Curiosities of Superstition Part 18

Colonel Meadows Taylor (whose language we are partly adopting) continues:--

It is on behalf of children that Snake-worship is particularly practised; and the women and children of a family invariably accompany the male head, not only at the annual festival, but whenever a vow has been made to a Serpent Deity. The first hair shaved from a child which has pa.s.sed teething, and gone through the other infantile ailments, is frequently dedicated to a Serpent. On such occasions the child is taken to the locality of the vow, the usual ceremonies are performed, and with the other offerings is included the child's hair. In every case a feast follows, served near the spot, and the attendant Brahmins receive alms and largess.

"In the Shakti ceremonies, Pooma-elhishek, which belong, I think, to aboriginal customs, the worship of the Snake forms a portion, as emblematical of energy and wisdom. Most of these ceremonies are, however, of an inconceivably obscene and licentious character. They are not confined to the lowest cla.s.ses, though rarely perhaps resorted to by Brahmins; but many of the middle cla.s.s sects, of obscure origin and denomination, practise them in secret, under the strange delusion that the divine energy of nature is to be obtained thereby, with exemption from earthly troubles.

"Although Snake-worship ordinarily belongs professedly to the descendants of aboriginal tribes, yet Brahmins never or rarely pa.s.s them over, and the Nagpanchani is observed as a festival of kindly greeting and visiting between families and friends--as a day of gifts of new clothes or ornaments to wives or children, &c.

"The worship of Gram Deotas, or village divinities, is universal all over the Dekhan, and indeed I believe throughout India. These divinities have no temples nor priests. Sacrifice and oblation is made to them at sowing time and harvest, for rain or fine weather, in time of cholera, malignant fever, or other disease or pestilence. The Nag is always one of the Gram Deota, the rest being known by local names. The Gram Deota are known as heaps of stones, generally in a grove or quiet spot near every village, and are smeared some with black and others with red colour.

"Nag is a common name both for males and females among all cla.s.ses of Hindus, from Brahmins downwards to the lowest cla.s.ses of Sudras and Mlechhas. Nago Rao, Nagoju, &c., are common Mahratta names, as Nagappa, Nagowa, and the like are among the Canarese and Telugu population.

"No Hindu will kill a Nag or Cobra willingly. Should any one be killed within the precincts of a village, by Mahomedans or others, a piece of copper money is put into its mouth, and the body is burned with offerings to avert the evil.

"It is, perhaps, remarkable, that the Snake festival is held after the season or at the season of casting the skin, and when the Snake, addressed or worshipped, is supposed to have been purified. Some Brahmins always keep the skin of a Nag in one of their sacred books.

"In reference to the lower castes alluded to, I may mention those who practise Snake-worship with the greatest reverence:--1, Beydars. 2, Dhungars or shepherds, Ahens or milkmen, Waddiwars or stone-masons, Khungins or rope-makers, Brinjaras and other wandering tribes, Mangs, Dhers, and Chennars, Ramorsers, Bhils, Ghonds, and Kohs, all which I believe, with many others, to be descendants of aboriginal tribes, partly received within the pale of Hinduism.

"Lingayots, who are schismatics from Hinduism, and who deny _in toto_ the religious supremacy of the Brahmins, are nevertheless Snake-worshippers, many of them bearing the name Nag, both male and female.

"I cannot speak of the North of India, but in the whole of the South of India, from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, Snake-worship is now existent."[53]

CHAPTER XII.

_POLYNESIAN SUPERSt.i.tIONS._

When Captain Cook first visited those beautiful islands of the South Pacific which are now included under the general name of Polynesia, he found their inhabitants given over to the lowest and coa.r.s.est idolatry.

Many of their rites and ceremonies were as lewd as any practised in ancient times under the auspices of the Paphian Venus. Gradually they were brought within the influence of the missionary work of the Christian Church; and though, if we may credit the testimony of recent observers, much heathenism still prevails, and gross superst.i.tions are still secretly nourished, there cannot be a doubt, that, on the whole, their moral condition has been materially elevated.

