Agunua

Agunua is the great serpent figona described by C.E. Fox for the Arosi of San Cristoval, the leading named example of the never-were-men spirit-beings that Codrington documented for Nggela under the name vigona. Fox reports that among many figona Agunua alone is habitually named, all the rest being regarded as manifestations of him, so that he approaches a single creator of land, sea, and living things. The first of every kind is his: the firstborn child, the first fruits of a garden, a portion of every catch and harvest are set apart before the rest may be used. He is served not through carved images or the ordinary priesthood of the ghost-cult but through observances and offerings that acknowledge his prior claim on all increase.

Domains

• creation
• agriculture firstfruits
• serpents

Powers

• claims the first of every kind
• appears as the many figona

Epithets

• figona — the spirit-being / the snake that is the figonaC.E. Fox, The Threshold of the Pacific (1924) (secondary)

Sources

• Agunua is the great serpent figona; of the many figona he alone is regularly named, all others being counted his manifestations, so that he approaches a single creator.: C.E. Fox, The Threshold of the Pacific (1924), on Agunua and the figona (secondary)
• The first of every kind, and the firstfruits of the garden, belong to Agunua and are set apart for him.: C.E. Fox, The Threshold of the Pacific (1924) (secondary)