Universe: Maori

Universe: Maori

Published: February 14, 2008, 12:00 am
Updated: April 21, 2009, 8:45 pm
Lead Author: Sten Odenwald
Topics: Cosmology

Introduction

Among the more detailed accounts of pre-creation are those of the Maori of New Zealand who, in their creation chant, describe nine successive stages of the pre-cosmic void which undergoes transformation in order to bring the physical world into existence. Beginning with the unfolding of light from darkness, the last stage involves the bringing into being of Whai-tua which is space. From that follows the creation of heaven and earth and the other Maori gods. As the inhabitants of the Marquesas islands envision it, before there existed a universe, there was a

"primeval void that was swelling, whirling and vaguely growing; a boiling maelstrom out of which emerged the foundations of space light and matter."

 

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Preview Image

"Maori carving depicting a woman and a man embracing." - In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatuanuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. Rangi and Papa are the primordial parents, the sky father and the earth mother who lie locked together in a tight embrace. (Source: Wikibooks.)

Citation

Odenwald, Sten, Ph.D. (Contributing Author); Bernard Haisch (Topic Editor). 2009. "Universe: Maori." In: Encyclopedia of the Cosmos. Eds. Bernard Haisch and Joakim F. Lindblom (Redwood City, CA: Digital Universe Foundation). [First published February 14, 2008].
<http://www.cosmosportal.org/articles/view/138904/>

 

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