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Raka (mythology)
In Cook Islands mythology, Raka (''Trouble'') was the god of winds and storms. He was the fifth child of the Great Mother, Vari. Raka found a congenial home in Moana-Irakau (''Deep ocean''). According to Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ..., Raka received from Vari a great basket, in which contained the hidden winds, as well as the knowledge of many useful inventions. The children of Raka are the numerous winds and storms which distress mankind. Each child was assigned a hole in the horizon through which he blew at pleasure. Gill's informant, Mamae, gives his wife and children but not the parents of the wife, Takatipa; whoever they were, they formed additional contemporaries of Vari. References {{reflist Mangaia mythology Sky and weather gods Wind deities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cook Islands Mythology
Cook Islands mythology comprises historical myths, legends, and folklore passed down by the ancient Cook Islanders over many generations. Many of the Cook Islands legends were recited through ancient songs and chants. The Cook Islands myths and legends have similarities to general Polynesian mythology, which developed over the centuries into its own unique character. Creation myth In Cook Islands creation myth, the universe was conceived of as being like the hollow of a vast coconut shell, the interior of this imaginary shell being Avaiki, the under world, and the outer side of the shell as the upper world of mortals. At various depths there are floors of different levels, or lands, which communicate with each other. At the very bottom of this coconut is a thick stem tapering to a point, which represents the beginning of all things. This point is the dwelling of a spirit without human form called Te aka ia Roe (The root of all existence). The entire fabric of the universe is cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mother Goddess
A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as the Mother Earth or Earth Mother, deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is usually the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or ''Father Heaven''. In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates the cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor, and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal ''cosmic egg''. Excavations at Çatalhöyük Between 1961 and 1965 James Mellaart led a series of excavations at Çatalhöyük, north of the Taurus Mountains in a fertile agricultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varima-te-takere
In Cook Islands mythology, Varima-te-takere ("goddess of the beginning") also called Vari ( ), was the primordial mother of the gods and mortals. According to Gill, Vari, a female spirit or demon of flesh and blood, was admitted to the lowest depth of the interior of Avaiki, a place described as resembling a vast hollow coconut shell. Such is the narrowness of her territory that her knees and chin touch, no other position being possible. Her name in full, Vari-ma-te-takere, Gill translates as "The very beginning". The word ''vari'', however, also means "mud", and, taken in conjunction with ''takere'' (canoe bottom or keel), the name literally means "The mud at the bottom"; suggesting the mud on the bottom of Avaiki. ''Vari'' is the mud of taro swamps and connotes potential plant growth. As applied to a female, it means menstruation and conveys a connection with the female womb and the origin of human growth. The following passage from a dramatic song of creation (circa 1790) men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Wyatt Gill
William Wyatt Gill (27 December 1828 – 11 November 1896) was an English missionary, active in Australia and the South Pacific region after 1851. Early life Gill was born in Bristol, England, son of John Gill of Barton Hill and his wife Jane, daughter of Richard Wyatt. Educated in Kingsland Congregational Chapel, Bristol, he became a member at the age of 14 and had an early interest in the ministry. After three years study at Highbury College, London, and a year of study at New College, University of London (B.A., 1850), he was discouraged from missionary work, but his eagerness to accompany Rev. Aaron Buzacott to the Cook Islands met with approval and in June 1851 he was accepted by the London Missionary Society. On 11 July he was ordained at Spa Fields Chapel and on 15 November he arrived at Hobart Town in the mission ship ''John Williams'' where he began his missionary work in Australia. Missionary work Gill accompanied Buzacott and Henry Hopkins on missionary work at ... [...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. 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 4750 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 inner rim of the ''makatea'' forms a steep cliff, surrounding swamps and a central volcanic plateau. The interi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sky And Weather Gods
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere. This is an abstract sphere, concentric to the Earth, on which the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars appear to be drifting. The celestial sphere is conventionally divided into designated areas called constellations. Usually, the term ''sky'' informally refers to a perspective from the Earth's surface; however, the meaning and usage can vary. An observer on the surface of the Earth can see a small part of the sky, which resembles a dome (sometimes called the ''sky bowl'') appearing flatter during the day than at night. In some cases, such as in discussing the weather, the sky refers to only the lower, denser layers of the atmosphere. The daytime sky appears blue because air molecules scatter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
