The Separation of Heaven and Earth: From the Māori First Nation People, Part 1 of 2

The Māori First Nation people, who have Polynesian heritage, have lived in Aotearoa, also known as New Zealand, for over 1,300 years. Their belief centers on the sacredness of all life and on Papatūānuku, or Earth Mother, as a living ancestor who gives life to all; thus, harming her and her inhabitants is like harming a family member. Atua, or the gods, inhabit the natural world and shape the destinies of the people. The Wairua, or the eternal spirit beyond the body, is everlasting; it exists before birth and continues after the end of this physical life. Through these spiritual concepts, the Māori First Nations people appreciate the sacredness of everyday life and the Divine’s presence with us, guiding our lives.

Today, it is an honor to present selections from “Children of Heaven and Earth” in the book “Polynesian Mythology & Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealanders,” by Sir George Grey, who, after being appointed as Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand, sought to seek understanding of the beliefs and traditions of the Māori First Nation people and published this collection for the benefit of all. The Māori creation story “Children of Heaven and Earth” tells how their children separated Heaven and Earth to let light shine on the world.

Children of Heaven and Earth (KO NGA TAMA A RANGI — Tradition relating to the Origin of the Human Race)

“Men had but one pair of primitive ancestors; they sprang from the vast Heaven that exists above us, and from the Earth which lies beneath us. According to the traditions of our race, Rangi and Papa, or Heaven and Earth, were the source from which, in the beginning, all things originated. Darkness then rested upon the Heaven and upon the Earth, and they still both clave together, for they had not yet been rent apart; and the children they had begotten were ever thinking amongst themselves what might be the difference between darkness and light; they knew that beings had multiplied and increased, and yet light had never broken upon them, but it ever continued dark. Hence these sayings are found in our ancient religious services: ‘There was darkness from the first division of time, unto the tenth, to the hundredth, to the thousandth,’ that is, for a vast space of time; and these divisions of times were considered as beings, and were each termed ‘a Po;’ and on their account there was as yet no world with its bright light, but darkness only for the beings which existed.

At last, the beings who had been begotten by Heaven and Earth, worn out by the continued darkness, consulted amongst themselves, saying: ‘Let us now determine what we should do with Rangi and Papa […].’”