The Use of Fire in Ritual Performances

The kindling of a special fire in connection with what we may term religious functions was a marked feature of Maori ritual. In Maori myth this element is of celestial origin, inasmuch as it was sent down to earth by the sun as a boon to mankind. It is personified in one Mahuika, and so fire is alluded to as a person, not only in folk-lore but often also in ordinary speech. The heavenly origin of fire may possibly have been the cause of its being introduced into ritual performances, but the practice is so ancient a one that conjecture is futile. Fire-worship, and the use of sacred fire by a priesthood, carries us back to very ancient times of Asia, and many Polynesian practices, usages, and beliefs were probably carried eastward from that centre. Sacred fire was employed by peoples of southern Asia. In Montgomery's monograph on the religion of the Veda he shows that priests of the fire cult seem to have become the recognized aristocracy of the priesthood, even in prehistoric times. "For it had early become fashionable to pour the articles of food and drink, which were the most unusual sacrificial offerings, into fire. The fire that consumed the offerings became thereby sacred."

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We thus see that fire—what may be termed sacerdotal fire—may have been deemed sacred because of its origin, or because offerings to gods were cast into it. Our Maori, however, rendered fire tapu in another way. A special fire was generated by the officiating tohunga, an act accompanied by the recital of a karakia—a fire-kindling formula; this fire was to be an important element in a rite about to be performed. In order to endow the fire with the necessary powers he would then locate in it the atua (god, or gods) whose aid he was about to seek, whose influence would render the rite effective. As the Maori expresses it, "Ka whakanohoia nga atua ki taua ahi" ("The gods were located in that fire"). In India priests recited what Hewitt, in his Primitive Traditional History, terms "kindling stanzas," when a sacred fire was generated. Some of these fires were so kindled on an earthern altar made in the form of a woman. This was assuredly a singular feature of the performance, and it reminds one of the Polynesian view of fire-generation, as shown in the use of the word hika. This word illustrates a curious usage. It is employed to denote the generation of fire by friction, and also the generation of children. "Ka tahuri ia ki te hika i taua ahi" ("He set about kindling his fire"); "Naku taua tamaiti; naku tonu i hika" ("That child is mine; I myself begat him"). This word also came to be used to denote the performance of a rite in connection with which a fire was actually generated, or the mere motions of fire-generation gone through by the priest: hence such expressions as "Ka hikaia te moana" and "Ka hikaia te hau"

The specific names of ahi tapu (sacred fires) are very numerous, for a special name was applied to a fire kindled in connection with any rite. Thus in many cases the rite became known by such name. The taumata or tahoka rite was alluded to as Ahi taumata; the whakaene rite as Ahi whakaene, and so on. The word umu, denoting a steam-oven, was used in the same double sense, as also its variant from imu. In the Tuhoe district alone I collected twenty-eight special names for tapu fires, as formerly employed by the people, also twenty-one names for special umu tapu (sacred ovens) in which food was cooked for ceremonial feasts. These fire-names may be said to apply to fires employed for two purposes—(1) as in connection with the actual performance of a rite, (2) as in the preparation of food for the ritual feast that often followed such performances. The same remark applies to the tapu ovens mentioned above.

Whenever a priest was engaged in generating an ahi tapu he chanted a karakia hika ahi (fire-generating ritual). A number of these charms have been collected, of which the following is a sample. page 320It is one employed in former times by the experts of the Ngati-Kahungunu Tribe:—

Hika ake au i taku ahi	Ko wai taku hika?
Te ahi na wai?	Ko Toroi-a-pawa i a Takutaku,
Te ahi na Maui	I a Puhoumea
Maui-tikitiki a Taranga	Ka tu taku ahi, ko te ahi o Tongaruru
Ko wai taku kaunoti?	Ka tu taki ahi, ko Tonga-apai
Ko Tu-te-hurutea	Ka tu taku ahi, ko Maunganui
Ko te kaunoti a Maui	Ka tu taku ahi, ko te piere tu
Ko wai taku hika?	Ka tu taku ahi, ko te piere tau
Ko Te Tuke-o-rangi	Ka tau te ahi na Mahuika.

