Hine-nui-te-pō


Hine-nui-te-pō in Maori legends, is a goddess of night and she receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of Tane Mahuta / Tane Tuturi and Hine-ahuone. It is believed among Maori that the colour red in the sky comes from her. Hine nui te Po Shepherds the Wairua/souls into the underworld to ready them for the next stage of their journey.

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 peace and beauty. Her mother is a human, Hine-ahu-one was 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 as . 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 demi-god, Māui 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. One of his bird friends, the fantail, warned Hinenui-te-po of the situation and woke her. As Māui turned into a worm squirming to enter the goddess, Hinenui-te-po decide to punish the demi-god, she crushed him with the obsidian teeth in her vagina; Māui was the first man to die.