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MAORI MYTHS and LEGENDS 6 |
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THE REAL GOD |
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The Maori people had knowledge of the
One God. This was not general knowledge, but a belief confined to a very
select group in Maori society. It existed before the coming of the
Christian missionaries. Some attribute it to ancient roots in Hinduism.
The name for ancient lands (before Hawaiki) where the Maori (Polynesian)
people originated is Atia te Varinga. Some think this is India, because
of references to snowy mountains.
Io is the supreme God, and is known by many names, according to his
attributes, eg; Io-taketake (from whom all things have sprung), Io-te
waiora (Io the giver of life). The power of Io moved amongst the
elements of chaos, and from chaos came eons of darkness, from which
light was emitted. From these forms of energy, light and darkness,
evolved Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku
(Earth Mother). The power of of the real God is manifested as sound,
celestial music, so He is said to have sung the Creation into existence.
Rangi lay with Papa and their children became the Gods of this world.
When they were released, they were responsible for the creation of the
universe: the planets, stars, the sun, and every living thing on the
earth, including mankind.
There is a cosmic Genealogy (Whakapapa) describing the creation of
the foundation of the universe by Io, the supreme God. Io-matua (parent,
more especially father) is accorded the honour of having created all
things. The first genealogies begin with Te Kore (unorganized potential)
and the universe evolves through various eons of time and phases of
darkness and light. |
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WHAKAPAPA |
IO-MATUA
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TE KORE
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Io-matua
Te Kore
P ō
Aom ārama
Ranginui = Papa-tūānuku
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TE KORE |
| Io-matua is accorded the honour of having created all
things. Io the Creative spiritual energy that always was. Time did not
exist. Io enjoys peace, harmony, completeness, yet decided to create,
which is to give physical form to His own energy. The first genealogies
begin with Te Kore (unorganized potential).
Te Kore has been mostly translated by European writers as “nothingness”
or “void”. Maori writers translate it as an energy state where there
is unlimited potential for being.
From India comes a Universal religion that has the same concept. The
Spiritual Energy creates a new realm of existence where some of the
energy is converted to material energy. This is very subtle. Think of
water. It’s highest energy state is steam. It contains latent heat
(spiritual energy) So material energy in its physical form is condensed
spiritual energy going down from steam to water, snow and ice. They call
this region “The Void”. It is because it is so large, like space is
large, even though it contains all these solar systems.
From the same Universal religion comes the concept that the Creative
Energy is manifested into two primal forms: Spiritual Light and Sound.
This manifested energy goes through four levels or planes or “spiritual
worlds” to create and maintain them before it condenses into purely
physical form of the universe of which our sun and earth is a part.
The Maori use the same term Aomārama (the
World of Light) to refer to the world we live in on this earth, as well
as the spiritual world (Astral plane) where the dead go and the
spiritual planes that we call heaven. So the concept of spiritual light
has survived although not the Sound. The same is true for Christianity.
There are accounts of the spiritual light encountered by the Christian
saints, but the Sound is not so explicit. It is called the Word of God
in the bible, but people have interpreted this as the written word of
the bible.
I have used a blanc piece of wood to represent Te Kore. It has untold
potential in this state. Any form beneath the surface can be revealed by
the carver. And the beholder can get more then what the five senses
reveals, there is a sixth sense of intuition or feeling. This piece of
wood tells it’s own story. A life force that laid dormant was started
with favourable conditions to grow from a seed into a tree in a location
where there is a winter and a summer with corresponding growth rates.
Yet how was it first created? |
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Te Pō and Te Aomārama |
Out of chaos, the power of Io separated two opposites:
darkness and light. This can be clearly perceived on the physical plane,
on this earth where the day follows night. Not much is known about
death. At death, Io removes the force (maui) that keeps body and spirit
together. They therefore separate and this process is called death. What
happens to the spirit is not known. It goes to the spiritual world, but
what happens there is not known. The Christian perspective has added
that the spiritual world consists of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.
Depending on our deeds will be our reward. Too many bad actions results
in hell, a place of suffering. Less negative actions can be burned away
by a cleaning process in purgatory. In the end we are rewarded to sit at
the feet of God where we want for nothing and share His Peace. From
other sources we may have concluded that this spiritual world is the
astral plane where the spirit still has an astral body made of more
refined material.
This lack of knowledge is also termed darkness by the Maori. So at
death, the spirit goes to a world of darkness, and ventures from there
into the spirit world. Hinenuitepō is the goddess of the
underworld.
Night begat Papat ūānuku,
the female element.
The opposite of Pō is Aomārama, the world of light. It
comprised the whole universe—the earth, the heavens and the depths of
firmament.
The spirit world, to which the dead go after passing through the veil
of death, is also a state of Aomārama..
In the acquisition of knowledge, one progresses from a condition of
ignorance or darkness to enlightenment (Aomārama)
Light begat Ranginui, the male element. |
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Birth of Papatūānuku and
Ranginui |
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