• (I generate my fire. The fire of whom? The fire of Maui; Maui-tikitiki born of Taranga. What is [the name of] my kaunoti? It is Tu-te-hurutea, the kaunoti of Maui. What is [the name of] my hika? It is Tuke-o-rangi. What is my hika? It is Toroi-a-pawa of Takutaku, of Puhoumea. My fire ignites; it is the fire of Tongaruru. My fire ignites; it is [fire of] Tonga-apai. My fire ignites; it is [fire of] Maunganui. My fire ignites; it is the piere tu. My fire ignites; it is the piere tau. The fire of Mahuika appears.)

Kaunoti is the name of the grooved piece of wood on which the hika, or rubbing-stick, is worked in generating fire by friçtion. Maui, in Maori myth, is the fire-procurer, he who obtained fire for mankind from Mahuika, the guardian or goddess of fire. The assigning of proper names to such objects as fire-generating implements is quite in accordance with Maori usage. In lines 13 and 14 there are probably allusions to active volcanoes in the Tongan Archipelago. Tongaruru is said to be the name of an active volcano at Hawaiki—that is, in Polynesia. Maunganui was certainly an active volcano in Polynesia, anent which we have a very interesting native tradition collected from the Maori. Concerning the expressions piere tu and piere tau the writer can venture no remarks as to their meaning.

The following list contains some of the names of ahi tapu, or ritual fires, as formerly employed by the Maori:—

Ahi marae: This was a fire kindled in connection with rites performed over men about to start on a war expedition. It seems to have been really an umu, or oven in which food was cooked for the ceremonial feast. The preparation of the steam-oven included, of course, the kindling of fire. It seems to have been also known as ahi marae taua.

Ahi horokaka: This was another sacred fire connected with war ritual, and the recital of charms to endow the warriors with courage, &c. A small modicum of food, such as a kumara tuber, was cooked at it, and eaten ceremonially by the officiating priest, a portion being retained by him to be carried in his kete pure, or tapu wallet. This fragment was used in some way in connection with rites performed during the expedition.

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Ahi taumata; Ahi tahoka; ahi ta whakataumata: These names were applied to a ritual fire kindled by a priest when a force drew near the village it was to attack. At or over this fire, or while it was being generated, formulae were recited with the object of rendering the enemy unsuspicious, to bring on bad weather, and so cause them to be off their guard. One charm was to rotu the enemy—to affect his courage, &c., and so weaken his fighting-powers.

Ahi manawa (literally "heart fire"): This name applies to a fire kindled in order to roast thereat the heart of the first enemy slain in battle. The name also denotes some form of red glow seen in the heavens just above the horizon: that is the ahi manawa of Tu, and it was first caused by the ritual fire kindled by Tu and others during the fratricidal war that raged among the offspring of the primal parents, Sky and Earth. Te Ahi-manawa is a place-name not infrequently met with, and in most cases probably denotes a place where the above rite has been performed. The ahi manawa really pertains to the whanga hau rite.

Ahi mahitihiti: This was one of the lesser fires, not highly tapu. It was used in forecasting the future, and in ascertaining the bravest men of an armed force—an institution that was utilized prior to an advance against an enemy.

Ahi tirehurehu: This seems to be an ahi manawa. At this fire the hearts of slain enemies were roasted, or scorched, in a rite known as ka-mahunu, which had the effect of rendering the surviving enemies faint-hearted and nerveless, causing them to be afflicted by Tu-mata-rehurehu, who inflicts many such pahunu, or nervous ills, upon man.

Ahi taitai: This sacred generated fire seems to have been employed for different purposes, or rites for varied purposes were performed at a special fire bearing that name. It was a very tapu fire, I am told. By means of reciting the following formula the gods were located in the fire—that is, the power and influence of the gods—and so it became tapu. The rite-performers relied upon those gods to give effect to their petitions, whatever they might be:—

Taitai, taitai, taitai,
Te kau nunui, te kau roroa
Te rupe tu, te rupe pae
Pekepeke hauaitu te manu waero rua
Te hau e tu nei, taitai
Mai ra a tu, mai ra a pae
Pekepeke hauaitu te hau e tu nei

Tutakangahau, who supplied this charm, might possibly have known its meaning, but I must decline to attempt a translation. page 322The expressions te kau nunui and te kau roroa (the assembly of great ones and the assembly of lofty ones) he applied to certain offspring of the primal parents. A taitai charm is given at p. 202 of Taylor's Te Ika a Maui (second edition), but the translation is more than dubious. At the ahi taitai were performed divers rites whereby the life-principle of man, of land, of forests, and waters was protected, and their welfare and fruitfulness assured. Thus it was looked upon as the hau or mauri of a village community, a symbol of the protecting power of the gods. At this fire also were performed rites connected with the taking of birds and other forest products, and with firstfruits offerings of such products to Tane.

