;hey \ are .cas.es pf ;• * 'hysteria ;> - '■ or; ordinary ' insanity, or.; ** self -hypnosis,' ' '\ -<k of the ".subconscious inind^ or .-■, that thera; is "stone other quite natural explanation . of .the wliole series of ■pßenomena/" .■;.'. '[:■ „'v. '■'■. '".'/.■" ' :: ; : ,:'■"■■ - f lj; ; ; .is,Vd6ubJless,-iob;,mu'c^ iJ tp .expect the niedic^l prof essipn to .accept our view, aithdugh l we v knowof, : two doctors living who declare thai there are^ many \cases pf demoniacal possession, m. these, daya even among Europeans. ' • ' ',)' \. \_ ■ .;' '.. . It .seems, almost equally difficjilt: for the great majority; of the clergy npiY.adays to believe, m the possibility of d^mpn possession,;, and that we are giving, facts- as we have found them ..ampngithe JMapris. . ~ TOHIIWG^SM .THE We do not assert positively that every case we give is- one of ;whafr might be- called actual- "demoniacal possession";' but we do belieye— •',.' and so do the Maoris^thatr m every case there was v a very strong control by some evil spirit,; or spirits;, and,further/that m some way or other the ; real cause of the trouble can Jb&r traced -to tohungaism. • As previous-: ly pointed out, this is. Spiritism : as/ practised,, among the Maoris, the;- to- .... hungaof to-day bfeing the medium--of communication with the spirits^ * And the fact is; proved beyond doubt, that when the. case: is treated as one of possession, and the demon is ■exorcised - iri;the Name of; Jesus Christ,.^ere fis' ' a forthcoming of something, and the patient recovers immediately and becomes normal. Some cases Tare; yerj' easy; others are; much /more difficult; ; spm^Cdoujbtless, as • Christ "said,c,^Q;6 not forth; but; by /prayer ; and fasting;" ' ■ : . ; ■'■ i.::, Case No;. l.T— As far |)apk as twenty-, six .years.! ago. therie ;were : ;cases : knpwnv m Hawke's Bay.. ,' V v v '".: parallelv:with . a, .great ! wave .^-ofi> '• spiritualism "' .among the .Eurppean^: m Hawfee;?s Bjay ; at:vthat -time y four^ Maori wpiaen;. started; practice asiJio- ' hungas, or -niediums^ and; the Maoris;, JSocked ftp them m hiindreds f or , any and every ailment. Within.a ver^^short timeoneof the', mediums, became; apparently a raving lunatiis,, and was takenitp Porirua for v about ;three. months., After being* released. ;she' became, than ever, and " actetf : just ::like^ : ! tlie ; demoniacs.

She had the: strength of two men, and was almost' uncontrollable. She. would sit quietly m church for a^timeV attd^theii ; call' out after the; clergyman aishe passed ■ : hy just as they did of old: The relations begged that no notice be taken,' and that he wtiuld-noti^er^ shoifc- time She-; andi-twb of ; the other : mediums were dead. i MElJltiM A^'HER^ONTEOL. tL No. 2.-~The fourth^^ Maori medium,, ■a former Communicant, who, her husHband stated, ; was Sunder the control , of the spirit of her dead child ''when she was acting as a tohunga, at once (when she found the others ' dead) , tried to give •lip- the whole business; but, alas ! . it was too late, , for : the " spirit control" was not willing and Tefused to depart when she wished to break up the partnership. . . She and her husband had been warned of the awful peril to which they were exposing themselves m dabbling with spiritism, and had replied, "if what you say is true we shall find out," and they did find out wheri it was too late to retreat. For six or seven years that poor woman was held fast m the grip of that evil spirit, often unable to move, or speak, or to give any sign of recognition to . her husband or anyone else for long periods at a time. She was visited and prayed with, and prayed for— although her., husX band seemed to have no hope, and would say, ' l It 's of no use; she knows nothing, and hears nothing." Exorcism m this case was not tried. At that time no one seemed to believe such a thing possible; neither 'did her husband believe prayer was of any use; but at last she was set quite free again, and returned at once to the Church, and specially requested that she might be allowed to become a Communicant once more. She has been dead many years now. A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER. No. 3. — Some years later another woman m the same district developed almost exactly the same symptoms, at times quite normal but often under a similar control of No. 2, and her general health suffered very much so that she practically became a confirmed invalid; She has been like this for many years andi ; ¥as been treated by many ■ ' ' phsycians. ' ' ' About eighteen^ months ago her daughter quite suddenly developed the - Same symptoms, whereupon "the motiier became . at. once quite well; and' normal, and remained so for about nine months. The daughter wasrvisitedi She was , under a very strong "control" and could not speak, and acted as if she did not hear. The eyes were' set ; m a fixed defiant stare, and the lids never moyadi- We were told on good authority that it was a "case of

