Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Haepuru" | New Zealand | A god of the heavens and part of a trinity who, along with Roiho and Roake fashioned the first human female. New Zealand |
Goddess name "Haumea" | Hawaiian | Mother goddess. ] She is the daughter of PAPATUANUKU, the primordial earth mother, and is revered by many people of Polynesia and by the Maori of New Zealand. Her more notable children include PELE, the volcano goddess of Hawaii, and HI'AIKA, the goddess of the dance. As a deity responsible for birth, Haumea possesses a magical wand that she used at the time of creation to engender fruit trees and fish. From time to time she uses it to replenish stocks. Mythology also identifies her as a heroine who saved herself and her consort from enemies at the time of creation by hiding in a breadfruit tree and fending off the attackers with poisonous sap and wood splinters.... |
"Hura-Te-Arangi" | Maori | Mother of the Snow, Frost, and Ice children. Maori, New Zealand |
God name "Io/ Khio" | New Zealand | The chief god who appears to be known only to the nobility & the priests |
God name "Kahukura" | Polynesian / Maori | God of Agriculture and creator of the Rainbow. The son of RONGOMAI, Kahukura is invoked for the well-being of crops and in some regions the name appears to be synonymous with that of RONGOMATANE, the god of Agriculture. Kahukura is particularly åśśociated with a staple vegetable of the Maori, the kumara, a root tuber that was introduced to New Zealand by man and is said to possess many magical properties. Kahukura is not to be confused with a legendary character of the same name, a mortal hero who, in antiquity, learned the art of making fish nets.... |
God name "Makawe" | New Zealand | The chief god of the Arawa, Ngatituwharetoa, and Whanganui tribes. New Zealand |
Demon name "Maru" | Polynesian / Maori | God of war. One of the important deities revered by Maori clans in New Zealand in times of war, he may be represented in totems as an aggressive face with a prominent tuft of hair, staring eyes and tongue protruding, though these totems generally represent ancestors rather than deities. Maru may be invoked in the familiar Maori war dances and chants demonstrated popularly by the All Blacks before rugby matches all over the world.... |
Goddess name "Maui" | Polynesian / Maori / New Zealand | Tutelary god. Not a creator god but one who åśśists mankind in various supernatural ways. According to tradition he was aborted at birth and cast into the sea by his mother, who thought he was dead. He was rescued entangled in seaweed. He is the deity who drew the islands of New Zealand from the floor of the ocean in a net. Maui caught the Sun and beat it into submission, making it travel more slowly across the sky so that the days became longer. He also brought fire from the underworld for mankind and tried, unsuccessfully, to harness immortality for him by entering the vulva of the underworld goddess HINE-NUI-TE-PO while she was asleep. She awoke and crushed him to death. Though a deity, he had been made vulnerable to death by a mistake during his rites of birth (see also Balder). Also Mawi.... |
God name "Rangi" | Maori / New Zealand | A god of the sky |
God name "Rongomai" | Polynesian / Maori | Whale god. He is the son of TANGAROA, the creator deity responsible for the oceans and the fish, and the father of KAHUKURA, the deity responsible for the appearance of the Rainbow. He is also regarded as the ancestor of several Maori clans. Various traditions are åśśociated with Rongomai. In some regions of New Zealand he is also regarded as a god of war and is thought to have discovered the magic arts during a visit to the underworld, including the power of kaiwhatu, a preventative charm against witchcraft. Rongomai is sometimes mistakenly identified with RONGOMATANE, or Rongo, though the latter is generally considered a distinct personality. As the god responsible for the well-being of whales Rongomai may take the form of a whale, a guise in which he once challenged MARU, a more widely recognized New Zealand war god. Separate mythology places him in the heavens in the form of a comet.... |
Goddess name "Rongomatane" | Polynesian / including Maori | God of Agriculture. He is the father of cultivated food and the special gardener of the kumara or sweet potato which is a vital crop in Polynesia. In New Zealand the first sweet potatoes are offered to Rongomatane. In the traditions of the Hervey Islands, Rongo is one of the five sons of the moon god, Vatea, and the mother goddess, Papa.... |
God name "Tane" | Maori / New Zealand | A god of the woodlands |