Among the pioneers of the Cross in these "Summer-isles of Eden" one of the most eminent and successful was the Rev. John Williams; a missionary of the true type, of an enlightened mind and broad sympathies, who, after a long career of n.o.ble labour, sealed his witness to the truth with his blood, and lives in the Gospel record as the Martyr of Erromanga. From the plain, unvarnished, and effective chronicle of his "Missionary Enterprises" we glean much interesting information respecting the idolatrous ways of the islanders, revealing their ident.i.ty with the superst.i.tions that from all times have dominated over uncivilised man. In Rarotonga as in Mexico, for instance, the G.o.ds were supposed to be propitiated by human sacrifices; and in many of the islands cannibalism existed in its most disgusting form and under the sanction of a religious ordinance.

From the chief of Aitutaki Mr. Williams obtained some curious relics of idolatry. As for example:--an idol named _Te-rongo_, one of the great deities, called a _Kaitangata_, or man-eater. The priests of this idol were supposed to be inspired by the shark.

Tangarou, the great national G.o.d of Aitutaki, and of almost all the adjacent islands. He holds the net with which he catches the spirits of men as they fly from their bodies, and a spear with which he kills them.

A rod, with snares at the end, made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, with which the priest caught the spirit of the G.o.d. It was used in cases of pregnancy, when the female was ambitious that her child should be a son, and become a famous warrior. It was also employed in wartime to catch the G.o.d by his leg, to secure his influence on the side of the party performing the ceremony.

Ruanu; a chief from Raiatea, who, ages ago, sailed in a canoe from that island, and settled at Aitutaki. From him a genealogy is traced. He died at Aitutaki, and was deified as _Te atua taitai tere_, or the conductor of fleets.

Tanu; with his fan and other appendages; the G.o.d of thunder. The natives, when they heard a peal of thunder, were accustomed to say that this G.o.d was flying: and produced this sound by the flapping of his wings.

The Rarotongan idols were of a singular character. From their size they might have suited Swift's nation of Brobdingnagians, for the smallest seems to have been about fifteen feet high. Each was wrought out of a piece of _aito_, or iron wood, about four inches in diameter, carved with a rude imitation of the human hand at one end, and with an obscene figure at the other; round it were wrapped numerous folds of native cloth, until it measured two or three yards in circ.u.mference. Near the wooden image some red feathers were strewn, and a string of small pieces of polished pearl sh.e.l.ls was regarded as the _manava_, or soul of the G.o.d.

An idol, somewhat resembling a Chinese joss, was placed in the fore-part of every fishing-canoe; and prior to their departure on a fishing excursion, the boatmen aways presented it with offerings, and invoked it to grant them a successful issue.

A striking scene was that when Papeiha, a converted islander, lifted up his voice against idolatry, for the first time, among the banana-groves of Rarotonga.

The Rarotongans had a.s.sembled in great numbers at a _marae_, or sacred enclosure, for the purpose of making offerings of food to the G.o.ds. Many priests, pretending to be inspired, were filling the air with shouts and yells; whilst around them gathered the deluded worshippers, some with one side of their face and body blackened with charcoal; others were painted with stripes of various colours; others figured as warriors, wearing large caps adorned with white cowrie sh.e.l.ls and birds' feathers. Breaking into their midst, Papeiha boldly addressed them on their folly in devoting such large quant.i.ties of food to a log of wood which they had carved and decorated and called a G.o.d. This challenge was immediately accepted by one of the priests, who springing to his feet, protested that their G.o.d was a real G.o.d, and a very powerful G.o.d, and that they were that day celebrating a very sacred feast.

Papeiha replied that the day was at hand when their folly would be revealed to them by the true G.o.d JEHOVAH, who would make their so-called G.o.ds "fuel for the fire." This strong declaration greatly perplexed the crowd, but they continued to listen attentively while Papeiha commented on the love of G.o.d in giving HIS SON to die for sinners. After he had ceased, the people asked him many questions; among others,--"Where does your G.o.d live?" He answered, that Heaven was His dwelling-place, but that both Heaven and Earth were filled with the majesty of His presence. They rejoined, in their inability to conceive of an Invisible but Omnipresent Deity;--"We cannot see Him, but ours are here before our eyes, and, if the earth was full of your G.o.d, He would surely be big enough to be seen."

