Tāwhirimātea
Tāwhirimātea (also Tāwhiri) is in the mythology of the Māori the god of weather , of lightning and thunder , wind , clouds , and storm . He is a direct son of Rangi and Papa , Father Heaven and Mother Earth.
Rangi and Papa's children lived in the dark in a narrow space between heaven and earth, because their parents, heaven and earth, were closely embraced in eternal love. Tāwhirimātea opposed separating the parents.
In his anger at his brothers, who had finally separated the divine parents Rangi and Papa, he destroyed the forests of the forest god Tāne , drove Tangaroa and his descendants into the sea, persecuted Rongo and Haumia-tiketike , the gods of food, until they came to the sea The womb of mother earth found refuge and took root. Only in his brother Tūmatauenga did Tāwhirimātea find an equal opponent whom he could not defeat.
To fight his brothers, Tāwhirimātea gathered an army around him, consisting of his children, winds and clouds of various kinds, Apū-hau and others, including Apū-matangi, Ao-nui, Ao-roa, Ao-pōuri, Ao-pōtango , Ao-whētuma, Ao-whekere, Ao-kāhiwahiwa, Ao-kānapanapa, Ao-pākinakina, Ao-pakarea, and Ao-tākawe. Gray translates these names as' violent squalls, whirlwinds, dense clouds, massive clouds, sinister dense clouds, fearsome clouds, clouds that herald a hurricane, black clouds, clouds that reflect red light, clouds that burst in from every corner, thunderclouds and very fast moving clouds'.
Other children of Tāwhirimātea are all kinds of rain, mist, and mist. Tāwhirimātea's attacks resulted in terrible floods and inundations. The names of these children are for example Ua-nui (terrible rain), Ua-roa (prolonged rain), Ua-whatu (terrible hailstorms), and Ua-nganga (sleet), after which they fought Hau-maringi (haze), Hau- marotoroto (heavy dew), and Tōmairangi (light fog). Tregear also mentions Hau-maringiringi as the personification of fog.
See also
literature
- George Gray : Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna. 4th edition. Reed, Wellington et al. 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, online , (also: Whitcombe & Tombs, Christchurch et al. 1956).
- Edward Tregear : The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Lyon and Blair, Wellington 1891 (Reprinted. Cadsonbury Publishing, Christchurch 2001).