Ahi matini: This was a form of the ahi taitai, according to Tutaka of Tuhoe—a rite performed by fowlers, game-trappers. Thus, when the bird-snaring season commenced, then the matini fire was kindled by the local expert in ritual matters. Of the first batch of birds taken in the snares, one was roasted at that fire, and eaten by the priest, who recited certain charms as a taumaha. This had the effect of lifting the tapu from the forest and its denizens, as also of placating the gods of the forest, of whom the chief one is Tane. In this rite other birds were cooked at a separate fire, and eaten by the fowling-party. The snaring of birds might then be proceeded with; the forest was open to the fowlers—its products were noa, or common, void of tapu. In some cases the single bird cooked was not eaten by the priest, but was deposited on a tree "for Tane to eat." At Samoa the word matini is applied to offerings of goods made to aitu (spirits). Another native authority spoke of the ahi matini as the ahi ka huka, ahi huka, and ahi rau huka. These names refer to the rau huka, strips of the leaves of Cordyline australis that were used in making bird-snares, and a few of which were cast into the ahi matini during the performance of the rite.

Ahi tute; ahi rokia: These were names of karakia, or charms, employed by individual bird-snarers.

Ahi purakau; ahi tumuwhenua: These were sacred fires kindled in the forest by an expert when men were about to fell a tree from which to fashion a canoe, or house-timbers, &c. The object was to placate Tane and other gods, whose realm the forest is, and the rite was performed only when a tree of the more highly valued species was to be felled. The performance was a very singular one.

Ahi parapara: A peculiar rite performed when a young man catches, for the first time, a number of eels; a practice of the Awa folk of the Bay of Plenty. Like some other rites, this was perhaps page 323not a universal usage. Again, ritual performances, in many cases, differed in different districts. The expression umu parapara seems to have been employed by the Tuhoe folk as denoting a magic rite performed in order to avenge an injury, as by the slaying of a person by magic arts.

Ahi amoamohanga: A rite connected with offerings of firstfruits (amoamohanga) to the gods. The taumaha was a rite performed over firstfruits of birds and fish, also over food-supplies at other times, in order to remove all harmful influences.

Ahi torongu; ahi patu torongu: A fire at which was performed a rite for the purpose of destroying the torongu, a species of caterpillar that infested the kumara or sweet-potato plant.

Ahi tamawahine; umu tamawahine; A rite performed over the product of two tapu kumara plants in a plantation, such tubers being cooked in connection with the tapu-removing rite prior to the lifting of the crop. The ruahine ate the tubers cooked at this sacred fire. Ruahine is a title denoting a woman who takes part in the performance of any rites; a woman was often employed in tapu-removing ceremonial.

Ahi ta ngutu; ahi tonga ngutu: A ceremonial function to mark the tattooing of a young woman's lips and chin. The fire and ceremony were tapu because the operation caused the blood of the subject to flow. A ritual feast marked this and most other functions.

Ahi pure: A tapu fire kindled in connection with a very sacred rite performed over bones of the dead when exhumed for redisposal elsewhere.

Ahi whakaene: This was a fire at which magic rites were performed. If a party of travellers chanced to see a lizard in the path being traversed, the rite termed whakautuutu was performed in order to avert the evil omen. The ahi whakaene was kindled, the lizard cut into pieces and cast into the fire, together with a lock of hair from the head of the person who first saw the creature. A charm was also repeated in order to divert the aitua (evil omen) of the kotipu, as such a dreaded encounter was called. It is possible that, in some cases, no actual fire was kindled. One explanation of this name was: "The ahi whakaene was a tapu fire at which man was destroyed. A priest would generate the fire—that is, he would recite the karakia hika ahi [fire-generating ritual.]"

