Samoan mythology as a subset of Polynesian mythology will be the subject of this blog post. I have previously covered various deities of the Hawaiian islands and in the future I will address the gods of the other Polynesian island groups.
*** FOR THE GODS OF OTHER POLYNESIAN ISLAND GROUPS –
BELLONA ISLAND AND RENNELL ISLAND – CLICK HERE
GEGE – A deity who specialized in ridding the Samoan island of Upolu of demons. Operating out of his base at Falealili he roamed the island, met demons in contests of magic and transformed them into stone. Countless unusual rock formations on Upolu are said to be the petrified bodies of the demons overcome by Gege.
PAPA – In other Polynesian island groups Papa is the Earth goddess. In the Samoan pantheon she is strictly the goddess of the flatrock base beneath islands. Admittedly that is an oddly specific designation. She mated with the supreme deity Tangaloa to give birth to some of the Samoan islands.
VAVAU – The Samoan god of peace. The chief deity Tangaloa sent Vavau from the heavens down to the earth, forbidding him to return until he had brought peace to all humanity. Since conflicts in some form persist in some areas of the world at all times Vavau is still wandering among humans, but every time he brings a peaceful resolution to one conflict another breaks out elsewhere.
TOAFA and FOGE – The goddess and god of freshwater springs that burst forth from rocks. They are represented in the form of two smooth, oblong stones. Two mountains on Savai’i are named for them. Their daughter is the rain goddess Saato.
Taema and Tilafaiga
TAEMA and TILAFAIGA – The patron deities of tattooing. These two goddesses were born as conjoined twins but as they swam the ocean to Tutuila and then Fiji they were separated by a collision with a floating log. On Fiji the twins learned the art of tattooing and when they swam back to the Samoan islands they introduced the artform there. As twins double yams, double bananas and other flukes are sacred to them. Because they were born conjoined it is considered an affront to Taema and Tilafaiga for humans to sit back to back.
LESA – The Samoan god of agriculture and plenty. He brings abundant harvests and can help crops by asking his wife Saato to send rain. All manner of cultivated foods fall under his purview. Lesa can also be prayed to to ruin the crops of one’s enemies during wartime. He is the son of the god Turia, who controls the weather. Lesa’s messenger is the owl.
SAVEA – The god who rules over the subterranean land of the dead, called Pulotu. Savea had the head, arms and torso of a human but the rest of his body was that of a large eel. His wives were the twin tattooing goddesses Taema and Tilifaiga, one of whom (accounts vary) gave birth to their daughter Nafanua, the goddess of war. Savea’s brother was Salevao, the god of minerals found deep in the earth.
The entrance to Savea’s realm was at a cave in Falealupo. Various demons patrolled the path to Pulotu for Savea and would seize any mortals daring to venture along that path while still alive.
MANILOA – The Samoan god of cannibalism. Originally humans did not feed on each other. Maniloa (no relation to Barry Maniloa – rimshot) would construct bridges like spider-webs over ravines. When people would cross those bridges Maniloa would shake them, causing the mortals to fall to their deaths below, following which he would devour their remains.
Eventually an entire army of ancient Samoans attacked him and succeeded in slaying him. His godly essence entered all of them, filling them with his hunger for human flesh and turning them into the first cannibals of the Samoan islands. In some versions Maniloa’s slayers ate his remains as a form of poetic justice, only to find themselves cursed with cannibalistic hunger after doing so.
FAINGA’A and SI’SI – The patron goddesses of true but unrequited love. These two sisters fell in love with the mortal Pasikole, the only Polynesian man with blonde hair. Pasikole loved his mortal wife, however, and remained true to her. He rejected the two goddesses’ advances but they refused to leave him, even watching when he and his wife would have sex.
Eventually Pasikole tried to get rid of the goddesses by tricking them into huge baskets and leaving them in the mountains. They eventually made their way back to him so he next took them fishing and trapped them in a net. He weighed down the net with rocks and tossed Fainga’a and Si’si into the sea. The chief deity Tangaloa freed them and, as they requested, sent the two goddesses to the land of the dead to await Pasikole’s arrival after he died.
