Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner
page 72 of 222 (32%)
page 72 of 222 (32%)
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raised stone platform was erected in the house on which he was
supposed to sit, and close beside it was another to serve the purpose of an altar, on which offerings were laid. 21. TAUMANUPEPE--_Fight creature butterfly._ This family god was incarnate in butterflies. Any one of that household catching or killing these beautiful winged insects were liable to be struck dead by the god. In another family this god was supposed to have three mouths. There it was forbidden to drink from a cocoa-nut shell water-bottle which had all the three eyes or openings perforated. Only one, or at the most two, apertures for drinking were allowed. A third would be a mockery, and bring down the wrath of his butterflyship. 22. ULAVAI--_Fresh-water prawn, or crayfishes._ This was a household god in a family in one of the villages of Aana. A woman had been bathing and brought on a premature event which happens sometimes. When she told her friends they went to search for the child. Nothing could be seen, however, but an unusual number of prawns or crayfishes, into which they supposed the infant had been changed. And so they commenced to regard the crayfish as the incarnation of a new household god, gave it food, and offered prayers before it for family prosperity. To these may be added the names of forty-six other gods, making in all |
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