Seeking about any such systems that exist within Maori culture for helping souls to the after life. Of course any such answer would respect any maori, iwi, hapu or whanau ritual and beliefs. I don’t wish to simply approach a Kaumatua on such matters as I sense this would not be fortcoming and would also not be acceptable protocol.
I obtained the following extracts from Elsdon Best:
http://io.knowledge-basket.co.nz/taonga/contents/taonga/text/dm/dm1.html
and
http://io.knowledge-basket.co.nz/taonga/contents/taonga/text/dm/dm2.html
No-thing explicit r/e the above – just around the matter.
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The spirit-world. The Poutiriao or guardians.
And do not teach any belief in the punishment of the human soul in the spirit-world.
The Maori belief was that all offences against the gods are punished by those gods in this world, not in the spirit-world.
In Maori myths, as preserved by the Takitumu tribes, one frequently encounters references to the ara whanui a Tane (the broad path of Tane), as, for instance, in the old saying, ” He mata mahora no te ara whanui a Tane.” This singular concept, which reappears among the natives of the Cook Islands, is a striking illustration of the mythopoetic nature of Maori mentality. The explanation is as follows:-
Prior to the death of a person in this world the spirits of his dead forebears come hither from the underworld in order to guide his spirit to the spirit-land. The path to that realm leads across the vast spaces of Tahora-nui-atea, the ever-rolling realm of Hine-moana, the troubled breast of the Ocean Maid. For the spirit- world lies far, far away to the westward, away at the bounds of night; where the ruddy form of Tane hangs above the realm of Hine. And so, when night approaches, Tane te Waiora, the Shining One, throws the bridge of souls far across the plaza of the Ocean Maid. Far away it stretches athwart the rippling waters, true to the setting sun that beckons where the sky hangs down, the gleaming spirit-path calls to the waiting spirits in the Aoturoa. For it is the ara whanui a Tane, the glittering sun-glade, the golden path of the setting sun.
Along that gleaming path pass the spirits of the dead, the path provided by their ancestor Tane, the path that leads to the realm of their ancient mother, Hine, the Dawn Maid. For, ever the setting sun and the sinking soul of man are linked together in the human mind, even as the ever-returning sun has helped to induce uncultured man to evolve the belief in resurrection or immortality. And that far-off region into which pass the setting sun and the soul of man is to the Maori the ” Hidden Home of Tane.”
Such is the Maori conception of the passage of the spirit to the spirit-world; and truly the thought grows that Moore must have been thinking of the ara whanui a Tane when he wrote –
And though his life has passed away
Like lightning on a stormy day,
Yet shall his death-hour leave a track
Of glory permanent and bright.
These spirits of the dead, having crossed the vast ocean to the red west, finally reach the ancient home-land of the Maori race, the land of Irihia, and there, at Hawaiki-nui, they separate. Those who sympathize with the Earth Mother pass down the long descent known as Taheke-roa to the underworld; those who sympathize with Rangi the Sky Parent ascend by means of the gyrating whirlwind to the heavens, and so pass upward to the uppermost heaven, where dwells lo-matua (lo the Parent), and are there welcomed by the company of celestial maids, the twelve mareikura. Thus we note in laments for the dead such words as the following :-
E mau to ringa ki te to! huarewa
I kake ai Tane ki Tikitiki-o-rangi,
Ma urutomo koe ki roto o Te Rauroha,
Kia powhiritia niai koe e nga mareikura
O roto o Rangiatea
Ka whakaoti te niahara i kona ki talao,
E hine . . . e.
[Grasp in your hand the toi huarewa by which Tane ascended to the uttermost heaven, that you may enter within Te Rauroha, that you may be welcomed by the mareikura of Rangiatea, then will all remembrance of this world cease, O maid."]
Such is the conclusion of a mother’s lament for her dead child, who died on the, island of Motu-kairangi,* (Now Miramar Peninsula) at Wellington, many generations ago.
We have seen that the Maori has never evolved a belief in the punishment of the human spirit after death. Yet he believed in the existence of two spirit-worlds, one situated under the earth’ and one in the heavens. It seems quite possible that this peculiar conception might have resulted, in time, in a belief in a heaven and hell such as those of Christian teachings. The Maori had already a very good substitute for Satan in our old friend Whiro, and the benevolent lo would fill the position of a beneficent deity. A study of these beliefs and the cult of Io shows us that Maori religion was in a very interesting stage of development, and a worthy subject for the attention of the ethnographer.
It may be remarked that the Maori concept of life in his two spirit-worlds is vague. Of that in the upper spirit-land we have collected no information, but in the underworld the life of the spiritual beings is described as being much the same as it was in this world, save that no form of evil exists in act or thought. Indeed, the denizens of that realm can scarcely be termed spiritual beings, inasmuch as they consume fold and cultivate it, wear clothing, and tattoo themselves – practices that can scarcely be said to pertain to spiritual life. However, perhaps we had better not enlarge on the vagueness of Maori conceptions, for our own ideas of life in the upper spirit-world are by no means too clear, though that charge cannot be brought against certain teachings of life in the subterranean spirit-world, wherein, peradventure, some of us are booked for an extremely sultry time.
