The tohi rite.

The tohi rite followed the previous ceremony. It was conducted at the sacred stream. Best points out that it was performed for three purposes; (1,) to dedicate the child to his life's work, (2,) to strengthen and preserve him in battle, and (3,) to protect the life principle.

The invocation used was termed the "kawa ora". This protected the sacred life principle and endowed the child with a clear mind and with physical health.

The "tua ora" was a similar invocation for a similar purpose. During the ceremony two wands were erected, one the "tira ora", representing life and the other the "tira mate", representing death. The priest cast down the wand of death and left the wand of life standing.

Against makutu there were several precautions.

Treatment.

When ill-omens were observed, certain phrases or incantations were repeated so as to avert or turn aside the impending evil. This was termed "whakataha" "to turn aside".

Thus on stumbling, the person would repeat the potent phrase:-

Kuruki, whakataha.

But if at the time of the ill-omen, the person is preparing for a campaign or a visit to another village or tribe, he would be well advised to put off his project until the omens were propitious. The Europeans who were officers of the friendly Maori troops, were much annoyed during the Maori war, at the Maoris refusing to go out on some occasions owing to ill-omens having been observed. The Maoris were anxious to meet the enemy but from their point of view it was disastrous to disregard the warning of the gods. The loss of a day or so was well worth the advantage of going out with propitious omens or at least the absence of ill-omens.

Haere ki nga tupuna
Haere ki nga pukenga
Haere ki nga wananga
Haere ki nga tauira
Haere ki te po oti atu.

Begone to thy ancestors
Begone to the priests of old
Begone to the fountains of knowledge
Begone to the initiated
Begone to the underworld and never return.

An interesting proceedure was the touching of the patient with a leaf of the karamu (coprosma) and then floating the leaf down the stream. As one of the Tuwharetoa tribe explained to me, the leaf bore the demon away out upon the vast waters, where at the great whirlpool Te Waha-o-te-Parata (the mouth of the Parata) situated in mid-ocean, it entered the portals of the underworld and there rejoined the spiritual powers which had sent it forth into the world to punish the transgression of their tapu. The interest in the leaf of the karamu being used in this manner as a canoe, so to speak, is that an ancient incantation used at funeral obsequies states that Death crossed over from Hawaiki to these islands in his own canoe. The name of that canoe was "Karamu Rauriki" (The Little-leaved Coprosma). It seems fitting that as Aitua (Death) came in a canoe bearing the name of the karamu, so the death-dealing demon which also comes under the generic term Aitua, should return across the ocean to the underworld on a canoe formed from a leaf of the same shrub. When the takutaku ceremony had been performed, the demon departed and the patient recovered. page 61When the patient was at the waterside and whilst the takutaku was being repeated, the tohunga usually sprinkled water upon the patient, to aid the process of purification. In some cases the patient was immersed in the stream.

Elsdon Best mentions another ceremony amongst the Ureweras in cases of a very serious nature. This was the "whakanoho manawa" rite for the purpose of causing the breath of life to be retained by a dying person. It was also said to restore life to those who had died. The incantation conjured the breath of life to return and remain in the patient that he might emerge into the world of life.

A similar rite was performed by the Tainui tribes. It was known as "whakapiki mauri". In the ceremony, the mauri has a similar meaning to 'hau', the vital spark of man. The idea seems to be that the mauri is weighted down and burdened by misfortune or disease. The whakapiki mauri ceremony was to cause the mauri to rise or emerge from the embrace of death. The case being very serious it was only a tohunga of great power who could successfully accomplish this task. It was also used in war. When the Ngapuhis armed with the first guns swept through the Waikato territory, Potatau the head chief of the Waikatos who subsequently became the first Maori king, was swept before the blast of war into the territory of the Ngati-Maniapoto. Here he took refuge, broken in spirit and hopeless of success. But the Ngatimaniapoto priests took him to their altar place and attempted the rite of 'whakapiki mauri'. Several tried without success until the greatest tohunga of them all commenced. He accomplished it successfully. With Potatau and a small select war party he laid an ambuscade for the Ngapuhi, surprised and overcame them. Thus did Potatau regain his lost territory. Without the successful rite of whakapiki mauri he would never have defeated the enemy.

Still another method of treatment was the ceremony of "ngan paepae." This consisted of biting the cross-beam or seat of a privy. The reason was that the privy was tapu. It had its super-page 62natural guardians who protected it from illegal interference. Thus faeces deposited in any ordinary place could be bewitched. but not so the excreta deposited at the privy. Anyone attempting to do so would be punished by the guardians of the paepae. The sick person was conducted to the privy or paepae in the evening and commanded to bite the cross-bar, the tohunga repeating incantations to expel the demon as he did so. This rite was especially used to avert witchcraft or to remove tapu.

It must be understood that during these various rites to expel the demons, the tohunga and patient were both tapu. The priest was repeating tapu incantations and besides expelling demons was calling up the aid of his own powerful gods. Ere they could return to the village, the tapu had to be removed by the whakanoa rite. They had to become noa or common. One of the usual incantations was repeated and a piece of weed, puha or fern root was passed round the patient's left thigh, touched against his body or bitten by him. The object used absorbed the tapu and it was deposited at the altar or privy or thrown into the stream.

Elsdon Best mentions the "whakaoho rangi" rite of causing the thunder to sound. It was performed by the priest to give prestige to the various rites that had been performed, If the thunder sounded it was an augury of success.

In removing tapu of a serious nature, the tohunga made a sacred oven of small size with a few stones. A piece of fernroot, a kumara or some puha (greens) were cooked or merely warmed and the patient enjoined to partake. He could eat or merely put the object to his lips and the tapu was removed. In the various steps of the ceremony there were appropriate incantions.