Ahi whakamatiti: A form of magic rite performed in order to afflict or destroy persons. One old native of Tuhoe gave ahi horokaka as being a similar rite performed in war. The spirits or souls of the enemy were caused to enter the fire and were there page 324destroyed or rendered harmless (Ka rotua nga wairua o nga hoariri ki roto i taua ahi).

Ahi tautahi: An east coast name.

Ahi o Matika: An east coast name; an ahi tapu (sacred fire) employed in rites.

Ahi tautai: An east coast name. Probably the same as ahi tautahi. A "magic ritual fire." An atua called Te Ngu, an ancestral spirit god, was located in this fire to furnish the destructive power so necessary in rites of black magic. To trespass on a place where this fire had been kindled spelt death. It is sometimes alluded to as te ahi a Te Ngu (the fire of Te Ngu).

Ahi komau: This expression is occasionally used as though denoting magic ritual, though it is generally applied to subterranean fire.

Ahi tapairu: A fire or oven whereat was cooked food for the tapairu (tapu first-born female of a family of rank) at ritual feasts.

Ahi tuakaha: Fire or oven at which food was cooked for the priest.

Ahi marae: Fire or oven at which food was cooked for warriors.

Ahi ruahine: Fire or oven at which food was cooked for the ruahine.

Ahi tukupara: Fire or oven at which food was cooked for the public.

These last five names were employed by the Tuhoe folk.

Ahi pahikahika: This expression denotes any fire generated by friction, for whatever purpose. From hika (= to generate).

The karakia (charm, incantation, ritual) repeated over a fire to be used for ritual purposes imparted tapu to that fire. The following is a specimen of such karakia ahi, or fire ritual:—

E Tu E! Homai ra taku ahi kia hikaia	Tuaranga hiwi roa o te whenua e takoto nei.. e
Hei ahi patu atua mahaku ki te po
E whati i au te tini o te po	I rerea, i rerea ki te rangi inumia
E whati i au te tini o te ao	I rerea, i rerea ki te rangi inutai
He tapu te rangi te whakamaua ai Tu .. e	Ka hoki, ka hoki nga atua kai tangata
Ka rangahau, ka rangahaua ki te pouriuri	Ka hoki nga mana huna tangata
Ka rangahaua ki te po tangotango	Hoki mai ki muri hei kore rawa atu.

Herein the operator asks Tu for aid in his fire-kindling—that is, to give mana to his rite—and states his intention of bringing opposing gods to confusion. This Tu is alluded to as Tu-matere in some cases, and in one formula we find the line Kimihia he kura, ko Tu mat at ere te ahi, of which I can offer no explanation. I am inclined to think that the Tu alluded to in the ritual above is Tu-nui-a-te-ika (personified form of comets), one of the principal gods of the Tuhoe Tribe, from whom the formula was obtained.

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The expressions ahi tahito, ahi tipua, ahi umuroa, ahi komau, ahi a Ue, ahi a Uetapeka, and ahi o Tapeka were all applied to volcanic and subterranean fire, which is personified in one Tapeka, or Hine-i-tapeka, a sister of Mahuika (personified form of fire in this world). The ahi umuroa is said to have been seen in the land of Tawhiti-pamamao by ancestors of the Maori. Ahi puaroa is another expression met with; it is said to have originated with Tama-te-uira (personified form of lightning). It may be connected with Samoan pusaloa (comet), or puaroa, termed a whetu (star) by the Maori, who, however, certainly alludes to comets as whetu occasionally.

Any place where a ritual fire had been kindled remained tapu, and, should it be trespassed on, then the offending person would suffer some dire affliction, or even death. One marvels why such spots were not made noa, or common, instead of being left as danger-spots. I remember hearing a native directing others how to find a grove of Phormium at a place that had formerly been a clearing in the forest and the site of a hamlet, but, having been abandoned for about forty years, was covered with second growth. He said, "Keep along the margin of the old forest until you are half-way up the hill, and then strike across the face of the slope." The other naturally inquired why they were not to take a more direct route straight up the hill. The answer was brief and convincing: "He ahi kei kona" ("There is a fire at that place"). They at once knew that, half a century before, a tapu fire had been kindled at that place, and that the tapu had never been lifted.

