All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

INTRODUCTION

THE PACIFIC’S SPIRITUAL WORLD IS

AS MULTICOLOURED AS ITS CORAL

REEFS OR THE FLORA OF ITS COASTS,

WHERE OVER A THOUSAND

DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN.

Jan Knappert, Pacic Mythology, 1992

The mythology of the many diverse islands of

Polynesia is complex, but remarkably unified,

reflecting what were probably relatively recent

migrations from one island or group of islands

to another. The islands have large pantheons

and complex stories. The creation story of New

Zealand, for example, features a god, Rangi,

who has to be separated from his partner –

Papa, the Earth mother – and forced into the

sky. Their ofspring are then free to have

children, and so the large pantheon grows,

followed by the creation of humankind and

a familiar story of female sin and transgression.

The peoples of Polynesia – maritime peoples

whose ancestors must have voyaged far across

unknown waters – also tell myths involving

fantastic journeys across the cosmos. Their

Underworld is often seen as a pit where the

souls of the dead are sent after death – unless

they are the souls of heroes, in which case they

are admitted to a paradise in the sky, which

they share with the gods. For these island

peoples, the gods are everywhere – below the

Earth, above it, and across the boundless sea.

153