When the blonde man did finally pass away he still remained faithful to his wife and refused the goddesses’ advances again, preferring to wait for his wife’s arrival after her own eventual death. Fainga’a and Si’si later went on to marry the monster-slaying god Ti’i-Ti’i (the Samoan version of the Hawaiian god Maui) while Pasikole was worshipped after his death as the god of husbandly fidelity.
Ti’i-Ti’i
TI’I-TI’I – The Samoan Hercules. This demigod was the Samoan island group’s version of the Hawaiian god Maui. In fact, Maui’s longer name is Maui-Tiki-Tiki and Ti’i-Ti’i is pronounced like Tiki-Tiki but with glottal stops where the k’s would be. Ti’i-Ti’i’s deeds included: a) Slaying a land-dwelling octopus who lived in a cave and had tentacles so long it could pluck victims from anywhere on the island and drag them to its mouth to devour them,
b) Retrieving a floating island and returning it to its original position in the ocean
c) Slaying a shark-like Devil Fish that was eating all the fish of the sea and leaving none for Samoan fishermen,
d) Subduing and returning one of the four winds when it escaped from the cave of the wind god Fa’atiu,
e) Freeing the Samoan islands from the reign of terror of a race of giant humanoids with the heads of dogs. Those giants were especially dangerous because they roamed the islands with packs of enormous dogs on leashes. Ti’i-Ti’i eventually killed them all,
f) Slaying Tetuna the eel god to stop his attempts to seduce the goddess Sina
and g) Stealing fire for humans by invading the underground lair of the fire and earthquake god Mafuie. Ti’i-Ti’i did this by defeating Mafuie in a wrestling contest and breaking one of his arms. This was also how he obtained his two wives, the goddesses Fainga’a and Si’si, whom Savea, god of the dead, gave him as a reward for winning his battle with Mafuie.
LOSI – A fishing deity and a member of the race of immortal earth-bound giants who are Samoan mythology’s version of the Titans. Losi was a master fisherman and a trickster deity who loved defying the heavenly gods. Once when the chief deity Tangaloa ordered Losi to provide all the gods of the heavens with fish for a feast the mischievous figure caught untold numbers of fish but placed them on the doorway of each of the gods’ homes in their heavenly realm.
When the gods emerged from their homes at sunrise they each slipped on the fish and filled Losi with laughter. Angered, the gods ordered Losi from the heavens. Before he departed the trickster concealed seeds for taro plants (which at the time grew only in the realm of the gods) in his anal cavity. Tangaloa sensed something was wrong and ordered Losi searched. The intimate search did not find the taro seeds but did embarrass the master fisherman to the point where he wanted revenge.
Back on Earth Losi rallied his fellow giants to him and they all stormed the skyland home of the gods. Though nearly all of the world’s belief systems feature a similar conflict between the gods and a race of giants the Samoan pantheon boasts the only version of the tale in which the gods get their celestial butts kicked. One of Losi’s fellows, the giant Lefanoga, was the god of destruction and led the giants to victory. They then ransacked the realm of the gods for fruit trees as well as yams and took those items down to the Earth to give to mortals. Previously only the gods had such things.
PILI – The black lizard god who was the son of Tangaloa and the ancestor of the four main ruling families of Samoa. Though his primary form was that of a large lizard Pili, like all the other gods, could take human form at will. When his sister Sina was courted by the king of Fiji and then taken away to be his bride she invited him to come with the party on their journey by sea.
Enroute to Fiji the food ran out and Pili had to save Sina from the royal party’s plans to try to eat her. He did so and multiplied the ship’s existing food to make enough for the rest of the voyage. Unfortunately the king and his crew deceived Sina into thinking Pili was behind the food shortage in the first place and so she took her brother by surprise and tossed him overboard.
