63. Swords of Light

Propped up against the wall of my bedroom
two thin crystal swords glow brilliantly white
With one do I swallow and the other impale
ingesting their power and all of their might

Within an instant, I'm called to arms
alone in the dark with both swords in hand
and rise into the air above a small house
and protect all of those who dwell underneath

With weapons extended I turn round and round
three times anti-clockwise - cutting the air
and below me is shrieking, screaming and cries
as shadows are cast out or caused to take flight

And back down to the ground and to my own bed
do I find myself fall and go back to sleep
and when the Sun shines as I open my eyes
I feel my heart smile, way deep down inside

58. From the mouth of babes

Through the eyes of a child
I wake in my childhood bed
to a room cloaked in darkness
except for the moonlight
streaming in through the windows

I step out into the night to a sky
filled with a hundred moons and
my mother hanging washing and
giving me a comforting smile

Another challenge now awaits me
but this time a test of childhood fears
but matched with strengths and memories
before adulthood and a maturing psyche

The moons explode and disappear and
where the darkness now creeps forward
and the cold of night begins to lick and bite
and wrap itself around my young body

Fixed to a spot I sense a being like no other
and with my mouth I hiss and regurgitate
vowels and consonants of an ancient language
understood more by snakes and by reptiles

I have come home, I now remember
childhood nightmares and talking in tongues
but where I was haunted, torn and afraid
I now stand in my power and talk to the dark...

12. Knowledge without enlightenment

[Quote] The Sage's warning and admonition to the present generation;

Now, I [Te Matorohanga] have another word to say; so you may be clear on this subject. Be very careful in reciting these valuable teachings that your ancestors have collected during the past generations right away from the period of Rangi [the Sky-father] and Papa [the Earth-mother] down to the present day.

Notwithstanding, that the teachings from the Whare-wānanga are now mere shreds, because they are no longer combined, some still remain whilst others are lost; some parts diverge [from the originals] and to some additions have been made.

This is in consequence of the decadence of the power, authority and prestige of the conduct of the various rituals, of the [abrogation of] the tapu, of the [unbelief in] the gods, until, at the present time, there is none of the ancient măna, or power left—all things have changed.

The tapu has ended; the true teaching has been lost; as well as the karakia [invocations, etc.], the meanings of which are now [comparatively] unknown. Because the tapu was all important—the first of all things; without it none of the powers of the gods were available, and without the aid of the gods all things are without authority and ineffectual;1 the [mind of man] is now in a state of confusion [literally, like a whirlwind], as are all his deeds; the land is the same.

The Whare-wānangas, the karakias, the tuāhus [altars], the pures [or sanctification] of man of different kinds, baptism of men with water, are all abandoned. So also are the powers to attract fish and birds, or to influence the growth of food-plants. At the present time, different karakias, different methods, different tapus, even a different language prevails.

Hence it is that the present teaching differs from that of the old priests, such as has been explained above [and as follows in later chapters]; and hence also it is that I impress on you the [former] aspect of these things, that you may be clear as to the descent of the măna-atua, [the god-like powers] even from Io [the Supreme God], and from the Whatu-kuras, Mareikuras, and the Apas of each separate heaven, down to the Patu-pai-arehe and Turehu.

At the present time those kinds of gods no longer exist; they have become degraded into reptiles, stones, and trees—such are the present gods. And the [true, original] reptile-gods, stone-gods, tree-gods no longer exist. Men now live in a wilderness; they are careless of these things; of everything.

It is for this reason that no māna [adequate power to make use of and apply this ancient knowledge] will be attained by you; and I also say to you that those things which you are writing [from my dictation] are but the ends, fragments, of the truth, a portion only of sacred things; the [anciently] established and true teaching has become effaced, as well as the [science of] the tapu, together with the true god-like powers that descended from Io-the-great, Io-the-parentless. Enough of these words to you.

-          Te Mātorohanga, Lore of the Whare Wānanga, 1913

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