dewotiiacal pOß^sion." W& ; certainly believed it. So did the Maoris. A Maori-tohunga, had been called m but could do nothing.;' Tffe case was too difficult. AiMaori chief asked the writer if he had seen- the ease,; and also asked what was the matter' with her; and/ upon being/ told, .said,:: ' ' That is it. See '.when ske got like this her, ttiother 'was \ at .once quite " well. The evil spirts has gone from the one to the' other," '•• I^think after . events proveid hG was correct. She was taken to a mental hospital as : a lunatic, and no hope was' given of her recovery. " . ■. After about, eight months at Porirua she suddenly quite; normal and immediately, her mother de- . veloped the^symptoms; again, and that is the position, at the. time of writ- ■ ;■:'■ ';■'... • "~-\ .. '.'. .■■.■■ ;' I have not seen them since, owing to having been out of the district for many months; nor have I been asked to help m any way by "those^responsible. ■•-■■■ It is a 'strange and difficult case. / Can any .'doctor explain it, if it is not possession? . . ; A CASE OF.'T]RIPLE.PERSON- . . ALITY. V ■-:,• No 4.— ln this case there were >no signs of demon possession ; apparent, ' but at ( different times there: were quite different; personalities acting and speaking— at least two; others besides her own personality. - This was a of, 15 or 16 years of age.. Some years previously- she had/ been seized with some- serious attack - L of illness,' and taken to the; hospital, where she grew worse and' was pronounced incurable; She ,was !takeh . home to die, There la, Maori tohunga was called in-to diagnose' and treat the case, '• and she recovered ' immediately. It was said to be *'a case of an evil spirit m possession," and the tohunga affirmed that this' was "the reason- why the pakeha doctor could not cure her." ' Later onrtrouble appeared again, (it always does), and the tohunga was called m once or, twice* more to put things right. How did she ■-' (the tohunga) do it I . , / : . Tohungas assert that many illnesses are caused by evil spirits getting? possession, and they profess to - be- able to put a good and strong spirit m , control of the evil one, and so the patient will recover. But -the evil / spirit is not cast out, and so trouble continually recurs and the tohunga 's / aid is called "in 1 again 1 and again to puta still stronger spirit m contrpl. ' ■ If this is so, and the Maoris firmly believe it -(-no. -matter h,ow much • the pakeha may ridicule the idea) there is no limit to the number of controls or spirits ;in possession. Me can give . a case later on to show this. .' In 1918, m response to her. t personal request f :pKprayer to^be <M ere^tOa ;

behalf,, the cause of all her trguble was discovered and she^ was set^qiiite free immediately^from the. cbnttol of two or three evil spirits, ITppn a certain question feeing put: she was seized by a Very: violent, eohtro'l^ aWd prevented from answering 1 the • question; bji-j; within less than 3 minutes',, occupied iipi prater for : bJer deHvet-? ance^and m exorcising the. evil ;.sjpii^ts/ , In 'the' .'Names of ;JeMs Christ;,' she' ys&: - 3!he ' next "day she rnvas . able to giye . the details o£ her ease as already; r6--lats ^: abx^e; : /She ' firmly the^:Md! Taeen'two^or even! jbliijee^ 0yil) spirits pb'ssieSsing^ :'an'd -^pntrpilinglier ;. arid was quite ednscipusrthat: of teii her, lips, were used vtb say things- againsjfi • ' her ; own; willy 'and :that she was : being ' resjtraiiiied^ from m . Jesus': Christ.'V .';.,' „' /■i'.':.':'y : '..;'.: .:•;.. ■.'■.,' • ; / : .''.. ..'••> Sh^iasrbeen confirmed ari^hjas.ibeen a nipst : earnestj " hapjpy 1 and 'consistent' Christian ever, sinefe her .deliverance. -, , Everyone sees: the- difference Jin Ker;her' peopliB s liatye^ renounced' tohiinga- : ism, and she has i been used- to help many. pt'hers tp'belieye more fully . in Jesus :: -Christ.Vr' : ; r ;•';' ; ;,; " '; .. '[;,, \ '; "';■:' ■Within a few.days^ /this girl 'brought ' another one who was. ; under control; as ; to' her 'actions, -and whose health was becoming affected. This one, was also set free at .'pnce, and -proved^ to those about her that she. >was; f reed. .In-bpthi^e : se'.ekges-.the;. v i 'fault---was not their own, but that of the parents who Jbad caMed m the Maori tohunga; ■>- (To; be Continued); ; i