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Up: Astronomy 9 Lecture Notes

ASTRONOMY 9: HISTORY OF COSMOLOGY

Handout #4

J. E. Baker
UC Berkeley, Spring 2000

Origin Myths: Australia and the Pacific

1.
Australian Aborigines
(a)
Wulamba: Origin of the Aborigines
  • Djanggawal and 2 sisters
  • World not yet ordered: no proscription of incest
  • Division into moieties (halves): Not-being-dead-sea / Being-earthly-land
  • Fertility symbols: dragging on the ground(!); plunging of djuda pole while wandering gives life; sisters store many children within own wombs
  • Women take active/equal role until man shortens their endowments
(b)
Aranda: Great Father
  • Karora asleep in eternal darkness/night
  • Pole of life rises from his head almost to heaven
  • Many children spring from his thoughts, armpit
  • All male, no mention of female!
  • Dawn/light of unknown origin
  • Karora inspires men to hunt; injured wallaby becomes Chief
(c)
Kakadu: Imberombera and Wuraka
  • Wuraka (male) tries to join rising sun; too feeble even to carry own penis(!); inactive
  • Imberombera (female, mother goddess, fertility) wanders, leaves many children
  • Imberombera assigns languages, culture, place
2.
Maori (New Zealand)
(a)
The Genealogy
  • Vegetative growth as creative metaphor
  • Root/vine (Being) progresses into Sky/Earth
(b)
Po
  • Evolution of Po (Not-Being, Void)
  • Unseen $\Rightarrow$ Unpossessed $\Rightarrow$ Unpassing $\Rightarrow$ Darkness $\Rightarrow$ Untouchable
(c)
Creation
  • Poetic evolution of Being:
  • Conception $\Rightarrow$ thought $\Rightarrow$ spirit
  • Night
  • Nothing $\Rightarrow$ abundance, life, breath $\Rightarrow$ atmosphere $\Rightarrow$ Moon, Sun (eyes of Heaven) $\Rightarrow$ light
(d)
Heaven and Earth
  • Heaven/Earth (not yet separated) arise from Chaos/Darkness (cf. Ovid)
  • Only god of forests/birds/insects succeeds in raising Heaven $\Rightarrow$ dark/light duality
  • Humans emerge from between (unknown)
  • Sky/Earth separation threatens power of Wind god, sends storms as revenge
  • Animals retreat to sea (fish), inland (reptiles)
  • Only man faces down the Wind, but devours all others to punish them for cowardice
  • Wind remains man's enemy (storms)
  • Deceitful divine act as origin of Death
(e)
Myth of Io
  • Some Biblical(?) elements
  • Unlike other Maori myths, has a ``supreme being'' (Io)
  • Primordial darkness/inactivity/water
  • Creation by speech $\Rightarrow$ light (childbirth as ritual reenactment)
  • Light/dark, heaven/earth contain each other (cf. Tao)
3.
Pacific Islands
(a)
West Ceram: Hainuwele
  • Spontaneous origin of people from bananas (cf. African)
  • Hainuwele (magical girl) arises from coconut/blood mix
  • Generative powers, even valuable excrement (Chinese dishes)!
  • Others envious and kill her, food arises from body
  • Causes separation of earth/heaven: gate as test
  • Animals are humans who failed to pass
(b)
Tahiti
  • Positive creator being (Ta'aroa)
  • Elements of Maori structure
i.
Ta'aroa
  • Creator exists in Void
  • Commands universe (rock, sand, light, germs, etc) to arise out of self
  • Islands as divine shell/body
ii.
Shells within Shells
  • Interesting hierarchical cosmology
  • Ta'aroa in inner shell/egg $\Rightarrow$ dome of sky
  • Outer shell $\Rightarrow$ rock, sand
  • Body of Ta'aroa $\Rightarrow$ elements of Nature
  • Order defined by limiting shells: Sky (space), Earth (stones, water, plants), Woman (man, woman)
iii.
Mitigator of Many Things
  • Ta'aroa emerges from shell, creates Tu (War) and myriad gods
  • Man created last, earth for his benefit
  • Man (Ti'i) cursed by warring gods
  • Only female (Hina) can mitigate the curses (eg., waning moon, low tide)
  • Male causes end of eternal life, death
(c)
Banks Islands: Qat
  • Isles as center of the world, Qat's birthplace
  • Qat arises from stone, names self (speech as creative)
  • Myriad things and man are created by thought/carving from wood
  • All is Light: Qat must purchase and install darkness/night from remote isles
  • Death caused by Qat's stupid, bungling brother, Marawa
(d)
Marshall Islands: Long, Long, Long Ago
  • Creation by speech/command from water: ``Mmmmmm.''
  • 4 primal men: West (creates all life), South (winds), North (death), East (daybreak)
  • Order, rank assigned through tattooing
  • Rat offends natural order $\Rightarrow$ poor tattoo, dirty
  • Good easily jump across ocean to spirit world, bad are weighed down and fall into waters/Chaos
(e)
Maiana: Making Things
  • Na Arean (creator) alone in space, cloud in Nothing-ness
  • Creation by thought: water (chaos, non-Being) / land (order, Being) in left / right hands
  • Younger version created to inspect world
  • Orientation established by fixing tooth at world's center
  • Light streams through tooth from heavens beyond the sky $\Rightarrow$ Sun
(f)
Hawai'i: Kumulipo (A Chant)
  • Celebrates richness, abundance of natural world
  • No single, supreme creator being
  • Slime $\Rightarrow$ Earth
  • Initial time: hot earth, heavens begin to turn, Sun darkened $\Rightarrow$ Moon, Pleiades
  • Differentiation of male/female $\Rightarrow$ myriad sea creatures, plants, animals, men of differing heads/classes: social structure (I-V)
  • Creation of line of chiefs, divine rule, food, rats (VI)
  • Fear of night, legal structure, dogs (VII)
  • ``Time of Calmness'': humans multiply, climax in creation of day/light (VIII)

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Up: Astronomy 9 Lecture Notes
jonathan baker
2000-01-26