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Miru (goddess)
Miru is a goddess in the Polynesian mythology of the Cook Islands who lives in Avaiki beneath Mangaia. She is known to feast on the souls of dead people. One way she eats the souls is by putting them into a bowl of live centipedes, causing them to writhe in agony. Miru then encourages them to seek relief by diving into a lake, where they drown. They then can be cooked and eaten at her leisure. This goddess is also mentioned within a poem by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, written during his travels to the Cook Islands. Although briefly, his mentions of Miru tell of the belief that upon entering Hawaiki, Savaiki (the original homeland of the Polynesian people), the souls of the dead could be trapped by Miru and her assistants, "stupefying" the souls on Kava (a drink that causes similar symptoms to being drunk) and hanging them on trees to be devoured. The Tapairu are her daughters, and Tau-Titi is her daughter. Miru also appears in Maori mythology (New Zealand) as the Goddess of Deat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynesian Mythology
Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers. Polynesians speak languages that descend from a language reconstructed as Proto-Polynesian – probably spoken in the Tonga and Samoa area around 1000 BC. Description Prior to the 15th century AD, Polynesian peoples fanned out to the east, to the Cook Islands, and from there to other groups such as Tahiti and the Marquesas. Their descendants later discovered the islands from Tahiti to Rapa Nui, and later Hawai‘i and New Zealand. The latest research puts the settlement of New Zealand at about 1300 AD. The various Polynesian languages are all part of the Austronesian language family. Many are close enough in terms of vocabulary and grammar to permit communication between speakers of different languages. There are als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its capital. The Cook Islands is self-governing while in free association with New Zealand. Since the start of the 21st century, the Cook Islands conducts its own independent foreign and defence policy, and also has its own customs regulations. Like most members of the Pacific Islands Forum, it has no armed forces, but the Cook Islands Police Service owns a Guardian Class Patrol Boat, , provided by Australia, in order to police its waters. In recent decades, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly assertive and distinct foreign policy, and a Cook Islander, Henry Puna, served as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum from 2021 to 2024. Most Cook Islanders are also citizens of New Zealand, but they also have the status of Coo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avaiki
Avaiki is one of the many names by which the peoples of Polynesia refer to their ancestral and spiritual homelands. Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands By no means certain, but certainly possible, is an origin in the large islands of Samoa, namely Savaii and Upolu. Variants include, in order of migration, Havaii, the old name for Raiatea in French Polynesia; the far better known Hawaii in the United States, Avaiki in the Cook Islands and Niue and Hawaiki in New Zealand. There are endless local variants. In the Cook Islands, for example, on the capital island of Rarotonga, northern facing volcanic rocks, tumbling onto the shore millennia ago and still set in place, are well known as the ancient departure point for souls bound for Avaiki - the afterworld or heaven. In fact each island, ''vaka'' or ''ngati'' (family line) has its own Avaiki or interpretation of it. For instance it would be somewhere in the Manu'a islands group (American Samoa) for the Ngati Karika (Te au o Tonga tribe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangaia
Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily populated, Mangaia's population has dropped by 75% in the last 50 years, mainly due to the decline of the pineapple industry in the 1980s and a subsequent economic crisis in 1996. Geography Originally known as ''A'ua'u'' or ''A'ua'u Enua'' ("terraced"), the island was named Mangaia (or ''Mangaianui-Neneva'', "Mangaia monstrously-great") by Tamaeu, who came to the island from Aitutaki in 1775. Geologists estimate the island is at least 18 million years old. It rises 4,750 m (15,600 ft) above the ocean floor and has a land area of 51.8 km2. Surrounded by a fringing coral reef, like many of the southern Cook Islands, it is surrounded by a high ring of cliffs of fossil coral 60 m (200 ft) high, known as the makatea. The in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell ONZM (25 June 1925 – 16 August 2009) was a poet, playwright, and novelist. Born in the Cook Islands, Campbell was the son of a Cook Island Māori mother and a Pākehā father, who both died when he was young, leading to him growing up in a New Zealand orphanage. He became a prolific poet and writer, with a lyrical and romantic style tempered by a darkness borne out of his difficult childhood and struggles with mental health as a young adult. Although he wrote about Māori culture from his earliest works, after a revelatory return to the Cook Islands in 1976, his later works increasingly featured Pasifika culture and themes. Campbell received a number of notable awards during his lifetime including the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, and is considered one of New Zealand's foremost poets as well as a pioneer of Pasifika literature written in English. Early life and career Campbell was born in R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaiki
