Papa

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Tane, god of the forest, used his head and feet to separate his parents.
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Courtesy of Corel Corporation
The Maori people of New Zealand believe that at the beginning of time the sky was so in love with the Earth that they were always embracing each other. The sky was male and his name was Rangi; the Earth was female and was named Papa.

Their endless grasp kept their children tightly inside. After several attempts, one of the children, Tane, the god of forest, finally succeeded in breaking free. He pushed his father with his head and his mother with his feet. Once separated, the sky and the Earth assumed their present position.

Papa

Click for full size

Tane, god of the forest, used his head and feet to separate his parents.
Click on image for full size ( 92K JPG )
Courtesy of Corel Corporation
According to the Maori people of New Zealand, Rangi was the Sky Father and his wife was the Mother Earth, Papa. At the beginning of time, Rangi, the male sky, and Papa, the female Earth, were entwined in a static embrace. Rangi wanted with this embrace to prevent the creation of the world.

Their divine children, like Tangaroa the god of the sea, could not escape. The trapped gods tried in vain several times to separate from their parents. Then it was the turn of Tane, the god of the forest. Pushing away his father with his head and his mother with his feet, Tane finally succeeded.

He then set the Sun and the Moon, and decorated the heavens with stars. Tane was also the one who created the first woman, called Hine, whom he married.

Their children were the first Polynesian people. One of Tane's brothers, Tawhiri, the god of winds, did not want his parents to be separated and expressed his wrath by hurling storms and hurricanes against Tane's forests and the sea which was under the authority of another brother, Tangaroa, the god of the sea.

Papa

Click for full size

Tane, god of the forest, used his head and feet to separate his parents.
Click on image for full size ( 92K JPG )
Courtesy of Corel Corporation
According to the Maori people of New Zealand, Rangi was the Sky Father and his wife was the Mother Earth, Papa. At the beginning of time, Rangi, the male sky, and Papa, the female Earth, were entwined in a steady embrace. Rangi wanted this embrace to prevent the creation of the world.

Several gods, the offsprings of the Sky Father and of the Mother Earth could not escape from the close embrace. The trapped gods tried in vain several times to separate their parents. When some of them suggested the only way to be free was to kill their parents, the god of forest, Tane, refused, and attempted again to split his parents. Pushing away his father with his head and his mother with his feet, he finally succeeded.

Once separated the sky and the Earth assumed their present position. Once free, one of the divine children, the storm god Tawhiri was inexplicably upset with Tane for having separated their parents. He expressed all his wrath by creating storms and hurricanes, ravaging the forests which represented the domain of Tane. Tawhiri, thereafter, established his authority over the sky and his siblings.

The god of war, Tu, did not want to submit to the storm god. According to Maoris, the islands of the Pacific Ocean were created by the struggle between Tu and Tawhiri, which represents the beginning of warfare. It is strikingly surprising to discover how similar this creation story is with that of Uranus and Gaea in the Greek mythology and that of Nut and Geb in the ancient Egyptian mythology!


Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

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