Pili was saved by his brothers Fuialaio and Maomao, then followed Sina to Fiji. The king’s evil nature had brought a famine to all of Fiji just as it had done to the royal party at sea. The vile king began killing his own subjects to provide food for the nobility. Pili saved the day by planting magical yams that grew immediately and saved the people from starvation and from being eaten themselves. Sina rejected the king and left Fiji with her brother.
Pili himself eventually married a mortal woman and had four sons – Tua, who founded Atua; Ana, who founded A’ana; Saga, who founded Tuamasaga and Tolufalo, the greatest of the four, who settled all of the island of Savai’i. Years later the brothers had a falling out, thus beginning the War of the Brothers, a real war but the history of which is complicated by the layers of mythology and folklore that have evolved alongside it. (Think of the Heike or the Trojan War or even Le Mort d’Arthur) The rivalries between the four factions of Samoa’s noble families linger to this very day.
Sina
SINA – Samoan mythology’s counterpart to Hina from Hawaiian myths. Unlike Hina, Sina was not the moon goddess but was a deity of love, beauty,and fertility. As part of that role Sina had countless lovers (including her father Tangaloa) and various husbands. She also attracted plenty of demons and monsters as would-be romantic partners too.
Tetuna, who was the eel god of the Samoans just as he was for the Hawaiians, tried to court Sina at the spring where she would retire to for her baths. After Tetuna persistently joined the goddess in the spring for several days in a row Sina finally appealed to the chief deity Tangaloa for help. He ordered the demigod Ti’i-Ti’i to go and slay Tetuna, who, with his dying breath, asked Sina to transform him into the first cocoanut tree. Sina granted his wish, and that is why cocoanut trees have the long bodies of eels and why cocoanuts look like they have Tetuna’s face on them.
Sina’s promiscuity led to her being the mother of countless figures in Samoan myths. She would sometimes marry mortal men, but they would eventually die, freeing the goddess to pursue new romances with other males, either mortal or divine.
Nafanua
NAFANUA – The Samoan goddess of war. She was the daughter of Savea, the god who ruled over the land of the dead, and of one of the tattoo goddesses (accounts vary as to which). Nafanua was born as a clot of blood and was thus thrown away by her mother. Savea found her and gave her life.
Nafanua could not be defeated in battle by any of the other deities in the Samoan pantheon. The center of her worship was Falealupo, which was also where tradition held that the entrance to the land of the dead lay. Nafanua’s first battle in the human world came when her father sent her to the realm of mortals to help Chief Matuna overcome the forces of a tyrannical war-chief who was trying to conquer all of Samoa. Matuna’s chief priest Tai’i had prayed to Savea for assistance.
Nafanua’s strength was equal to hundreds of men and she wielded a huge fallen tree as a war-club. The goddess overcame several of the tyrant’s armies enroute to his capital. Nafanua at last reached Matuna’s home where he and his family feasted the goddess and let her drink all of the kava in the village.
Refreshed, Nafanua took the field the next day, leading Matuna’s armies against the tyrant’s forces. The war goddess killed dozens for every one killed by the mortals she led. At length, the wind blew Nafanua’s tiputa (warshirt) up far enough that the opposing forces could see her breasts and realize it was a woman decimating them. The rest of the tyrant’s army surrendered in shame.
Before starting wars chiefs would often make a pilgrimmage to Falealupo to pray to Nafanua for her help in the upcoming battles.
Tangaloa
TANGALOA – The supreme deity of the Samoan pantheon, also called Tagaloa. He incorporates elements of the gods Kanaloa, Rangi and Lono from other Polynesian island groups. Tangaloa rules both the sky and the sea. One of his early acts was to use his nets to fish up the sun-fish and the moon-fish and set them in the heavens. The two take turns leaping through the sky, but like other flying fish eventually need to land back in the sea. Tangaloa rides the sun-fish across the sky during the months with long days but rides the moon-fish through the sky during the months with long nights. His son takes his place on the other fish at such times. Eclipses are caused by the sun-fish and moon-fish having sex.
