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Papa and Rangi held each other in a tight embrace. In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people [1] (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui. [2]
This caused Rangi to fly up into the air and light streamed all around the siblings. Now lonely and bare, Papa was left on the ground while Rangi soared the sky. Tāne clothed his mother in trees, flowers and ferns then dressed his father in the rainbows, clouds, stars, the sun and the moon. The spouses were separated.
After Rangi and Papa were separated by their sons, Rangi cried, and his tears drenched the land. To stop this, the sons decided to turn Papa face down, so Rangi and Papa could no longer see each other's sorrow. Rūaumoko was at his mother's breast when this happened, so he was carried into the world below. [2]
Generally, Rangi's wife is Papa, though they are known throughout Polynesia, even when they're not considered spouses. [12]: 892 The pair laid in a tight embrace which blocked light from touching the world. [9] From them came the children Haumia, Rongo, Tāwhiri, Tangaroa, Tū, and Tāne.
After Haumia agreed to Rangi and Papa's forced separation in order to allow light and space into the world between them, he was the third child to attempt to push them apart [9]: 3 with his arms.
Tāwhirimātea was enraged, as he saw it as a move to usurp his kingdom. So the god flew to the sky and communed with his father. Rangi reluctantly agreed to help his son wage a brutal war on his siblings. They were the spirits of winds, storms, and rain. Tāwhirimātea assembled his huge army and set out to conquer his brothers.
When Tāwhirimātea (god of storms) made war against his brothers for the separation of Rangi and Papa (sky and earth), Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi were among those who had to flee from his wrath for their survival. [1] [2] The two argued over whether they should stay in the sea or go to the land. [2]
A traditional creation story tells that all the children of Rangi and Papa, the sky father and earth mother, lay in a tight embrace together, their children forced to crawl in the darkness between the two. One day, their children become so sick of this that they discuss a plan to separate them and allow light into the world.