"And," said another, "why do we not run against Him?" To which Papeiha ingeniously responded:--"That the earth was full of air, but we did not run against it: that we were surrounded by light, but it did not impede our progress."

Five months later, a priest came to Papeiha and his a.s.sociate missionary Tiberio, announcing his resolve to burn his idols; and he brought with him his eldest son, a boy of ten years old, to place under their care, lest the G.o.ds in their wrath should destroy him. Evidently, in spite of his iconoclastic purpose, the priest still cherished a belief in the power of his wooden deities. Leaving the child with the two teachers, he returned home, and next day at early dawn returned, staggering under the weight of his c.u.mbrous idol. A crowd followed him, shouting at him as a madman, and looking upon him as one pre-doomed to destruction by his own folly; but he held fast to his resolve to embrace the word of JEHOVAH, and declared that he had no fear of the issue. He threw his idol at the feet of the teachers, one of whom fetched his saw to cut it up; but the crowd, as soon as they saw the instrument applied to the head of the G.o.d, were stricken with panic fear, and fled away. As no catastrophe occurred, they gradually returned impelled by curiosity, which is sometimes stronger than fear; and in their presence, amidst profound excitement, the first rejected idol of Rarotonga was committed to the flames.

To convince the people of the absurdity of their apprehensions, the teachers, as soon as the idol was converted into ashes, roasted some bananas upon them, of which they ate, and invited the spectators to partake. None however were brave enough to admit so dangerous a morsel into their mouths, and they waited, open-eyed, for the expected result of the profane audacity of the two teachers. But, like the inhabitants of Melita, "after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to them, they changed their minds," and in less than ten days after this event no fewer than fourteen idols were destroyed. Soon afterwards, the chief Tinomana sent for the missionaries, and on their arrival at his mountain-home, informed them that after much deliberation, he had resolved to become a Christian, and to place himself under their direction. He therefore wished to know what was the first step he ought to take. They informed him that he must destroy his maraes and burn his idols; to which he immediately replied, "Come with me and see them destroyed." On reaching the place he desired some person to take a firebrand and set fire to the temple, the _ataraw_, or altar, and the _unus_, or sacred pieces of carved wood by which the marae was decorated. Four huge idols were then deposited at the feet of the teachers, who, having read a portion of the tenth chapter of S. Luke's Gospel, which was peculiarly appropriate, especially from verse 17 to 20, stripped them of their linen wrappings, which they distributed among the people, and threw them into the flames.

Some of the spectators waxed wroth with the chief, and expressed themselves with great violence, denouncing him as a fool and a madman for burning his G.o.ds, and listening to worthless fellows who "were drift-wood from the sea, washed on sh.o.r.e by the waves of the ocean." The women were specially vehement in their grief, and broke out into the loudest and dolefulest lamentations imaginable. Many of them inflicted deep gashes on their heads with sharp sh.e.l.ls and shark's teeth, and ran wildly to and fro, smeared with the blood which streamed from their wounds, and crying in tones of the deepest melancholy, "Alas, alas, the G.o.ds of the madman Tinomana, the G.o.ds of the insane chief are given to the flames!" Others, blackened with charcoal, were not less demonstrative.

In the course of a few days a clean sweep was made of the idols of the district; never were Iconoclasts, not even our Puritan forefathers, more thorough or more resolute. The teachers then advised Tinomana and their other converts to prepare their food for the Sunday, and attend worship at the mission station. This they did,--but they came armed as for battle, with war-caps, slings, and spears, fearing lest the irate _Sata.n.u.s_ (as they called the idolaters) should attack them. Neither in coming nor going, however, were they molested.

