Ao (''daylight'') is one of the primal deities who are the unborn forces of nature in Māori mythology. Ao is the personification of light, clouds, and the ordinary world, as opposed to darkness () and the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
.
He is spoken of under many forms or manifestations, including Aotūroa (''enduring day, this world'') and Aotahi (''bright day, world of light and life''). With his companions Ata (''morning'') and Whaitua (''space'') Ao resists the forces of darkness.
Genealogy
Ao appears evolving through the forms Aonui, Aoroa, Aowheneke, Ao-whetara out of the darkness as part of the great cosmological genealogies in
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').
Aonui, Aoroa, Aopouri, Aopotango, Aowhetuma, Aowhekere, Aokahiwahiwa, Aokanapanapa, Aopakakina, Aopakarea, and Aotakawe were also the names of the who were the storm clouds, the children, of
Tāwhirimātea
In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea (or Tāwhiri) is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms. He is a son of Papatūānuku (earth mother) and Ranginui ( sky father). Tawhirimatea is the second oldest of 7 chi ...
, which were sent to punish his brothers after the separation of his parents, Rangi and Papa.
In a version recorded from Hūkiki Te Ahukaramū, a
Ngāti Raukawa
Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa.
History
Early history
Ngāti Raukawa rec ...
chief, Te Ao was born out of Te Ata, which itself came from the darkness. Ao's last form in Hūkiki's version is Te Ao Mārama. A version given by the Kāi Tahu of
Moeraki
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railwa ...
is similar.
Pan-Polynesian
In
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
, Aonui was
Tāne
In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, and several other names) is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who used to lie in a tight em ...
's residence in the sky, and Aoaomaraia was the discoverer of fire; a similar role is taken on by Māui in other parts of
Polynesia
Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
.
See also
*
Io Matua Kore
Io Matua Kore is often understood as the supreme being in Polynesian narrative, particularly of the Māori people.
Io does seem to be present in the mythologies of other Polynesian islands including Hawai‘i, the Society Islands, and the Cook ...