Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
God name "Rongerik and Rongelap" | Islands | Brothers gods of the Marshall Islands. |
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.... |
Goddess name "Sari Chou Niiarig Niiarig" | Chinese | Mother goddess. First deified during the Sung Dynasty (AD 960-1279) to combat the popularity of KUAN YIN, no mortal existence is recognized for this deity who is referred to simply as heavenly mother. By tradition she rules over the islands of the blessed, the three mythical islands which are the home of the gods. She is depicted wearing a yellow robe signifying imperial rank and carries the attribute of a scepter. Typically she displays an enigmatic smile.... |
God name "Tana'ao" | Polynesian / Marquesas Islands | weather and sea god. A local variation on the Polynesian god TANGAROA, known as a god of winds and a tutelary deity of fishermen.... |
Deities name "Tangaroa" | Polynesian / including Maori | Sea and creator god. The deity responsible for the oceans (moana) and the fish (ika) within them. In Hawaiian belief he was the primordial being who took the form of a bird and laid an egg on the surface of the primeval waters which, when it broke, formed the earth and sky. He then engendered the god of light, ATEA (cf. TANE). According to Tahitian legend, he fashioned the world inside a gigantic mussel shell. In a separate tradition Tangaroa went fishing and hauled the Tongan group of islands from the depths of the ocean on a hook and line. He is the progenitor of mankind (as distinct from TUMATAUENGA who has authority over mankind). His son Pili married SINA, the tropic bird and they produced five children from whom the rest of the Polynesian race was born. In Maori culture Tangaroa, like all deities, is represented only by inconspicuous, slightly worked stones or pieces of wood and not by the large totems which are depictions of ancestors.... |
Spirit name "Te-Aka-la-Roe (root of all existence)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Creator being. Perceived in the form of a giant worm, this being is one of three spirits which govern and ensure the permanence of the universe. He lives in the lowest part of the root of the coconut shell which represents the world.... |
Spirit name "Te-Manava-Roa (long-lived)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Creator being. Perceived in the form of a giant worm, this being is one of three spirits which govern and ensure the permanence of the universe. He lives in the highest part of the root of the coconut shell which represents the world.... |
Spirit name "Te-Tanga-Engae (breathing)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Creator being. Perceived in the form of a giant worm, this being is one of three spirits which govern and ensure the permanence of the universe. He lives in the middle part of the root of the coconut shell which represents the world.... |
"Timaiti-Ngava Ringavari (soft-bodied)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Primordial being. The female principle which, with TIMATEKORE, engendered the earth mother PAPATUANUKU.... |
"Timatekore (nothing more)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Primordial being. The male principle which, with TIMAITI-NGAVA RINGAVARI, engendered the earth mother PAPATUANUKU.... |
God name "Tinirau (innumerable)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Fish god. The second offspring of the great mother VARI-MA-TETAKERE and the younger sibling of AVATEA. He is said to live in the coconut of the world on a sacred isle called Motu-Tapu immediately below the home of Avatea and to own ponds full of all kinds of fish. He is depicted as half man (right side) and half fish (left side) in the form of a sprat.... |
God name "Tino Taata" | Polynesian / Society Islands | Creator god. Probably regarded as the tutelary deity who engendered mankind and equating therefore to the more widely recognized Polynesian god TANGAROA.... |
God name "Tu-Metua (stick-by-parent)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | God. The sixth child of VARI-MA-TE-TAKERE, the primordial mother. Torn from her right side, he stays with her in the confined space at the bottom of the world coconut and lives in endless silence.... |
Goddess name "Tumuteanaoa (echo)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Goddess. The fourth child of VARI-MA-TE-TAKERE, the primordial mother. Torn from her right side, Tumuteanaoa lives in Te-Parai-Tea (hollow gray rocks) below the home of the god TANGO.... |
Goddess name "Vari-Ma-Te-Takere (the very beginning)" | Polynesian / Hervey Islands | Mother goddess. The creator being who lives at the very bottom of the world coconut, sitting in a cramped space with her knees and chin touching. She lives in Te-Enua-Te-Ki (mute land) in eternal silence and is the mother of six children, all deities, three of which she plucked from her right side and three from her left.See also AVATEA, TINIRAU, TANGO, TUMUTEANAOA, RAKA and TU-METUA.... |