"At this time," says Mr. Williams,[54] "a ludicrous circ.u.mstance occurred, which will ill.u.s.trate the ignorance and superst.i.tion of this people. A favourite cat had been taken on sh.o.r.e by one of the teachers' wives on our first visit, and not liking his new companions, Tom fled to the mountains.

The house of the priest Tiaki, who had just destroyed his idol, was situated at a distance from the settlement, and at midnight while he was lying asleep on his mat, his wife, who was sitting awake by his side musing upon the strange events of the day, beheld with consternation two fires glistening in the doorway, and heard with surprise a mysterious voice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke her husband, and began to upbraid him for his folly in burning his G.o.d, who, she declared, was now come to be avenged of them. 'Get up and pray, get up and pray,' she said.

The husband arose, and on opening his eyes beheld the same glaring lights, and heard the same ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the case, he commenced, with all possible vehemence, vociferating the alphabet as a prayer to G.o.d to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan. On hearing this, the cat, as much alarmed as the priest and his wife, of whose nocturnal peace he had been the unconscious disturber, ran away, leaving the poor people congratulating themselves on the efficacy of their prayer."

Afterwards, in the course of his wanderings, Puss reached the district of the _Sata.n.u.s_; and, as the marae was situated in a sequestered corner, and overshadowed by the luxuriant foliage of patriarchal trees, the graybeards of the wood, he was well pleased with the place. In order to keep the best of company, he took up his abode with the G.o.ds; and as he met with no opposition from within, he little expected any from without. But some few days after came the priest, accompanied by a number of worshippers, to present some offerings to the G.o.d; on his opening the door, Tom respectfully welcomed him with a _miaou_. At this unwonted salutation he rushed back in terror, shouting to his followers: "Here's a monster from the deep! here's a monster from the deep!"

Whereupon the whole party hastened home, a.s.sembled several hundreds of their companions, a.s.sumed their war-caps, equipped themselves with spear, club, and sling, blackened their bodies with charcoal, and in all this pomp and circ.u.mstance of Polynesian war, rushed, with yells, cries, and shouts, to attack poor Puss. He, however, daunted by their grim and strange array, did not await their approach. The moment the door was open, a leap and a bound--he was gone! _Abiit, evasit, erupit._ As he darted through the a.s.sembled warriors, they fled precipitately in all directions.

The religious system of the Samoans, according to Mr. Williams, differed in essential respects from that which prevailed at the Tahitian, Society, and other Polynesian groups. They had neither maraes nor temples, nor altars nor offerings; and consequently none of the barbarous and sanguinary rites to which we have alluded. They shed no human blood; they strewed no maraes with the skulls and bones of their victims; they dedicated no sacred groves to brutal and sensual observances. Hence the Rarotongans denounced them for their impiety, and "a G.o.dless Samoan" was a proverbial phrase. Yet they were not without their superst.i.tions; they had lords many and G.o.ds many; and their credulity was as marked as that of any other savage race on whom the light of Christianity and civilisation had never shone.

In considering the religion of the Polynesians, there are four points to be glanced at; 1, their G.o.ds; 2, their cultus; 3, their ideas of immortality; and 4, the means by which they hoped to secure future happiness.

1. Their G.o.ds consisted of three kinds: their deified ancestors, their idols, and their etus.

Some of their ancestors were deified, after the Greek fashion, for the supposed boons they had conferred upon mankind. For example, it was believed that the world was formerly in darkness; but that the sun, moon, and stars were created by one of their progenitors in a manner too absurd to be described. Also, that the heavens were of old so close to the earth that men could not walk erect, and were compelled to crawl; until a great man conceived the idea of elevating them to their present height; which he effected by the employment of almost Herculean energy. By his first effort he raised them to the top of a tender plant, called _teve_, about four feet high. There they remained until he had refreshed and rested himself.

A second effort, and he upheaved them to the height of a tree called _kanariki_, which is as tall as the sycamore. His third attempt carried them to the summits of the mountains; and after a long period of repose, and another tremendous struggle, he raised them to their present alt.i.tude, at which they have ever since remained. This wonderful personage was appropriately apotheosized; and down to the date of the introduction of Christianity, was everywhere worshipped as "the Elevator of the Heavens."