In some villages a person was employed specially to kindle ritual fires. Such persons were in some cases taunga atua (mediums of the gods), and the post was prized on account of the facilities it afforded for the acquisition of esoteric lore. These sacerdotal fire-kindlers were known as takuahi.

Travellers who had to traverse lands belonging to other tribes—land that possessed, in native belief, all sorts of malign influences towards strangers—would perform the whakau rite. This warded off the shafts of black magic and all pernicious influences; it placated the gods; it lessened the oppressive rigour of tapu. On the return of the party to their home village they had lifted from them the protective tapu of the gods that had protected them during their journey: Na, kuapuhuki nga atua (Then the [powers of the] gods were blunted). In performing the whakau rite a fire was kindled and some article of food cooked. A part of this was eaten, while a small portion was carried by each traveller in his belt, hai arai i nga makutu (as a means of warding off magic).

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A firestick was used by a person performing a rite in order to dispel a frost that threatened the crops. The operator took the brand to the mianga (urinal) of the village and there waved it to and fro as he repeated an apparently senseless formula called tatai whetu—surely a quaint mode of preventing a frost. A somewhat similar performance has been reported from Ireland.

In a singular rite performed over a sick person the officiating shaman procured some puha (a herb), and an ember from a dead fire, passed these under the left thigh and then waved them towards the heavens.

Tipihau, of Maunga-pohatu, once told me of a singular form of tuapa, or "warding-off rite." A post was set up to represent the wairua (spirit or soul) of a deceased person. At this post charms were recited by a priest with a view to preventing the return of the spirit of the dead to annoy the living. He repeated the ahi charm, and as he did so he rubbed a stick on the earth, as though generating fire. Then, in order to endow the proceedings with mana, he would, by means of his magic powers, cause thunder to sound, or raise the wind called tutakangahau—this as a climax. The tapu was then taken off the proceedings and performers; a woman (called a ruahine when so employed) being employed in this last function.

In yet another way did fire enter into Maori ritual performances, and that was in ceremonial fire-walking. In New Zealand we are told that the act was performed in order to give effect or prestige to some rite. Evidently this singular custom or function has been introduced, during past centuries, from Polynesia. It was practised at Tahiti, and exhibitions of the feat have been given during late years by Tahitians, and also by Fijians. Inasmuch as Europeans have walked barefooted over the hot stones of the "fiery furnace," it can scarcely be said that experts alone can come unscathed through it, or that it is a very dangerous performance. The Journal of the Polynesian Society contains accounts of several of these performances. In his history of Aotea the Rev. T. G. Hammond states that this fire-walking act was a somewhat common performance in New Zealand in former times. A native tradition has it that the name of Paraparaumu (a place near Pae-kakariki) is connected with a performance of fire-walking at that place. In vol. 34 of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, at p. 93, may be found an account of one of these fire-walking performances, as related to me by Himiona Tikitu, of Te Teko. I was informed that this particular exhibition was given by Te Hahae, a noted warlock, in order to impart mana (power, prestige) to a certain rite of magic that he performed, the aim of which was to destroy certain enemies of his. The fire was of page 327the same kind as those employed in Polynesia and Fiji—that is, it was an umu. This is the name of the steam pit or oven in which all Polynesians cook their food. A pit of circular form and suitable size is dug in the earth and filled with dry fuel, on top of which are placed a number of stones. These are usually waterworn stones of a kind that are not cracked by heat. When the fire has burned down these stones are extremely hot, and are, by means of a stick, arranged in a fairly level manner at the bottom of the pit. They are then covered with a fairly thick layer of herbage, leaves, &c., on which the food to be cooked is placed. Water is now sprinkled on the whole with a liberal hand, and this water, on coming in contact with the heated stones, produces the steam that cooks the food. The final act is the covering of the pit in order to contain the steam. Another layer of greenstuff is placed over the food, a series of mats over the leaves, and then the whole is covered with earth, which is beaten down so as to prevent the steam escaping. This mode of cooking cannot be excelled. Now, when such an umu is prepared for the purpose of a ceremonial exhibition of fire-walking the process of preparation ceases at the levelling of the heated stones in the pit, and it is across this mass of heated stones that the performers walk. Such an umu, however, is not a small one, as employed in cooking a family dinner, but an extensive one in which a huge fire is kindled. One made at Fiji is said to have been "12 ft. to 18 ft. square." The one walked over by Colonel Gudgeon was about 12 ft. across, the stones used being large. The fire of logs was kindled at dawn and burned until 2 p.m., which would be not less than nine hours. The account of this particular feat may be found in vol. 8 of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, at p. 58. Other papers on this peculiar function may be found at pp. 188 and 269 of the same volume; also in vol. 3 of the same Journal, p. 72; vol. 4, p. 155; vol. 10, p. 53; and vol. 12, p. 191.

