In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined the gods and myths of Polynesian people in Hawaii, Samoa, Bellona and Rennell. This time around I’m taking a look at the neglected gods of the Melanesian people of Fiji.
NOTE: I am spelling the names of the deities phonetically to make it easier for readers to know how to pronounce them. I’m doing this to avoid the awkwardness of having to remember the odd rules regarding how to pronounce certain consonants.
For instance “Q” is pronounced “ng-g” so with the name of the shark god, spelled Dakuwanqa in that system, I will spell it Ndakuwang-ga so readers don’t have to remember how Q is supposed to be pronounced or that “D” is pronounced “nd”. After all, the Fijians certainly were not using our alphabet prior to contact with Europeans, so I think it’s inefficient to expect readers to remember odd pronunciation rules for letters that the Fijians never used to begin with.
KONOSAU – The god of stillborn infants. Originally born dead to the first Bau woman taken to Rewa, this entity became the patron deity of such offspring. His main temple is called Nai Bili.
NAITONU – The god of nudity. I’m not joking. Naitonu hates the custom of wearing clothing and not only is he constantly naked but he expects nudity from everyone entering his territory – even if they are just passing through. Failure to comply will result in the offender being struck with leprosy.
ALEWANISOSO – The patron goddess of travelers and hospitality. Regardless of their tribe, fellow Fijians who reach one of Alewanisoso’s temples can be assured of not being harmed during their stay – usually an overnight one.
Hostility or rudeness of any kind is taboo in her temples and everyone entering is expected to conduct themselves as gently and courteously as they would when wooing a mate.
ROKOMAUTU – A son of the supreme deity Ndengei by his sister. This deity was born from his mother’s elbow as another example of birthing oddities in world mythology. Rokomautu was so headstrong he tried to force even his own parents to worship him.
Rokomautu falls into the mythological category that Balladeer’s Blog’s readers will remember as a Divine Geographer. When Ndengei first created the world the land was featureless, so he sent his son Rokomautu to provide character. The god sculpted the Earth’s various geographic features.
The sandy beaches of Fiji were created by Rokomautu dragging his flowing robe over the terrain. When the god pulled up his robe while walking the land became rocky or filled with mangrove bushes. By some accounts anywhere that he spat a lake or river would form.
Once during a drought in which many were dying, Rokomautu was passing through and used his hair-pin, or milamila, to puncture a hole in a rock from which drinking water then flowed.
SOBO – The goddess of soft breezes on the Fijian island of Thikombia. Her husband Rasikilau, the patron deity of that island, killed their two sons once it became apparent that their strength might rival his some day if he allowed them to live. Continue reading
For the most part the silly conspiracy theories about the establishment of the United States are good only for laughs. One of my favorites, however, features a speech from a mysterious figure usually associated with Freemasons, Rosicrucians and/or the Bavarian Illuminati of Adam Weishaupt. 
“They (the British) may stretch our necks on all the gibbets in the land. They may turn every rock into a scaffold, every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave and yet the words of that parchment can never die!” 
THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say the weird and controversial items I churn out here mean that readers have to be very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave.
MOST POPULAR ANCIENT SCI FI POST OF THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS – That honor goes to THE Nth MAN (1920-1924). Part proto-kaiju, part political allegory, it’s amazing it was never made into a movie. CLICK 
When even the hacks at Snopes can’t try to finesse words to make it look like Obama is innocent, you know the situation is bad. BARACK OBAMA’S ADMINISTRATION PLACED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKERS. Even Snopes had to admit that is the truth and that the usual Democrat and Republican game of kick-the-can followed AND STILL HASN’T BEEN FOLLOWED UP ON! 
I will mention once again that the American Media and our crooked career politicians are so much worse than President Trump that they always make him look like the heroic underdog. People know a rigged pile-on when they see one. Donald Trump impresses me more every day and the comparisons with Abraham Lincoln – who also had to deal with Republican traitors and corrupt Democrats – are beginning to ring true. 
Democrats and the Bush Family love exploiting children to try making cheap political points. 
IF YOU WEREN’T SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THESE POLICIES UNDER OBAMA AND BUSH YOU’RE JUST BEING PHONY BY PRETENDING YOU CARE NOW THAT TRUMP IS THE PRESIDENT. (Hillary lost, fools, get over it!) 
DEMOCRATS NEVER CARE ABOUT THE FAMILIES SEPARATED BY THE DEATHS CAUSED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. THAT DOESN’T FURTHER THEIR POLITICAL AGENDA. 
Barack Obama’s Banana Republic administration continues to be exposed for what it was and I am still loving every minute of it! When the weak, inept and crooked little man named Obama was still in office you may recall that OVER FORTY of the government’s roughly 73 Inspectors General publicly complained about the way that the corrupt thugs with which Barack staffed every department were biased and were refusing to cooperate with oversight investigations. 
“During the course of the review, the OIG discovered text messages and instant messages between some FBI employees on the investigative team, conducted using FBI mobile devices and computers, that expressed statements of hostility toward then candidate Donald Trump and statements of support for then candidate Clinton.” 
I. THE ONLY GOOD ALIEN IS A DEAD ALIEN – Ronan the Accuser overthrows the Supreme Intelligence to take control of the alien Kree Empire. Meanwhile, the Avengers help the Kree officer Captain Marvel and Rick Jones stop Annihilus from escaping the Negative Zone after Mar-Vell and Rick break out. CLICK 
