Belief System
As is the case with most indigenous
peoples, Maori spiritual beliefs permeate social life to such an extent that at
times it is nearly impossible to draw clear distinctions between the belief
system and other aspects of culture. Traditional Maori religion contains
elements of animism and ancestor worship.
Mana, tapu, and noa
The Maori concepts of sacred and
secular are termed tapu and noa, respectively. These two concepts
are defined in relationship with one another: tapu is that which is not noa,
and noa is that which is not tapu. It
might even be better to translate tapu
and noa as "restricted" and
"not restricted," since noa
does not necessarily mean that it is profane or unholy. In Maori belief,
various dichotomies -- including spiritual versus temporal -- are not seen as
opposing forces like the Judeo-Christian concept of good and evil, but rather
as necessary parts of a single harmonious creation.
Tapu is a
cognate of the Tahitian tabu from which the English “taboo” has its roots.
Offences against tapu in some
instances could be met with death. An object, animal, or person is considered tapu when it has a large amount of mana. Mana can roughly be translated as spiritual power, prestige, and
authority, or as Max Weber in The Sociology of Religion put it, a form of
charisma, a divinely conferred power or talent. People, nonhuman animals,
plants, rocks, and even places can possess mana,
and mana can just as easily be gained
as lost.
Men were considered to have a higher
degree of tapu than women, which in
part explains the way in which sexual division of labor was manifest in classic
Maori society. Slaves, on the other hand, were considered to have lost all of
their tapu; thus even male slaves
could be subjected to what would normally be considered “women’s work.”
(Cooking and cooked food are considered extremely noa.) However, the noa
status of women also gave them some special privileges. High-born women were
involved in rituals such as lifting tapu
from completed wharenui, welcome
guests to the marae, and help
mitigate tapu associated with certain
foods, sickness, and death.
Spirits and gods
In Maori belief, all natural
phenomena are personified, often as female forces, e.g. Hine-te-uira, Maid of
lightning. Everything, including the sun, sky, wind, rain, trees, stones,
animals, and humans and believed to possess spirits called mauri. These are not to be confused with the true soul, wairua, which could leave the body
during sleep and after death would go to the underworld. Mauri is perhaps
better translated as "active life principle" (similar to qi in Chinese philosophy) as it ceases
to exist at the death of the body. The mauri
does not always necessarily dwell within a particular object. The material mauri of a river, for example, would be
a talisman such as a stone concealed somewhere near the river's source. The
stone used as the mauri of a
fortified settlement (pa) might be
buried at the base of a stockade post; it would serve as a shrine, taumata atua, for the gods who guarded
the pa.
Gods were symbolized by material
symbols called toko, peg-shaped
wooden figures stuck in the ground during highly sacred activities such as
kumara planting and divination. Toko
and taumata atua were never confused
with the gods themselves; they were merely the resting places of the gods.
Prayers were offered to ancestors as readily as they were to the gods, which is
why ancestors are another common theme in Maori art, especially on houses, canoes,
and memorials.
Cosmology and mythology
Classic Maori cosmology can almost be
described as a genealogy; this is not surprising considering the immense
importance of whakapapa. In the
beginning, the Maori teach, was Te Kore, the Nothingness or the Realm of
Potential Being, which over the eons led to Night, Dawn, the Light of Day, and
eventually to the Sky God Rangi and Earth Goddess Papa, who were the mother and
father of all other gods and living things. It is said that at first Rangi and
Papa were perpetually entwined, so near to each other that their children could
not see the light of day. Tane, god of the forests and trees, succeeded in
separating them, and later created the first human woman out of red earth, the
Earth-Formed Maid. In most versions of this myth, Tane and the Earth-formed
Maid had a daughter, the Dawn Maid, whom Tane also took as a wife so that the
human race might be perpetuated. In other versions, Tu, the god of war, is the
perpetuator of humanity. When the Dawn Maid found out that her husband was also
her father, she decided to go down to the underworld, to prepare a place for
her descendants. She assumed the name Great Lady of the Darkness, and thus
death came into the world. But even as a goddess of death, she remained a kindly
deity who cared for humankind when it came time for them to join her in the
underworld. Death is simply seen as a part of life.
A demi-god trickster named
Tohunga and karakia
The literal meaning of the word tohunga is "expert." It is
sometimes used with a qualifier, e.g. tohunga
ta moko (tattoo expert). But tohunga
by itself always denotes a priest. Tohunga
served an interpretive and mediating function in classic Maori society, and
were considered essential for the very existence of the gods. They are
sometimes also referred to as a waka atua,
literally "god's canoe," or a human receptacle of a god. Lower
classes of priests were confined to astrology, divination, and casting spells,
while higher classes went through extensive periods of esoteric training.
Priests also were imbued with the task of dealing with spirits of the dead. Karakia were sacred chants, usually
intoned in order to influence the gods. Some karakia and rituals were the sole prerogative of the tohunga, while others were only to be
sung by women.
Tangihanga - Funeral ceremonies
Traditionally, the tangihanga or funeral ceremony is held
on the marae. Tangihanga would last as long as three days, during which close
relatives never leave the body’s side, since the wairua or soul is said to remain near the body until burial. During
the burial ceremony, women sing waiata tangi
or songs of lamentation to express their deep grief. Open expression of grief
is also encouraged for males. Following the burial, a tohunga and the deceased’s family will go to the house where the
deceased passed away and perform a sort of “exorcism” called takahi whare. Special prayers are said
in each room of the house, and some members might perform a haka to trample out any evil spirits.
Some Maori in the old days went a step further and burned down the house where
a person died. (If someone fell seriously ill while inside the wharenui, they were immediately taken to
a temporary shelter in order to avoid staining the tapu of the wharenui with
death.)
