Rangi and Papa

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Rangi and Papa are hugging each other closely

In the mythology or religion of the Māori New Zealand the deities Rangi and Papa are the original couple and appear in the creation story of the Māori as the founders of the world . The names Ranginui and Papatuanuku are also in use.

Union and separation

Rangi and Papa are the original couple, Father Heaven (Rangi) and Mother Earth (Papa), who lie together in a deep embrace . They have many children, all of them male, who are forced to live in the cramped darkness between their parents. These sons grow up and talk to one another what it would be like to live in the light.

Tūmatauenga , the fiercest of the children, suggests that the best solution to this predicament is to kill the parents. But his brother Tāne (or Tāne-mahuta) disagrees and instead suggests moving the parents apart, and Rangi would then be in heaven while Dad would live on earth to continue to feed the children.

Ultimately, some implement the plan: Rongo , the god of (grown) food, tries to separate his parents, then Tangaroa , the god of the sea , and Haumia-tiketike , the god of (wild) food, join them. Despite their best efforts, Rangi and Papa remain united in a loving embrace. After many unsuccessful attempts, Tāne , the god of forests and birds, finally succeeds ; In contrast to his brothers, he does not use his hands, but lies down on the floor and pushes with his legs. Ranginui and Papatuanuku are separated amid horrified and surprised screams.

War in heaven and on earth

And so Rangi and Papa's children see light for the first time and have the space to move. While the other children consented to the separation, Tāwhirimātea , the god of winds and storms, is angry. He cannot stand his parents' wailing, nor can he see the tears, and so he promises his brothers that from now on they will endure his anger. He flies to the sky to join his father Rangi and cared for his numerous offspring, i.e. the winds that were sent out in all directions. To fight his brothers, Tawhirimatea had a whole army of children, such as all kinds of winds and clouds, gusts of wind, whirlwinds , oppressive thick clouds, hurricanes and thunderclouds , rain, fog and haze. When these winds demonstrated their power, many of the trees of Tane, god of forests, fell, and the deadwood was food for insects.

Then Tāwhirimātea attacked the oceans and huge waves made the sea god Tangaroa flee. Punga, a son of Tangaroa, had two children, Ikatere, the father of fish , and Tū-te-wehiwehi (or Tū-te-wanawana), the ancestor of reptiles . Frightened by the anger of Tāwhirimātea, the fish sought refuge in the seas and the reptiles in the forests. Since then, Tangaroa has been angry with the forest god Tāne for offering shelter to his runaway children. Therefore Tāne equips the descendants of Tūmatauenga with canoes , fishing rods and nets to catch the descendants of Tangaroa. Tangaroa, on the other hand, takes revenge by sinking canoes or washing away houses, land and trees by tidal waves .

Tāwhirimātea next attacked his brothers Rongo and Haumia-tiketike, gods of cultivated and wild food. Rongo and Haumia were very afraid of Tāwhirimātea, but when Tāwhirimātea attempted an attack, both were protected and hidden by their divine mother Papa.

Tāwhirimātea then tries Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of all brothers, but he holds up. Tūmatauenga (or just Tū, humanity) cannot be defeated by Tāwhirimātea, and so eventually peace and quiet return among the gods. Tū ponders the cowardly act of his brother Tāne, the forest god, against her parents, and builds traps to catch birds, the children of Tāne, that could no longer fly. Then he tied nets of plant fiber to catch fish, and so the children of Tangaroa lay trapped on the bank in heaps. He built hoes, dug the earth and caught his brothers Rongo and Haumia-tiketike (the gods of food), who were hiding from Tāwhirimātea with Mother Earth. He recognized them by their long hair and put them in baskets to eat.

So Tū-der-Mensch ate all his brothers to punish them for their cowardice, only his brother Tāwhirimātea could not be caught, and so winds and storms plague mankind to this day.

The longing

Tane looked for heavenly bodies, such as lights, to dress his father appropriately. He obtained stars and threw them up, along with the moon and sun. After all, Rangi looked beautiful.

Rangi and papa mourn their separation to this day. Rangi's tears fall to the ground to show her how much he loves her. Sometimes papa, the earth, rises and almost breaks apart to reach Rangi, the sky, but it doesn't succeed. When the haze rises in the woods, it is a sign of the warmth of Papa's body and her longing for Rangi.

Name variants and epithets

Rangi:

  • Rangi (day, sky)
  • Raki (day, sky) on New Zealand's South Island
  • Ranginui (Great Heaven): another name for Rangi or some other closely related deity
  • Rangi-pōtiki (Rangi the last born): possibly another name for Rangi or some other closely related deity

Father:

  • Papa (earth)
  • Papatuanuku (scattered earth)

See also

Remarks

This article is largely based on the records of a Te Arawa tribal leader, Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikāheke, who is the author of much of George Grey's Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna (Gray 1971), first published in 1854 and later translated into English as Polynesian Mythology (Gray 1956 ). The version here is just one of many variants.

The exact number of children of Rangi and Papa depends on who is asked, the answer will mostly be a number between 70 and 77.

The children of Rangi and Papa include, depending on the variant of the tradition: Tāne , Tangaroa , Tāwhirimātea , Rongo or (Rongo-mā-tāne), Haumia-tiketike , Tūmatauenga and Rehua . The youngest is Ruaumoko , who was never born and is still in the womb of his mother, mother earth. Its movements cause earthquakes .

literature

  • Bruce Grandison Biggs: Maori Myths and Traditions . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966, p. 447–454 (English, online and 4 other pages [accessed December 17, 2015]).
  • George Gray : Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna. 4th edition. Reed, Wellington, et al. a. 1971, ISBN 0-589-00431-X .
  • George Gray: Polynesian Mythology, and ancient traditional history of the New Zealand race, as furnished by their priests and chiefs. Murray, London 1855, Digitale-sammlungen.de (also: Whitcombe & Tombs, Christchurch et al. 1956).
  • Margaret Orbell: A Concise Encyclopedia of Māori Myth and Legend. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch 1998, ISBN 0-908812-56-6 .
  • Samuel K. Parker: Dialectics of Power in the Maori Creation Myth. In: Pacific Studies. Volume 10, No. 3, July 1987, ISSN  0275-3596 , pp. 1-26.
  • Ailsa Smith (Ed.): Songs and Stories of Taranaki. = He tuhituhinga Tai hau-ā-uru. From the Writings of Te Kahui Kararehe of Rahotu, Taranaki. Edited with translations and commentary. University of Canterbury - Macmillan Brown Center for Pacific Studies, Christchurch 1993, ISBN 0-9583300-2-6 .
  • Teone Taare Tikao: Tikao Talks. Traditions and tales told by Teone Taare Tikao to Herries Beattie. AH & AW Reed: Dunedin et al. a. 1939, pp. 23-50.
  • Edward Tregear : The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Lyon and Blair, Wellington 1891 (Reprinted. Cadsonbury Publishing, Christchurch 2001).