which this theory rests, the reader is referred to the article which follows this one. The name Pare appears to be derived as follows:— Maori : Pare Malay : padi Sanskrit : phali-kri The Malayan word ‘padi’ signifies rice. The Sanskrit word ‘phali-kri’ means ‘to winnow rice’. (‘Kri’ is the common word for ‘to do or make’.) Percy Smith in his book ‘Hawaiki’ (p.61), discusses another related Indian word for rice, ‘vari’, and associates it with the Rarotongan expression ‘Atia te Varinga nui’, said to be one of the ancient homelands of the Polynesians; he tells us that in Tregear's opinion, this is to be translated as ‘Atia, the be-riced’—that is, ‘the great riceland’.1. ‘Ari’, which may be a variant form of the word, is one of the ‘bloodless foods’ of Hawaiki referred to in Takitumu tradition and mentioned by Elsdon Best in his book, ‘Maori Agriculture’, p. 3. In Indonesia the name Pare (sometimes in variant form, Padi) occurs as a component in many of the names given to the rice-goddesses in those areas.2. Sir James Frazer, ‘The Golden Bough vol. V, p. 180 ff. The Maori name Niwareka may be derived as follows:— Maori : Niwareka Sanskrit : nivara The Sanskrit word ‘nivara’ means wild rice. There is also a related Sanskrit word ‘varaka’ which means ‘a kind of rice’.

Sacrifices to Ensure Fertility In primitive society it was regarded as essential that the fertility of the earth and of the next year's seed should be preserved and strengthened. This was done by means of religious ceremonies which sometimes involved human sacrifice. The earth must be fertile, or the world would perish, and even the gods would not receive their food. (In the Greek story of Demeter, she forces the god of the underworld to return her daughter by inflicting barrenness on the world). The gods have to be honoured with worship and to be fed with good, nourishing food, so that they are willing and able to ensure the fertility of the earth. They must receive the most precious of gifts: and often, these gifts took the form of human flesh and blood. There are many myths describing human sacrifices made at the time of the planting of crops. In James Frazer's ‘The Golden Bough’ several volumes are devoted to a discussion of this very wide-spread custom, and the beliefs which underlie it. It has been said above that in the myth the first person who goes down under the earth represents the seed which has been planted in the ground. The second person, who pursues the first in order to bring him or her up to the surface, represents the sacrificial victim whose death helps to ensure the growth and abundance of the new crop. Often, the first person in the myth runs away because he or she has been offended by the second person. Frazer associates this with the fact that it was often felt that the act of reaping and thrashing was likely to offend the spirit of the grain. It was partly for this reason that a sacrifice was felt to be necessary at the time of the planting of the new crops. Furthermore the tears shed by the offended person were identified with the rain necessary to make the new crop grow. In the two Maori myths discussed here, it is Hutu and Mataora who go under the earth to bring back to this world Pare and Niwareka, the woman whom they love and have lost. The names Hutu and Mataora both appear to be derived from Sanskrit words connected with sacrifice.3. Since initiation ceremonies marked the arrival of puberty; and the tapu areas tattooed were chiefly the face and thighs, it seems possible that although the word ‘Mataora’ appears to be derived from the Sanskrit words ‘MeAdha’ and ‘urja’, there may also have been a secondary underlying association with ‘MeAdhra’, the word for the male organ. The importance of the pun in mythology and psychology has been widely recognized. Maori : Hutu Sanskrit : Huta meaning : a sacrifice or offering Maori : Mata-ora Sanskrit : Medha meaning : a sacrificial victim; sap: a nourishing drink; marrow (especially of the sacrificial victim). Sanskrit : urja meaning : life, breath In both myths there are certain features which require further discussion, though this can only be done very briefly here.