This huge umu used by Polynesian fire-walkers was there known as umu ti, presumably because roots of the ti (Dracoena) were cooked therein. I am not aware that any special name was assigned to the umu used for the fire-walk in New Zealand, or that they were made so large. It is shown in the various papers on the subject published in the Journal of the Polynesian Society that this fire-walking act can be traced back to Asia. An interesting feature of the function is the fact that this semi-ceremonial fire-walking of Polynesia seems to be a connecting-link between the ordinary umu kai (food-oven) and the umu karakia (ritual oven). At Tahiti there seems to be some connection between the fire-walk function and Hina, the moon-goddess (personified form of the moon).

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As an illustration of the use of umu kai in ritual performances we may note the following. These four ovens of food were cooked as provender for the ceremonial feast held immediately after the baptismal rite known as tua had been performed over an infant.

1.	Umu tuakaha—for the officiating priest.
2.	Umu potaka—for the fighting-men (arero whero).
3.	Umu ruahine—for the kaihau women.
4.	Umu tukupara—for the bulk of the people.

The terms wahine kaihau and wahine kairangi were applied to women who acted as ruahine—that is, who took part in ritual performances whenever it was necessary that the female element should be introduced, as in the case of the removal of tapu. The food cooked in these different ovens could be eaten only by the persons for whom it was so prepared: this was a matter concerning which the Maori was extremely punctilious. The above names are those employed among the Tuhoe Tribe, but such names differed to some extent in other districts.

Other names of these umu kai at ritual feasts are as follows:—

• Umu whangai—for the ariki, or principal chief.
• Umupera—for the warriors, fighting-men.
• Umu kirihau—for the officiating priest. (Syn. imu tamaahu.)
• Umu tara—for the officiating priest at the pure rite.
• Imu mata tapu; umu kaha—for the officiating priest.
• Imu pararahi; umu marae; umu rauroha; umu mataki tini— for the ordinary people.
• Imu kohukohu—connected with fishing; probably the ritual performances when a new net was first used.

The imu horokaka is probably the same as the ahi horokaka rite, but we do not know that any ceremonial feast was held in connection with them. Such is the umu tamoe, a magic rite performed in order to deprive enemies of strength, of power to avenge a defeat, &c. (from tamoe = to repress, &c.). Umu hiki is a rite by means of which a whole clan may be forced to leave a district and settle elsewhere; it renders them nervous, apprehensive, and sadly impairs their self-confidence and courage. The umu kotore is a marriage feast; but the expression is also employed to denote the whole of the ceremonial performances on such occasions. The umu puru rangi is a tuaumu i te rangi, a rite to influence weather conditions, to cause winds to drop. This word tuaumu, as also its variant form tuaimu, is employed as a name for certain page 329spells or charms, most of which are to deprive persons, as enemies or adversaries, of power. It is also used as a verb carrying a similar meaning. All these four words, umu, imu, tuaumu, and tuaimu, are also used to denote the scarf in tree-felling. Umu pongipongi is a magic rite performed in order to destroy human life, and pongipongi is assuredly connected with Tongan fakabongi (murder).

The umu whangai noted above, or perhaps a rite of that name, seems to apply to a ceremonial performance connected with one's condition of tapu: it is a whangai i te tapu o te tangata—a honorific ceremony to enhance such tapu.

In cases where a small quantity of cooked food was required in connection with a tapu-lifting rite—for example, a single tuber of kumara (sweet potato), a very small steam-oven was made, a diminutive pit of about 6 in. diameter.