Miru is a goddess in the

Polynesian mythology The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cul ...

of the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

who lives in

Avaiki Avaiki is one of the many names by which the peoples of Polynesia refer to their ancestral and spiritual homelands. Samoa, Hawaii, Cook Islands By no means certain, but certainly possible, is an origin in the large islands of Samoa, namely Sava ...

beneath

Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popula ...

. She feeds the souls of dead people a bowl of live centipedes, causing them to writhe in agony, then encourages them to seek relief by diving into a lake, where they drown and can be cooked and eaten at her leisure. The

Tapairu In the mythology of Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Raroton ...

are her daughters, and Tau-Titi is her son. Miru also features in Maori mythology (New Zealand) as the Goddess of Death.

References

Death goddesses Mangaia mythology Māori goddesses {{CookIslands-stub