RANGI-SKY-MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- ADVANCED 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 with this embrace to prevent the creation of the world. Several gods, the offspring of the Sky Father and of the Mother Earth could not escape from the close embrace of theses latter. The trapped gods tried in vane 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 then expressed all his wrath 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 their struggle which represents the beginning of warfare. It is strikingly surprising to discover how similar is this creation story with that of Ouranos and Gaia in the Greek mythology and that of Nut and Gerd in the ancient Egyptian mythology ! RANGI-SKY-MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- INTERMEDIATE 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, the god of winds Tawhiri and others could not escape from their close embrace. The trapped gods tried in vane several times to separate their parents until it was the turn of the god of forest Tane. Pushing away his father with his head and his mother with his feet, Tane finally succeeded. He could 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 who he married. Their children were the first Polynesian people. One of Tane's brothers, the god of winds Tawhiri did not want his parents to be separated and expressed his wrath hurling storms and hurricanes against Tane's forests and the sea which was under the authority of another brother the god of the sea Tangaroa. RANGI-SKY-MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- ELEMENTARY The Maori people of New Zealand believe that at the beginning of time the sky was so enamoured with the earth that they were always embracing each other. Whereas the sky was male and his name was Rangi, the earth was female and was named Papa. Their endless and close embrace that trapped their divine children in the womb of their mother Papa. After several attempts, one of the children Tane the god of forest finally succeeded, pushing upward his father with his head and downward his mother with his feet. Once separated the sky and the earth assumed their present position. PAPA-EARTH- MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- ADVANCED For the Maori, at the beginning of time, the sky and the earth were closely entwined together preventing the creation of the world. The embrace of the sky with the earth was viewed by the Maoris as a passionate embrace between a male and a female. The male was the Sky Father Rangi and the female the Mother Earth Papa. This embrace prevented the creation which had to be accomplished through the separation of the sky from the earth by their divine children trapped in the womb of the Mother Earth. After several attempts, the god of the forest Tane finally succeeded in this task. he simply pushed upwards the sky with his head and downwards the earth with his feet. Surprisingly, the creation which seemed to be initially the expression of a loving embrace causes destruction and anger. One of the children, Tawhiri did not want his parents separated. Using his power over the winds, he created storms and hurricanes to express his anger and to establish his authority over the other brothers. This episode can symbolizes that part of the creation is the distinction between good and evil. It is strikingly surprising to discover how similar is this creation story with that of Ouranos and Gaia in the Greek mythology and that of Nut and Gerd in the ancient Egyptian mythology ! PAPA-EARTH-MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- INTERMEDIATE 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, the god of winds Tawhiri and others could not escape from their close embrace. The trapped gods tried in vane several times to separate their parents until it was the turn of the god of forest Tane. Pushing away his father with his head and his mother with his feet, Tane finally succeeded. He could 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 who he married. Their children were the first Polynesian people. One of Tane's brothers, the god of winds Tawhiri did not want his parents to be separated and expressed his wrath hurling storms and hurricanes against Tane's forests and the sea which was under the authority of another brother the god of the sea Tangaroa. PAPA-EARTH -MAORI-POLYNESIA, NEW ZEALAND- ELEMENTARY The Maori people of New Zealand believe that at the beginning of time the sky was so enamoured with the earth that they were always embracing each other. Whereas the sky was male and his name was Rangi, the earth was female and was named Papa. Their endless and close embrace that trapped their divine children in the womb of their mother Papa. After several attempts, one of the children Tane the god of forest finally succeeded, pushing upward his father with his head and downward his mother with his feet. Once separated the sky and the earth assumed their present position. TANGAROA-SEA- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND- ADVANCED, INTERMEDIATE, AND ELEMENTARY Tangaroa was one of the children of the Sky Father Rangi and Mother Earth Papa. He was the god of the sea. One of his brother was the storm god Tawhiri. Tawhiri was so upset with his brother Tane for having separated their parents that he caused reptiles and other animals that lived on the land to escape to the ocean of Tangaroa with his storms and hurricanes. That is how the Maoris explain the presence of fish in the