The fisherman had his G.o.d; so had the husbandman, the voyager, the warrior, the thief; mothers dedicated their offspring to one or other of these numerous Powers, and chiefly to Hero, the G.o.d of thieves, and to Oro, the G.o.d of war. "If to the former, the mother, while pregnant, went to the marae with the requisite offerings, when the priest performed the ceremony of catching the spirit of the G.o.d with the snare previously described, and infusing it into the child even prior to its birth, that it might become a clever and desperate thief. Most parents, however, were anxious that their children should become brave and renowned warriors.

This appears to have been the very summit of a heathen mother's ambition, and to secure it, numerous ceremonies were performed before the child was born; and after its birth it was taken to the marae, and formally dedicated to Oro. The spirit of the G.o.d was then caught, and imparted to the infant, and the ceremony was completed by numerous offerings and prayers. At New Zealand, stones were thrust down the throat of the babe, to give it a stony heart, and make it a dauntless and desperate warrior."

This dedication of the child to the sanguinary war-G.o.d points to a condition of society in which life was verily and indeed a battle, and every one had to hold his own by right of a strong arm and a reckless spirit. There was no room for the feeble in such a system; they crawled aside to die; or were trampled to death in the rush and press of the crowd. Civilisation has its victims; but a.s.suredly they are few in comparison to the thousands and tens of thousands destroyed by the merciless tyranny of Heathenism. Civilisation does at least teach us our duties towards our neighbours; while Savage Man had little sentiment of compa.s.sion or affection for father or brother, daughter or wife.

The second cla.s.s of objects regarded with religious veneration was _Idols_. In every island and district these were different; but in every island and district they abounded. Some were large, some small; some hideous in the extreme, others were almost comely. No fixed pattern appears to have been before the idol-makers; each man followed his own fancy.

The third object of worship was the _Etu_,--that is, some bird, fish, or reptile, in which the natives believed that a spirit resided. This form of idolatry was more in vogue in the Samoas than in any other island-group.

Among the Samoans, the objects regarded as _etus_ were, indeed, almost innumerable, and frequently they were of extraordinary triviality. It was not unusual to see a chief, in other matters really intelligent, muttering his prayers to a fly, an ant, or a lizard, if such chanced to crawl or alight in his presence.

"On one occasion," says Mr. Williams, "a vessel from New South Wales touched at the Samoas, the captain of which had on board a c.o.c.katoo that talked. A chief was invited to the ship, and shortly after he entered the cabin the captain began a colloquy with the bird. At this he was struck with amazement, trembled exceedingly, and immediately sprang upon deck, leaped into the sea, and called aloud to the people to follow him, affirming the captain had his _devolo_ on board, which he had both seen and heard. Every native dashed at once into the sea, and swam to sh.o.r.e with haste and consternation; and it was with much difficulty that they could be induced to revisit the ship, as they believed that the bird was the captain's _etu_, and that the spirit of the devil was in it."

Another ill.u.s.tration is given by Mr. Williams:--

"While walking," he says, "on one occasion, across a small uninhabited island, in the vicinity of Tongatabu, I happened to tread upon a nest of sea snakes. At first I was startled at the circ.u.mstance, but being a.s.sured that they were perfectly harmless, I desired a native to kill the largest of them as a specimen. We then sailed to another island, where a number of heathen fishermen were preparing their nets. Taking my seat upon a stone under a tou tree, I desired my people to bring the reptile, and dry it on the rocks; but as soon as the fishermen saw it, they raised a most terrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian natives, shouting: 'You have killed our G.o.d, you have killed our G.o.d!' I stepped in between them, and with some difficulty stayed their violence, on the condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to the boat."

The Polynesian islanders, or most of them, seem to have cherished a general idea of a Supreme Being, whom they regarded as the Creator of all things and the Author of their mercies. They called him Tangatoa; and at their great feasts, before the food was distributed, an orator would rise, and after enumerating each viand on the board, would say: "Thank you for this, great Tangatoa!"