The Rev. Mr. Yate tells a story of a Maori who considered the European heaven to be quite unattainable: ” Taki, an old man of Ohaeawai, is still hard and stubborn. He said that he was quite satisfied to go to hell, so long as he could get what he wanted in this world before lie went there, as he was quite sure that he would never reach heaven.”
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Those selected to guard and supervise all tapu things and places, good and evil spirits, and all ritual, were Tane-i-te-wananga, Tupai-whakarongo-wananga, and Rongo.
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Moncalm tells us that the last breath of a dying person gave the first conception of the presence in man of a non-corporeal principle. In some cases man has employed a word meaning “breath” to define the soul, but the Maori calls that spirit the wairua, a word meaning “shadow” or any unsubstantial image. The word ata, having a similar meaning in Maori, is applied to the human spirit or soul in some isles of the Pacific. The wairua of Maori belief is that which leaves the body at death and goes to the spirit-world. It also is believed to quit the body during the life of that physical basis and move abroad, as in the case of dreams. When any very tapu ceremonial was being performed by a select few the other members of the community remained in their huts lest their wairua be affected by the potent ritual.
This wairua, although invisible to all save the matatuhi, or seers, yet seems to acquire material form in sonic conditions, as, for example, in the subterranean spirit-world, where the spirits are sometimes said to live much as they do in this world. Against this we can place a very singular and interesting belief contained in what may be termed the inner teachings of the higher grade of priestly adepts. This is to the effect that after a certain period the wairua sloughs off its grosser qualities, when there remains an intangible, etherealized spirit called the awe. This is a word denoting lightness, and is applied to the down of birds, to clouds, and the soot deposited by the smoke of burning wood. Hare Hongi uses the term hamano to denote this purified spirit, a word allied to mano, which means the core or very centre – perhaps essence or refined element in this case. This is an interesting concept, and an illustration of metaphysical reasoning on the part of the ancient Maori.
Lord Avebury has said that “The savage does not realize the idea of a spirit as we do : it is always more or less material.” This cannot be said of the Maori awe, and the word wairua, denoting “shadow” and sometimes “reflection” as in water, can hardly be said to have had a material origin.
It seems to me highly probable that in my ignorance of this subject my system of terminology may be entirely wrong, but I have waded through deep waters in endeavouring to obtain a clear, well-recognized definition of the terms “spirit” and “soul.” Many ministers of divers sects have stated that both terms are used very loosely. One says that the soul equals life and intelligence, while the spirit is that which leaves the body at death. The theory of the tripartite nature of man seems to show the soul as man’s ego – a comparatively gross element – while the spirit represents the spiritual nature of man. If so, then presumably the soul does not survive the death of the physical basis. But here enter the dicta of the Handbook of Folk-lore, wherein “soul” is limited to the separable personality of the living man, “ghost” to the same thing after death, and “spirit” to a soul-like being that has never been associated with a human or animal body. Here it is the soul that is the ethereal element that goes to the spirit-world; but you must not call it a “soul” then, it is a “ghost” ; while “spirit” pertains only to inanimate objects – which, however, may not be deemed inanimate by uncultured man. The modern term “animatism” denotes the attributing of life and personality to things, but not a separate or apparitional soul.
This leads us to the Maori conception of different spiritual potential in man. Apart from the wairua, our Maori friend possesses a mauri. One of the definitions of “soul” already given would here be fairly suitable, but our definitions differ too widely to allow of the expression being safely used. The mauri of man seems to be his life-principle; it represents the life that animates his body, and it ceases to exist when death claims the body. The term mauri bespeaks activity, in the same sense that the old Greek term thymos denoted inward commotion, and as in Tamil the soul is called “the dancer.” The thymos was an activity that ceased to exist at the death of the body as also does the mauri. The psyche is, on the contrary, a something active, and survives the body : such is the wairua. Max Muller considers that the terms “soul” and “ghost” both originally implied commotion. Psyche originally meant “breath.” The mauri, then, is the life-principle that cannot survive the death of the body; hence the expression “Kua ukiuki te mauri ” is equivalent to saying that the person alluded to is dead. The mauri, like the wairua, is not located in any organ of the body.
The expression mauri ora is employed to denote the tapu aspect of the life-principle of man; and should this tapu principle become polluted in any way, then the life and general welfare of its physical basis are in extreme danger, inasmuch as they become exposed to the powers of black magic and all other harmful influences. The hidden meaning of this condition is that the loss of tapu means the withdrawal of the protection of the gods. So firm was the belief of the Maori in the power and far-reaching influence of his gods that his religion or superstition (call it which you will) was the most prominent feature of his life. It affected to a remarkable extent his everyday actions, and when he believed that the gods had withdrawn their help and protection from him he became very seriously affected, expecting every moment to feel the clutch of dread Whiro.
The Aotea folk say that the moa became extinct because its mauri was interfered with or polluted by the early Maori settlers in these isles.