sea. Once meanwhile Tangaroa's daughter in law was surfing, she was seized by the demon octopus Rogo-tumu-here. He paddled his canoe to the refuge of the demon and in a desperate struggle he defeated the demon and liberated the girl from the demon's maw. IMAGE: UPPER LEFT IMAGE OF P. 295 OF " WORLD MYTHOLOGY" BY ROY WILLIS TAWHIRI-WINDS- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND-ADVANCED AND INTERMEDIATE Tawhiri was the god of the winds according to the Maori mythology. His parents were the Sky Father Rangi and the Mother Earth Papa. Tawhiri uses his power over the winds to create storms and hurricanes. He expresses in this way his wrath against land and sea because they are under the authority of his brothers the sea god Tangaroa and the forest god Tane. His anger towards his brothers inexplicably stems from the fact that Tane had interrupted the endless embrace of their parents which trapped the gods in the womb of her mother Papa. TAWHIRI-WINDS- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND- ELEMENTARY Tawhiri was the god of the winds according to the Maori people that lives in New Zealand. His parents were the Sky Father Rangi and the Mother Earth Papa. Tawhiri uses his power over the winds to create storms and hurricanes. In this way, he addresses his anger against land and sea because they are under the authority of his brothers the sea god Tangaroa and the forest god Tane. He is angry with his brothers because they have interrupted the endless embrace of their parents Rangi and Papa. RONA-MOON- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND-ADVANCED AND INTERMEDIATE Rona was the daughter of the sea god Tangaroa. She was the Tide Controller. One night she was carrying a bucket with stream water back home to her children, when the path became dark. The moon slipped behind the clouds making impossible to see anything. As Rona was walking she badly hurt her foot against a root that was out of the ground. She was so upset that she addressed her anger against the moon making some unkind remarks. The moon heard her remarks which constitute a serious curse for the Maoris. The moon took offense for them and grabbed Rona at once with her water bucket. Many people today see a woman with a bucket in the moon. It is said that when Rona upsets her bucket , it rains. This Maori story symbolizes the influence of the moon on the rain and on the waters of the earth, and especially on the tides. RONA-MOON- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND- ELEMENTARY Rona was the daughter of the sea god Tangaroa. She was the Tide Controller. One night she was carrying a bucket with stream water back home to her children, when the path became dark. The moon slipped behind the clouds making impossible to see anything. As Rona was walking she badly hurt her foot against a root that was out of the ground. She was so upset that she addressed her anger against the moon making some unkind remarks. The moon heard her remarks which constitute a serious curse for the Maoris. The moon took offense for them and grabbed Rona at once with her water bucket. Many people today think they can recognize, looking at the moon, the shape of a woman with a bucket. That is why, many people think that when Rona upsets her bucket, it rains. MAUI- SUN- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND- ELEMENTARY AND INTERMEDIATE Maui was an hero of Polynesian mythology. For Maui and his mother the days were too short. For them, there was never enough time to accomplish anything in only one day. Maui wanted to allow his mother to have more daylight to make bark cloth. He thought that if the sun were moving more slowly across the sky, there would be more hours of light in one day. Thus, Maui cut off the sacred tresses of his wife Hina to make a rope that would not burn once in contact with the sun. With his rope he caught the sun as it was rising and beat it with the magic jawbone of his grandmother. The sun was so weak after the beating that it could no run but only creep along its course. In this way, the sunlight last longer and it was possible to work more during the day. IMAGE: p. 68 of "The illustrated book of myths. tales and legends of the world" by Neil Philip. MAUI- SUN- MAORI-POLYNESIA-NEW ZEALAND-ADVANCED The trickster hero of Polynesian mythology. It is said that Maui was born prematurely and was abandoned by his mother in a surf. But having survived, he was eventually returned to his mother. His mother used to work all the day making tapa (bark) cloth. For Maui and his mother the days were too short. For them, there was never enough time to accomplish anything in only one day. Maui wanted to allow his mother to have more daylight to make bark cloth. He thought that if the sun were moving more slowly across the sky, there would be more hours of light in one day. Thus, Maui cut off the sacred tresses of his wife Hina to make a rope that would not burn once in contact with the sun. With his rope he caught the sun as it was rising and beat it with the magic jawbone of his grandmother. The sun was so weak after the beating that it could no run but only creep along its course. In this way, the sunlight last longer and it was possible to work more during the day. IMAGE: p. 68 of "The illustrated book of myths. tales and legends of the world" by Neil Philip. PELE-VOLCANO-HAWAII-ADVANCED IMAGE: P. 138 UPPER IMAGE OF A STATUE IN " THE MACMILLAN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHS & LEGENDS BY ARTHUR COTTERELL