Ta’aroa

From time immemorial existed the great Ta'aroa, Tahi-tumu (The origin).

Ta'aroa developed itself in solitude; he was his own relative, having neither father nor mother.

The forms of Ta'aroa were innumerable, he was Ta'aroa above, Ta'aroa below, Ta'aroa in stone. His house was one of God, his spine was its central post, his ribs spread out its supporting beams. These were the attributes of Ta'aroa: Great Ta'aroa, The Truth, He who turns the Earth, the great Ta'aroa who put an end to sins and evil forces. The great Ta'aroa foundation, the great Ta'aroa of boundless glory, Ta'aroa of sure command. Ta'aroa in the clear sky.

Ta'aroa who propagated, Ta'aroa who stood above the pass of the reef, Ta'aroa who uprooted, the great Ta'aroa' whose curse meant death When he cursed the earth it was death. When he turned the earth it was sickness. When he cursed the sea it dried up. When he cursed the trees they withered. Countless were the forms of Ta'aroa, but there was only one Ta'aroa above, below and in the Darkness. Ta'aroa stood in its shell and in darkness for millions of years.

The shell was like an egg spinning in infinite space, without sky, without land, without sea, without moon, without sun, without stars. Everything was in Darkness, it was a thick and permanent darkness. Rumia (Upset) was the name of this Ta'aroa shell.

Ta'aroa was quite alone in his shell. He had no father, no mother, no older brother, no sister. There were no people, no animals, no birds, no dogs, but there was Ta'aroa and he alone. There was the sky space. There was land space, there was ocean space, there was fresh water space.

But in the end Ta'aroa gave a blow to its shell which caused a crack similar to an opening for ants. He then came out and stood on his shell, and he looked on his shell and saw that he was alone. There was no sound, outside it was pitch dark.

And he cried "Who's up there oh?" " No answer. "Who's down there oh?" ". No answer. “Who is there in front oh? ". No answer. "Who's back there oh?" ". No answer. There was the echo of his own voice and that was it.

And Ta'aroa exclaimed “Oh! space for two, Oh! space for crowds. Oh ! space for land extending far above and below”. Then he swam in the landless space. He swam far up, and far down, then he came back to Tumu-iti (Little foundation) to Fa'aiti (Little valley) inside his shell and lay there quite confined and in the thick darkness.

In the end, Ta'aroa got tired of this shell and slipping out of a new one stood on the old Rumia shell. And he took his new shell for the great foundation of the world, for the stratified rock and for the earth of the world. And the shell, Rumia, which he first opened, became his home, the dome of the sky of the Gods, which was a confined sky enclosing then the world in formation.

Then Ta'aroa dwelt in the sky confined in total darkness and ignoring the outside light and so he became a young man. But here are the names of the characters who were in themselves memory, thought, gaze and observation, these characters knew the Earth. Who gave this boy his name, Ta'aroa? He named himself, Ta'aroa.

He grew and matured, but how great was Ta'aroa! What kind of gods were all the others? They were only lesser and tributary gods.

All things existed through Ta'aroa. The storm, the rain, the sea were in the palm of his hand.

Ta'aroa made the great foundation of the ground to be the husband and the stratified rock to be the wife. Haruru-ru-papa (Sounding Rock) was the name of this foundation and he brought his spirit, which was the essence of himself, into it and called it Ta'aroa-nui-Tumu-tahi (One Great Foundation ). Ta'aroa proclaimed King Tumu-nui (Great Foundation), but Tumu-iti proclaimed him king without a kingdom.

And Ta'aroa said "Oh Tumu-nui crawls here, like a husband, to marry this woman Papa-raharaha" (Roc stratified) Tumu-nui answered in a perceptible voice "I will not crawl there, I am the foundation for the world ".

Then Ta'aroa said "Eh Papa-raharaha crawls here to marry this Tumu-nui husband". This rock had a real voice when it replied, “I won't crawl there. I am the stratified rock for the earth”. Neither of them moved.

Ta'aroa dwelt for centuries inside the confined sky Rumia, he created the Gods, and the Gods were born to him in darkness. For this reason the sky was called the sky of the Gods.

When Ta'aroa stood within and turned his face to summon the Darkness it was to create the Gods.

It was much later that man was created. You were with Ta'aroa when he created man.

When Ta'aroa shook his feathers they became trees, bunches of banana trees and greenery on the ground.

When the earth became the earth and it became firm, the great octopus, Tumu-ra'i-fenua (Foundation of the earthly sky) hung on it; one tentacle was in the North, another in the South, another in the East, another in the West. They held the sky against the earth.

Everything belonged to Ta'aroa.