Hine-nui-te-pō
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English
Hine-nui-te-pō ("the great woman of the night") in Māori legends, is a goddess of night who receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of Tāne Mahuta / Tāne Tuturi and Hine-ahuone. It is believed among Māori that the colour red in the sky comes from her. Hine-nui-te-pō shepherds the wairua/souls into the first level of Rarohenga to ready them for the next stage of their journey. Before she was Hine-nui-te-po her name was Hine-ti-tama.Template:Cn Her father Tane Mahuta took her virginity; she then felt upset, hiding from her father in eternal darkness and became Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the night.
Background
[edit]Hine-nui-te-pō, also known as the "Great Woman of Night", is a giant goddess of death and the underworld.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> Her father is Tāne, the god of forests and land mammals. Her mother Hine-ahu-one is a human, made from earth. Hine-nui-te-pō is the second child of Tāne and Hine-ahu-one. Her birth name, Tikikapakapa, was changed shortly thereafter to Hine-au-tauria.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
Hine-au-tauria marries her father Tāne and bears his children. She realizes he is her father, becomes ashamed, and goes down to the underground world, known as Pō ("darkness"). There, she becomes Hine-nui-te-pō, acquiring men's souls while her father Tāne tries to lead them to light.<ref name=":0" />
Māui's encounter with Hine-nui-te-pō
[edit]The great hero Māui is tricked by his father into thinking he has a chance to achieve immortality. In order to obtain this, Māui is told to enter into the goddess through her vagina. While Hine-nui-te-pō is asleep, Māui undresses himself ready to enter himself into the goddess. The birds who were nearby, fantails, burst into laughter, alerting Hine-nui-te-po. Hine-nui-te-po reacted by crushing him with the obsidian teeth in her vagina; Māui was the first man to die. The problematic themes of rape in this legend are acknowledged and used as an educational tool in contemporary times.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See also
[edit]References
[edit]<references responsive="0" />