The Cosmic Hug

In The Beginning

This story is from the Māori people explaining how the earth and the sky were separated so that light could enable forests and plants to grow, followed by animals and humans.

In the beginning there is nothing but the cosmos. Rangi (Ranginui) the sky father and Papatua (Papatūānuku) the earth mother hold each other in a tight embrace. Papatua gives birth to 70 sons who are caught between their mother and father with very little space and no light. They have to find a way out. Eventually, led by Tāne , (who becomes god of the forests) they manage to prize their parents apart. (Tāwhiri) Tāwhirimātea the god of the weather or wind doesn't agree with his brothers separating their mother and father. The other brothers featured are Tu (Tūmātauenga - angry face) God of war, Whiro, god of darkness and Uru, the first born and god of light. As they prize their parents apart light shines through and the forests begins to grow and the earth becomes populated by plants and animals.

The ancestors of the Māori people arrived in Aotearoa (translated as land of the thick white cloud) from the Polynesian Islands by boat over 1000 years ago and settled in this new land. They first encountered Europeans in the 1600’s when the Dutch landed onshore and called this island Nieuw Zeeland after the Dutch province Zeeland. The next Europeans to arrive where the British in 1769 led by Captain Cook and the colonisation by the British began.In Māori society there is a long tradition of singing and storytelling. History is passed on through the many stories shared from generation to generation through song, dance and chants.

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