| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Deities name "Anu-Mate" | Polynesian | God of space. One of the sons of RANGINUI by Pokoharua, the sister of TANGAROA, the sea god. He belongs to a group of deities engendered at the time of creation that includes ANU-MATE, Anu-Matao, Anu-Whakarere and Anu-Whakatoro, all of whom rule over different aspects of space above the upper world. AnuMate is perceived as the god responsible for the space of cold death and in fact all of the group are envisaged as deities ruling over realms of great cold.... |
| Deities name "Hanui-o-Rangi (fatber of winds)" | Polynesian | God of winds and weather. He is the son of the sky god RANGINUI, who fathered him on one of his early consorts, Pokoharua, the sister of TANGAROA, the sea god. All the subsequent descendants of Hanui-o-Rangi are believed to rule over various aspects of the weather. Hanui thus fathered Tawhiri, the god of the northwest wind, whose son was Tiu. They control the fierce storms from the east. The children of Tiu include Hine-I-Tapapauta and Hine-Tu-Whenua, the deities overseeing the more gentle westerly winds. Hine-Tu-Whenua is the mother of Hakona-Tipu and Pua-I-Taha, controlling the southern and southwesterly gales.... |
| 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 "Papatuanuku" | Polynesian / including Maori | Chthonic mother goddess. According to tradition she evolved spontaneously in the cosmic night personified by TE PO and became the apotheosis of papa, the earth. In other traditions she was engendered, with the sky god RANGINUI, by a primordial androgynous being, ATEA. Paptuanuku and Ranginui are regarded as the primal parents of the pantheon who, through a prolonged period of intercourse, produced at least ten major deities as their children. In Maori culture Papatuanuku, 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.... |
| Deities name "Pu Ma" | Polynesian | Generic name for deities. The title given to any god of high rank.... |
| Deities name "Quat" | Polynesian / Banks Islands | Creator god. As with many Polynesian deities, the god is depicted as being very inactive, sitting around all day doing nothing.... |
| Goddess name "Tane(mahuta)" | Polynesian / including Maori | God of light. One of the children of the prime parents RANGINUI and PAPATUANUKU. Also god of trees, Forests and boat-builders, his consort is the goddess HINEAHU-ONE and he is the father of HINE-ATA-UIRA who descended to the underworld to become the goddess of death, HINE-NUI-TE-PO. In other traditions he is the consort of Hine-Nui-Te-Po, whom he joins each evening when he descends to the underworld. It was he who proposed that his parents should be pushed apart rather than slaughtered. In Maori culture Tanemahuta, 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. Also KANE (Hawaiian).... |
| 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.... |
| Deities name "Taumata-Atua" | Polynesian / including Maori | vegetation god. He presides over the fields and may be the god Rongomatane under an alternative name. In Maori culture Taumata-Atua, 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.... |
| Deities name "Tawhirimatea" | Polynesian / including Maori | God of winds. One of the children of the prime parents RANGINUI and PAPATUANUKU. He was uniquely opposed to the separation of his mother and father, sky and earth, at the time of the creation of the cosmos, and in consequence spends his time haråśśing and troubling mankind. In Maori culture Papatuanuku, 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.... |
| Deities name "Tiki" | Polynesian / including Maori | Creator god. One of the children of RANGINUI and PAPATUANUKU who created mankind. In some Polynesian traditions he is represented as the first man, akin to Adam. The word is also incorporated in tikiwananga or god stick, which describes the wooden or stone images of deities that are usually minimally worked and stand about 19.5 inches tall. Only thirty or so examples of these are known, most having been destroyed by Christian missions. The celebrated large Maori totems are depictions of ancestors who appear as human / bird or reptile hybrids. Also Ki'i (Hawaiian).... |
| 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.... |
| Deities name "Whiro" | Polynesian / Maori | God of death. Regarded as an errant son of the creator deities, RANGINUI and PAPATUANUKU, Whiro stands as the chief antagonist of TANEMAHUTA, the creator god of light. He is, therefore, the personification of darkness and evil. During the time of creation from chaos, Whiro is said to have fought an epic battle against Tanemahuta in the newly formed heavens. He was vanquished and forced to descend into the underworld where he became ruler over the dead and chief among the lesser underworld deities who are responsible for various forms of disease and sickness. In the temporal world the lizard, a symbol of death, embodies him, and various creatures of the night, including the owl and the bat, are earthly representatives from his kingdom, as are such malignant insect pests as the mosquito. This deity is not to be confused with the legendary human voyager and adventurer of the same name whose traditions have, in the past, often been muddled with those of the god.... |
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