Guba
Motu · numen · Motu traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Guba is the sudden violent squall or thunderstorm of the Papuan coast, the most feared hazard of the open-water crossings on which the hiri depended. As a named power of the Motu seascape it is distinguished from the steady seasonal winds, being abrupt, dark and destructive. Sources differ on the degree to which guba was treated as an agentive being to be turned aside by ritual as against a named condition of sky and sea.
Domains
- storm sea
Powers
- raised the sudden squall
Epithets
- Guba — the sudden stormLister-Turner, R. & Clark, J.B. (1954 [1931]). A Dictionary of the Motu Language of Papua. Sydney: Government Printer. (primary)
Sources
- Guba is the Motu word for the sudden violent squall of the coast, the chief hazard of the open-water hiri crossings.: Lister-Turner, R. & Clark, J.B. (1954 [1931]). A Dictionary of the Motu Language of Papua. Sydney: Government Printer. (primary); Dutton, T.E. (ed.) (1982). The Hiri in History. Canberra: Australian National University. (secondary)