In some Polynesian dialects mauri is used to denote a ghost, also “life” or “alive.” A variant form employed in New Zealand and elsewhere is mouri, which at Niue Island becomes moui, meaning “life” and “living” ; and Moui was a sun god of Egypt. In the Niue dialect fakamoui (faka, a causative prefix) means “to save,” and whakamaui bears a similar meaning here in our local dialect. Those acquainted with the Maori myth of Maui will note the suggestive nature of these data, for assuredly Maui represents light – either the sun or day – hence, like Tane, he is connected with knowledge, and so becomes Maui-matawaru (Maui the Wise).
We now enter the realm of animatism for a brief space in order to point out that not only – all the lower animals, but also all matter termed by us, inanimate, possesses a mauri or life-principle according to Native belief. Such apparently lifeless matter as stone could not exist unless it possessed this vital principle. This is a singular belief, and a subject on which much might be said but we have no time to deal with it at present. There is one form of mauri, however, that may be briefly discussed. A material mauri – i.e., an object called a mauri often consisting of a stone – was employed in order to protect and preserve the fruitfulness or welfare of a forest, a stream, the ocean, a village, &c. Such an object was a taunga atua, a sort of shrine, as it were, in which certain gods were enshrined by means of very peculiar ceremonial. These gods were the power that protected the forest or village. Should this emblem become vitiated or polluted in any way, then the gods withdrew such protection, and thus exposed the people, birds, fish, fruits, or trees to many dangers. Here we have analogous conditions to those pertaining to the immaterial mauri of man. The gods protect both; they are, We may say, present in both, unless expelled or forced to retire by some infringement of the laws of tapu, or lack of placation by man. Material mauri were employed by deep-ocean voyagers and by travellers on land journeys. It was a protecting talisman.
The Maori had the same objection to waking a sleeping person that Indonesians have, the danger of such an act being that the sleeper’s spirit may be absent from his body at the time. Again, the belief that such human spirits appear in the form of moths and butterflies may be traced from New Zealand and Samoa right across the wide world to Ireland.
The hau of a person seems to represent his vital principle, or vital mana, as the hau of land or a forest represents its vitality.
The term ngakau is used to denote the mind in some cases ; it is the seat of emotions, the feelings, and these are located in the viscera. The word puku is used in much the same manner to denote the feelings, as in puku takaro ( = playful) : puku riri ( = quarrelsome). Puku is the stomach.
Mahara expresses thought, memory, to think, to remember. Whakaaro denotes thought, opinion, understanding, also to think or consider. The term hinengaro seems to be used to express conscience and mind. The expression manawa ora means, “the breath of life.”
We thus see that the Maori viewed certain organs of the body as the seat of thought and the emotions, while the spiritual potentiae were not so located. These beliefs resemble those of Asiatic and Mediterranean races; hence we possess such terms as ” phrenics,” denoting “mental philosophy,” because the Greeks believed the diaphragm to be the seat of thought.
We have now another interesting matter to scan, and that is the old custom of performing certain ritual in order to despatch the soul of a dying person to the spirit-world. In some districts such ritual was known as the wehe, a word meaning “to detach, or separate”. A charm known by this name was recited over the corpse prior to burial, in order to despatch the soul to the spirit-world, to prevent it remaining here to annoy or frighten living folk, and also to prevent the living following it to spirit-land. The following is a simple form of wehe ritual: “Haere ra, e taku tama. Kei mihi mai koe, kei tangi mai koe, kei aroha mai koe, kei konau mai ,koe ki tou matua i waiho e koe i te ao nei. E oti atu koe. Haere ra, oti atu koe ” (“Farewell, O my child! Do not grieve; do not weep; do not love; do not yearn for your parent left by you in the world. Go ye for ever. Farewell for ever”). And then, in the evening, after the burial, all the kiri mate, or mourning relatives, cut their hair short with shell or stone flake, leaving one long lock on the left side of the head. It was believed that the soul would not depart to spirit-land until this ceremony had been performed.
Another name for the above rite is tuku wairua, or soul-despatching. Some years ago an old native and his wife were proceeding from one native village to another in the Patea district. As they trudged along the old man was taken ill suddenly, and lay down by the side of the track. Feeling that the end was near, he said to his wife, “They are calling me. The end has come.” The old woman at once commenced to lament; but he said, ” Do not lament. It is well. We have trodden the path of life together in fair weather and beneath clouded skies. There is no cause for grief. I do but go forward to explore the path.” Then the thought grew in the woman’s mind – there was no expert present to recite the tuku wairua, and she said, “E pa! Ma wai e tuku i to wairua ” (“O sir! Who will despatch your soul?”). Then the thought came, ” A, kati – maku e tuku” (“Ah, well; I will despatch it “). And so the old lady lifted up her voice and intoned the chaunt that sends the soul of man to Rarohenga. When she finished her recital the worn old companion of a lifetime had passed out of the world of light on the golden path of Tane that encircles the great earth.
Posted by nzhobo 
Posted by nzhobo 
Posted by nzhobo 
out of the script. Feeling : ( in the script.