Atua Fafine, the Female Deity
Tikopian · deity · Tikopian traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Atua Fafine, 'the Female Deity', is one of the very few prominent female deities in the eastern Pacific. In Tikopian cosmology she and the Deity of Raropuka are the two original occupants of the island who introduced the basic crafts of human life, she the plaiting of pandanus-leaf mats and he the making of sennit cord. From this ancestral couple descend the four divine brothers who became the eponymous gods of the four clans. In the tradition of the culture-hero Sako, it is the Female Deity who cleanses his soul when he rises to join the company of the gods, marking her role at the threshold between the living and the divine dead.
Children
- Atua i Fangarere, the Deity of Fangarere
- Atua i Kafika, the Deity of Kafika
- Atua i Tafua, the Deity of Tafua
- Atua i Taumako, the Deity of Taumako
Domains
- creation and origins
- weaving and plaiting
Powers
- to establish the female crafts of mat-plaiting for humankind
- to cleanse and receive a soul ascending to the company of the gods
Epithets
- Atua FafineFirth, Raymond. Tikopia Ritual and Belief. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1967. (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: Atua i Raropuka, the Deity of RaropukaThe Female Deity and the Deity of Raropuka form the primordial ancestral couple of Tikopia, frequently invoked together as the original pair from whom the founders of the clans descend.Firth, Raymond. Rank and Religion in Tikopia: A Study in Polynesian Paganism and Conversion. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1970. (secondary)
Sources
- Atua Fafine, the Female Deity, is the primordial creatress of Tikopian cosmology, one of the two original occupants of the island and ancestress of the clan gods.: Firth, Raymond. Rank and Religion in Tikopia: A Study in Polynesian Paganism and Conversion. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1970. (secondary); "Tikopia Religion." Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. (secondary)