Hine-nui-te-pō ("the great woman of the

night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

") in Māori legends, is a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

of night who receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of Tāne Mahuta / Tāne Tuturi and Hine-ahuone. It is believed among

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

that the colour red in the sky comes from her. Hine-nui-te-pō shepherds the wairua/souls into the first level of Rarohenga to ready them for the next stage of their journey. Before she was Hine-nui-te-po her name was Hine-ti-tama. Her father Tane Mahuta took her virginity; she then felt upset, hiding from her father in eternal darkness and became Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the night.

Background

Hine-nui-te-pō, also known as the "Great Woman of Night", is a giant goddess of death and the underworld. Her father is Tāne, the god of forests and land mammals. Her mother Hine-ahu-one is a human, made from earth. Hine-nui-te-pō is the second child of Tāne and Hine-ahu-one. Her birth name, Tikikapakapa, was changed shortly thereafter to Hine-au-tauria. Hine-au-tauria marries her father Tāne and bears his children. She realizes he is her father, becomes ashamed, and goes down to the underground world, known a
Pō
("darkness"). There, she becomes Hine-nui-te-pō, acquiring men's souls while her father Tāne tries to lead them to light.

Māui's encounter with Hine-nui-te-pō

The great hero

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 ...

is tricked by his father into thinking he has a chance to achieve immortality. In order to obtain this, Māui is told to enter into the goddess through her vagina. While Hine-nui-te-pō is asleep, Māui undresses himself ready to enter himself into the goddess. The birds who were nearby, fantails, burst into laughter, alerting Hine-nui-te-po. Hine-nui-te-po reacted by crushing him with the

obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

teeth in her vagina; Māui was the first man to die. The problematic themes of rape in this legend are acknowledged and used as an educational tool in contemporary times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hine-nui-te-po Māori goddesses Night goddesses Death goddesses Underworld goddesses Māori underworld Legendary Māori people

Background

Māui's encounter with Hine-nui-te-pō

See also

References