Originally there was no land on the Earth and the sea filled the world. Sina flew down to the Earth in the form of a bird but complained to Tangaloa that she had nowhere to land. Tangaloa threw enormous boulders down from the heavenly realm of the gods to form some islands and fished up other islands from the bottom of the sea.
When Sina had rested she returned to her father, who sent her back down to the ancient Samoan islands with a giant creeper vine. As the vine rotted, large worm-like creatures were formed and Tangaloa went down to personally craft them into the first humans. Originally they were all males but when one of them died for the first time Tangaloa resurrected the being as the first woman.
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Tangaloa’s children are innumerable but include various gods, demigods and even the race of giant immortals like Losi, who once led the giants in an attack on the heavenly home of the gods. He mated with his daughter Sina to spawn the race of giants.
Tangaloa does not like noises in his presence, so when he visited ancient Samoa carpenters were forbidden to work. Tangaloa also created the nine heavens where the Samoan deities live.
FOR MORE DEITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD: https://glitternight.com/category/mythology/
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Very interesting! Does every place in the world have gods and goddesses like this?
Thanks! Yes, if you go back far enough they do.
Darling ur way of making these gods and goddesses interesting is always so sexy! That may sound odd because ur a man but if u were a woman ud understand.
Thanks, beautiful lady! It’s always a treat having you drop by to comment! And I’ll take your word for it!
Any sources?
If that’s meant as a polite inquiry I will be glad to list my source books. There are over a dozen so check back each day over the next few days and I’ll have them up as soon as I get a chance.
Gege is my favorite!
I can understand that!
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No, but Samoa is Polynesian like the Hawaiian Islands.
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Are there any other tricksters in Samoan mythology?
Thanks for asking! I will have another example in the near future so stay tuned!
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Fascinating! A very responsibly presented pantheon. I am currently swept away by the spiritual undertaking of tatau and have dozens of questions regarding this ritual and the Tapu that surrounds it. What led me to this site was a search for the prayers, invocations and spells that would protect the supplicant from evil and contamination. I read in my research that the most powerful word in Samoan is “om” and yet, being unable to find this passage again, and having no evidence that this word even exists in the language at all, i am stymied. With that said, i wonder what insights you might have on this more narrow topic, the deities which preside over this Rite of Passage being prevalent. Are there observations in the tatau ritual that will bless the subject? Are there gods that can be appealed to beyond the Twins, as in more desperate cases of fever? What invocations would be used? I am hooked on this culture and can’t look away. Help my marathon of discovery!
Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Cheers
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Hey! I loved this and put it up at my facebook!
Thank you very much!
This was all real. Genesis 6. Read the bible and there all will be revealed how these demonic creatures came to be. All these demi gods, giants, hybrids are known as Nephilim in the bible. When Lucifer came against God he and 1 third of the angels who followed him were cast out of heaven. The Fallen angels married and went into daughters of men producing an offspring of giants. Half demi/god half mortal. Sound familiar guys?….Praise God people are actually starting to read their bibles and seeking the truth. Gen6 production have dvds that explore ancient sites of giants etc around the world. God’s word is amazing and all truth and faithful.
Thank you very much for the heart-felt reply! I like the comparisons you were making and the way you feel it all ties together.
Hello there
It is what I believe, ties it all together. Believe me when I say the truth will blow your mind and I must say I have come into a few truths regarding these so call myths. Native Americans have similar stories…different names, they too had giants with red hair. Samoa mythology speaks of the red haired giants. This is no coincidence. Seek the truth and you will see it all unravel before your eyes. Grace and peace to you my friend.
Thank you very much! I covered plenty of other mythological pantheons, too, like Hawaiian, Bellona and Rennell, Navajo, Inuit, Ainu, Vietnamese, Choctaw, Iroquois and many others.
