The Spiritual Life of the Maori

The Spiritual Life of the Maori

Spiritual beings and natural patterns are smoothed with abrasive materials Tiki-like carvings that have come to represent revered ancestors are found in Polynesian culture In Maori mythology the tiki is the first human created by Tumataenga or Tāne He met the first woman named Marikoriko. Heitiki passed down through generations is a mythical creature with a bird's head and a snake's body It is often associated with guardians The symbol of the manaia represented by the figure eight with a beak at the top is believed to be a messenger between the human world and the spirit realm

In Maori mythology and a common motif in Maori carvings and jewelry as well as other architectural elements including the hilts of ritual weapons the manaia symbol is used as a protector against evil This shape is also widely used Tiki carvings with manaia which have come to represent revered ancestors may represent the spirit or inner side of the full-faced statues behind the surrounding carvings depicting ancestors and kaitiaki are often used to mark the boundaries of sacred sites or important places The stone was carved into the cliffs of Mine Bay on Lake Taupō by Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell in the late 1970s Historically precious stones particularly nephrite jade were carved using hard sandstone grey sandstone or slate as saw blades and quartz sand as abrasives



The stone was cut deep into both sides before being broken along the grooves Traditional and modern stone cutting and shaping techniques have also been used They all feature symbolic motifs including depictions of the human form Slightly different versions of the manaia are often depicted with three and four fingers a common motif in Māori jewelry These fingers represent birth death and life often worn as pendants carved from bone or greenstone representing the spirit or inner self Every lifelike full-faced statue has an equivalent manaia representing the cyclic rhythm of life and the afterlife