In a tradition of the

Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...

people of the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

, Rohe is the wife of the demi-god Māui. Beautiful Rohe was a sister of the

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, and her face shone. A quarrel arose after Rohe remarked that Māui's face was ugly. Māui then decided that they should change faces. Afterwards Māui used

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

to kill Rohe, but her spirit returned and destroyed Māui. Thus were

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

and

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

introduced into the world. After her death, Rohe ruled as the goddess of the pō (spirit

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

), where she gathered in the spirits of the dead. Evil influences were attributed to her.

Cook Islands

In Mangaia, the name Ro'e appears in Te Aka-ia-Ro'e (the root of all existence) which, according to Tregear, is "a spirit in the form of a thick stem tapering to a point, and is situated at the bottom of the Universe, sustaining the

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

Māori

The Māori knew little of Rohe. Tregear records the one myth associated with her, in which she is the wife of Māui. She was beautiful as he was ugly, and she refused his request to exchange faces. Māui, however, recited an

incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

, and their faces were switched. In anger Rohe left him, and refused to live any longer in the world of

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

. She went to 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 ...

, and became a goddess of the pō (

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

or spirit world). Rohe is said sometimes to beat the spirits of deceased as they pass through her realm. Her home is in that division of the night world called Te Uranga-o-te-rā. Māui and Rohe had a son named Rangihore, the god of rocks and stones.

Tahiti

In Tahiti, the 'Father of Famine' is called Rohe-upo'o-nui (Large-headed Rohe).Tregear 1891:421

Citations and explanatory notes

Cited works

* Craig, R. D. (1989)
''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology''
New York: Greenwood Press. . * Gill, W. W. (1876)
''Myths and Songs from the South Pacific''
London: Henry S. King. * Shand, A. (June 1894). "The Moriori People of the Chatham Islands: Their Traditions and History". ''The Journal of the Polynesian Society''. Volume 3, no. 2. pp. 76–92. . * Tregear, E. R. (1891)
''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary''
Lambton Quay, Wellington, NZ: Lyon and Blair. Death goddesses Māori goddesses Māori underworld Moriori mythology Polynesian goddesses Underworld goddesses {{Deity-stub