Ao (''daylight'') is one of the primal deities who are the unborn forces of nature in
Māori mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...
. 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 underworld.
...
.
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.
The term ''
Te Ao Māori'', loosely translated as "The Māori world", is used to refer to Māori tradition and culture.
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 people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...
's traditions, as part of the creation of the universe.
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 Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku (Earth goddess, earth mother) and Rangi and Papa, Ranginui (sky father ...
, which were sent to punish his brothers after the separation of his parents,
Rangi and Papa
In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Ran ...
.
In a version recorded from Hūkiki Te Ahukaramū, a
Ngāti Raukawa
Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa.
History
Early history
Ngāti ...
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.]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 language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
, Aonui was Tāne
In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, Tāne-te-waiora and several other names) is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Rangi and Papa, Ranginui and Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku, the sky father and th ...
's residence in the sky, and Aoaomaraia was the discoverer of fire; a similar role is taken on by Māui
Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...
in other parts of Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
.
See also
* Io Matua Kore
Io Matua Kore is often understood as the supreme being in Polynesian native religion, 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 th ...
References
Notes
Sources
Light gods
Māori gods
Sky and weather gods
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