(also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories. Anne Salmond states ''Havaii'' is the old name for Raiatea, the homeland of the Māori. When British explorer James Cook first sighted New Zealand in 1769, he had on board Tupaia, a Raiatean navigator and priest. Cook's arrival seemed to be a confirmation of a prophecy by Toiroa, a priest from Māhia. At Tolaga Bay, Tupaia conversed with the ''tohunga'' associated with the school of learning located there, called Te Rawheoro. The priest asked about the Māori homelands, 'Rangiatea' (Ra'iatea), 'Hawaiki' (Havai'i, the ancient name for Ra'iatea), and 'Tawhiti' (Tahiti). Etymology Linguists have reconstructed the term to Proto- Nuclear Polynesian ''*sawaiki''. The Māori word figures in traditions about the ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kava
Kava or kava kava (''Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Ancient Greek, Greek 'intoxicating') is a plant in the Piperaceae, pepper family, native to the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan language, Tongan and Marquesan language, Marquesan, meaning 'bitter'. Kava can refer to either the plant or a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive beverage made from its root. The beverage is a traditional ceremonial and recreational drink from Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Nakamals and kava bar (establishment), bars exist in many countries. Traditional kava is made by grinding fresh or dried kava root, mixing it with water or coconut milk, and straining it into a communal bowl. Outside the South Pacific, kava is typically prepared by soaking dried root powder in water and straining it. It is Social lubricant, consumed socially for its sedative, hypnotic, muscle relaxant, anxiolytic, and euphoric effects, comparable to those produced by alcohol (drug), alcohol. K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapairu
In the mythology of Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popul ... in the Cook Islands, the Tapairu are elves or fairies, who are named after the four daughters of Miru, the deformed goddess of the underworld. They were said to have been present when mortals danced in honor of their brother, Tau-Titi. They were also associated with the god Tane. References *R.D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 33–34; *W.W. Gill, ''Myths and Songs of the South Pacific'' (H.S. King: London, 1876), 256–7. {{CookIslands-stub Mangaia mythology Polynesian legendary creatures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tau-Titi
In the mythology of Mangaia, Tau-Titi is a son of Miru. A nocturnal dance dedicated to and named after him was practised, occasionally with the Tapairu, Tau-Titi's sisters. As soon as the dawn arrives, the Tapairu returned to their home in Avaiki Avaiki is one of the many names by which the peoples of Polynesia refer to their ancestral and spiritual homelands. Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands By no means certain, but certainly possible, is an origin in the large islands of Samoa, namely Sava .... References *R.D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 33–34; *W.W. Gill, ''Myths and Songs of the South Pacific'' (H.S. King: London, 1876), 256–7. {{CookIslands-stub Mangaia mythology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death Goddesses
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Some organisms, such as '' Turritopsis dohrnii'', are biologically immortal; however, they can still die from means other than aging. Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the equivalent for individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said ''to die'', as a virus is not considered alive in the first place. As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is aging, followed by cardiovascular disease, which is a disease that affects the heart or blood vessels. As of 2022, an estimated total of almost 110 billion humans have died, or roughly 9 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangaia Mythology
Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily populated, Mangaia's population has dropped by 75% in the last 50 years, mainly due to the decline of the pineapple industry in the 1980s and a subsequent economic crisis in 1996. Geography Originally known as ''A'ua'u'' or ''A'ua'u Enua'' ("terraced"), the island was named Mangaia (or ''Mangaianui-Neneva'', "Mangaia monstrously-great") by Tamaeu, who came to the island from Aitutaki in 1775. Geologists estimate the island is at least 18 million years old. It rises 4,750 m (15,600 ft) above the ocean floor and has a land area of 51.8 km2. Surrounded by a fringing coral reef, like many of the southern Cook Islands, it is surrounded by a high ring of cliffs of fossil coral 60 m (200 ft) high, known as the makatea. The in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