Yes they are all real. The reason why most people dont believe it existed is because the minds of the human race have been indoctrinated through education and programmed through television to where they have been conditioned to perceive the world in a close-minded way. The same demons mentioned in mythology are the same beings that are here right now today keeping the truth from the people and manipulating mankind. The truth really is stranger than fiction and if you seek you will find if you have the eyes to see, ears to hear and the heart to innerstand, understand and overstand. 13Love
Thank you for the thoughtful comment!
Really love the way u bring these gods to life!
Thanks!
That’s great! Tell me, what is your stance on these matters. Myth or Reality. I am interested to know your viewpoint on this. One must come to some conclusion or finding of some sort.
Hello! At present I lean more toward myth than reality, but I think these belief systems tell us all a lot about our shared humanity.
thank you – the information answered a lot for me 🙂
You are welcome! Glad to do it!
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I really can’t believe how great this site is. Keep up the good work. I’m going to tell all my friends about this place.
Thanks.
This site looks better and better every time I visit it. What have you done with this place to make it so amazing?!
Thanks again for the blog. Awesome.
Thanks!
Thanks again for the blog article.Thanks Again. Really Cool.
Thanks!
Hello! I found this article extremely interesting! I sent you an email as well! I was hoping that you could point me in the direction of your sources? Especially in relation to Vavau. I can’t seem to find mention of him anywhere, but he’s similar to a figure in the Akan diaspora which I am studying and would like to make a comparison!
Thank you!
Thank you very much for the kind words! I will dig out my source books and post them back here and/or reply with them to the email you sent me.
Thank you so much! That would be a great help!
A great resource! Thanks for your work!
Thanks again! I will post the sources back here and/or email them to you.
Hey there! Don’t mean to be a bother, but I have requested some books from my library, but they’ll take a while to get here. In the mean time, I could really use some direction. If you could just point me in the direction, give me the title or author of the book, I would greatly appreciate it!
Just in case you forgot, I’m looking into Vava’u and you’re one of the only places he seems to be listed and I would really love to know where you found this information so I could do some research, too!
Very sorry! I will list them today in just a few hours as a reply back here.
TO CJ – Hello! To get you started here are three – I will dig out the others by tomorrow at this time. Encyclopedia of Polynesian Mythology … Samoan Creation Epic and More … Polynesian Pantheons (1947)
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Nice job on this cross cultural post.
Thanks for saying so.
This is so awesome! Just like Mt Olumpus and stuff.
I know exactly how you feel.
I really enjoyed this look at Samoan gods and goddesses!
Thank you very much for saying so!
Great blog!!!
Thank you!
You should do one of your many parts things about the War of the brothers.
I just may!
Only wanna say these gods totally rock!
I agree.
Will you ever do a post about the War of the Brothers?
It is certainly possible.
Splendid look at these old and forgotten gods!
Thank you very much!
Hi
Thanks for the follow(s) * (+ likes), as the reason I write is to share.
* (Though my family and close friends say it would be far more entertaining with a video-camera # in “real life”, rather than in cyberspace!)
# By the way, do they still make them in today’s ever-faster changing world..or is it all done with mobile phones?
(get with the times now,”luddite”* c – it should be a smart phone)
* or so I was often called by my “my techno-geek” friend, Bill (“the gonk”)
“total non-techno” c (who doesn’t possess a mobile phone, after a rather eventful’ experience some years back, whilst trying to walk, talk and chew gum at the same time)
Who says men can’t multi-task!
Kind regards and all the best with your blog
craig
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
Thanks for the entertaining comment!
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Thank you once again!
Fascinating post, my friend, and thank you for following Eugi’s Causerie I.
Thank you! No problem at all!
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Thank you!
Maniloa (no relation to Barry Maniloa – rimshot) Groaaaaan.
You’ll get a nice dinner but you will still be shot at dawn.
😉
Ha! I know, sorry for such a groan-inducing joke!
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