Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long BeforeTurner, George
History
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before
Turner, George
Islands of the Pacific -- Social life and customs; Samoan Islands
4. Moso was also a household god in some families. In one he was
incarnate as a man. He helped himself to food of any kind from the
plantations of his neighbours, and, if chased, suddenly disappeared;
and hence they considered he was a god, and prayed to him and laid
down offerings.
5. In another family Moso was said to appear, but only one old man
could discern him when he came. A visit was known by the old man
shouting out, "Your excellency! Your excellency has come!" and some
such chief's language. Then would follow a conversation between the
old man and the god, all through the lips of the old impostor himself;
and then the family would hear of some new house, or canoe, or food,
or marriage, or something else that was wanted.
6. Moso also appeared in one family in the form of a pet pigeon called
the Tu (_Phlegoenas Stairi_). When food was brought in, no water was
to be spilled on the doorstep. It would make the protecting god Tu
angry, and cause him to go off.
In another family he was incarnate in the domestic fowl, and if any of
them ate a piece of fowl the consequence was delirium and death.
In another family Moso was incarnate in the cuttle-fish, and none of
them dared to eat one.
Another family had Moso incarnate with them in a creeper bird called
the Fuia (_Sturnoides atrifusca_). If it came about in the morning or
the evening it was a sign that their prayers were accepted. If it did
not come Moso was supposed to be angry. The bird did not appear at
noon owing to the glare of the sun. The priest interpreted to the
family the meaning of the _chirps_ as his inclination or fancy
dictated.
7. _Long Moso_ was the name of another family god. The turtle and the
mullet were sacred to him, and eaten only by the priest. The family
prayed to him before the evening meal.
8. The Fai, or stinging ray fish, and also the mullet were
incarnations of _Moso the strong_ in another family. If visitors or
friends caught or brought with them either of these fish, a child of
the family would be taken and laid down in an unheated oven, as a
peace-offering to Moso for the indignity done to him by the strangers.
If any member of the family tasted of these sacred fish he was
sentenced by the heads of the family to drink a cupful of rancid oil
dregs as a punishment and to stay the wrath of Moso.
16. NAFANUA--_Hidden inland._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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