Editing Samoan mythology

{{Short description|Mythology of the Samoan Archipelago}}
'''Samoan culture''' tells stories of many different deities. There were deities of the forest, the seas, rain, harvest, villages, and war.<ref name="test">{{cite book |author1=Philip Culbertson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3E9g0AvfO4C&q=Tagaloa+lagi&pg=PA68 |title=Penina Uliuli: Contemporary Challenges in Mental Health for Pacific Peoples |author2=Margaret Nelson Agee |author-link2=Margaret Agee |author3=Cabrini 'Ofa Makasiale |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780824832247 |page=68 |access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref> There were two types of deities, ''atua'', who had non-human origins, and ''aitu'', who were of human origin.

[[Tagaloa]] was a supreme god who made the islands and the people. [[Mafuiʻe]] was the god of [[earthquakes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/samoa/about_destin/history.asp |title=History of Samoa |access-date=September 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218220355/http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/samoa/about_destin/history.asp |archive-date=February 18, 2012 }}</ref> There were also a number of war deities. [[Nafanua]], Samoa's warrior goddess hails from the village of [[Falealupo]] at the western end of [[Savai'i]] island, which is also the site of the entry into [[Pulotu]], the spirit world. She also is regarded as a peace bringer, having brought peace to Savai'i through winning the wars between the two regions of the island. [[Tilafaiga]] is the mother of Nafanua. Nafanua's father, [[Saveasi'uleo]], was the god of Pulotu.<ref name="test 1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuVCSZOu7IAC&q=Pulotu+Falealupo&pg=PA123 |title=Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before |author=George Turner |page=123 |date= October 2006|publisher=Echo Library |isbn=9781406833713 |access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref> Another well-known legend tells of two sisters, Tilafaiga, the mother of Nafanua, and [[Taema]], bringing the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiji.

A figure of another legend is [[Tui Fiti]], who resides at [[Fagamalo]] village in the village district of [[Matautu]]. The village of [[Falelima]] is associated with a dreaded spirit deity called, ''Nifoloa''. The [[Mata o le Alelo]] 'Eyes of the Demon' freshwater pool from the Polynesian legend [[Sina and the Eel]] is situated in the village of Matavai on the northern coast in the village district of [[Safune]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingheritage.org.nz/schools/secondary/marcellin/samoa/eel.php |title=Marcellin College - Sina and the Eel |publisher=Living Heritage |access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref>

Fetu ("star") is the god of the night.  His wife is [[Ele'ele (mythology)|Ele'ele]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Knappert |first=Jan |title=Pacific Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend |publisher=Aquarian Press |year=1992 |isbn=1855381338 |pages=14, 78 }}</ref>

Samoan mythology is a variant of a more general [[Polynesian mythology]] in the [[Samoa Islands]].

==Prominent entries on Samoan mythology==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Afa (mythology)|Afa]]
* [[Atonga]]
* [[Atu]]
* [[Fa'atiu|Faʻatiu]]
* [[Fisaga]]
* [[Ila (Samoan mythology)|Ila]]
* [[Losi (mythology)|Losi]]
* [[Mafuiʻe]]
* [[Moso's Footprint]]
* [[Nafanua]]
* [[Pulotu]]
* [[Sava (mythology)|Sava]]
* [[Savali]]
* [[Saveasiʻuleo]]
* [[Sina and the Eel]]
* [[Taema]]
* [[Tagaloa]]
* [[Tinirau#In Samoa|Tinilau]]
* [[Tiʻitiʻi]]
* [[Tui Fiti]]
* [[Upolu]]
{{colend}}

==See also==
*[[Culture of Samoa]]
*[[Hawaiian religion]]
*[[Cook Islands mythology|Cook Islanders religion]]
*[[Samoan proverbs]]
* [[Religion in Samoa]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Polynesian mythology}}
{{Religion topics|ancient}}
{{Paganism}}
{{Culture of Oceania|state=autocollapse}}
{{List of mythological figures by region}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoan Mythology}}
[[Category:Samoan mythology| ]]


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