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Historical loan words

rēinga

1. (noun) leap, place of leaping, departing place of spirits.

Ki te mate te tangata ka haere tōna wairua ki te reinga noho ai (TKO 15/3/1917:4). / If a person dies her spirit goes to the departing place of spirits to stay.

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Synonyms: tarapeke, tiapu, rei, mokohiti, mokopeke, mawhiti, mokowhiti, mahiti, peke, rere, tūpeke

Rēinga, Te

1. (location) place of departed spirits - used in two senses: one of the actual locality at the North Cape; the other the place where the wairua of a person who has died goes.

Te Pae-rangi: Ko te pakanga nui tēnei a nga tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa, arā a ngā atua Māori, ki a rātau anō; nā Whiro-te-tipua i whakatipu. Nā ka hinga a Whiro rātau ko tana ope; ko te take tēnā i heke ai a Whiro ki Rarohenga, ki te Muriwai-hou, arā ki Te Rēinga (M 2006:14). / Te Pae-rangi: This was the great battle of the children of Rangi and Papa, that is of the Māori atua, amongst themselves; it was Whiro-te-tipua who instigated it. Whiro and his forces were defeated; and that was the reason that Whiro fled to Rarohenga, to Muriwai-hou, that is to Te Rēinga.

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Synonyms:

pua o Te Rēinga

1. (noun) flower of Hades, Dactylanthus taylorii - a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of some North Island trees and shrubs, including patē.

Whitiānaunau

1. (location) a place mentioned in the creation narratives where Hine-tītama fled to after learning that her husband, Tāne-nui-a-rangi, was also her father. There Aituā lived in his house, Whiti-nuku. Aituā then took Hine-tītama to the entrance to Te Reinga and to Whiti-reinga where Ioio-whenua, the eldest child of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku, lived. There Hine-tītama became Hine-nui-te-pō and she remains in te pō to receive the spirits of the dead.


2. (personal noun) sixth lunar month of the Māori lunar calendar - approximately equivalent to November and traditionally usd by Ngāti Awa.

Ko te putanga mai o Matariki te tohu mō te marama tuatahi, ko ngā ingoa hoki ēnei o ngā marama katoa: Te Tahi o Pipiri, Te Rua o Takurua,Te Toru Here o Pipiri, Te Whā o Mahuru, Te Rima o Kōpū, Te Ono o Whitiānaunau, Te Whitu o Hakihea, Te Waru o Rehua, Te Iwa o Rūhi-te-rangi, Te Ngahuru o Poutū-te-rangi, Te Ngahuru mā tahi, Te Ngahuru mā rua (TP 1/3/1901:6). / The appearance of Pleiades is the sign for the first month and these are the names of all the months: The first is Pipiri, the second is Takurua, the third is Here o Pipiri, the fourth is Mahuru, the fifth is Kōpū, the sixth is Whiti-ānaunau, the seventh is Hakihea, the eighth is Rehua, the ninth is Rūhi-te-rangi, the tenth is Poutūterangi, the eleventh and twelth months.

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Synonyms: Maramamātahi, Noema, Whiringa-ā-rangi

Manawa Tāwhi

1. (location) Three Kings Islands - a group of 13 islands 65 km northwest of Te Reinga/Cape Reinga in the north of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

wairua

1. (noun) spirit, soul - spirit of a person which exists beyond death. It is the non-physical spirit, distinct from the body and the mauri. To some, the wairua resides in the heart or mind of someone while others believe it is part of the whole person and is not located at any particular part of the body. The wairua begins its existence when the eyes form in the foetus and is immortal. While alive a person's wairua can be affected by mākutu through karakia. Tohunga can damage wairua and also protect the wairua against harm. The wairua of a miscarriage or abortion can become a type of guardian for the family or may be used by tohunga for less beneficial purposes. Some believe that all animate and inanimate things have a whakapapa and a wairua. Some believe that atua Māori, or Io-matua-kore, can instill wairua into something. Tohunga, the agents of the atua, are able to activate or instil a wairua into something, such as a new wharenui, through karakia. During life, the wairua may leave the body for brief periods during dreams. The wairua has the power to warn the individual of impending danger through visions and dreams. On death the wairua becomes tapu. It is believed to remain with or near the body and speeches are addressed to the person and the wairua of that person encouraging it on its way to Te Pō. Eventually the wairua departs to join other wairua in Te Pō, the world of the departed spirits, or to Hawaiki, the ancestral homeland. The spirit travels to Te Reinga where it descends to Te Pō. Wairua of the dead that linger on earth are called kēhua. During kawe mate, or hari mate, hura kōhatu and other important occasions the wairua is summoned to return to the marae.

(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 221-228;)

Haere rā i a koe ka kōpikopiko atu ki Te Hono-i-wairua, ki te kāpunipunitanga o te wairua (TTR 1998:37). / We farewell you as you wend your way to the Gathering Place of Spirits, the meeting place of departed souls.
Te tinana, te hinengaro, me te wairua ēnei e toru, te mea nui o ēnei ko te wairua. Te tinana: he anga kau nō te wairua. Te hinengaro: he kaiwhakaatu ki te ao he pēnei nā te wairua kei roto i te tangata (TTT 1/12/1930:2215). / Of these three things, the body, the mind and the spirit, the most important is the spirit. The body is the vehicle for the spirit. The mind shows the world what the spirit of the person is like.

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2. (noun) attitude, quintessence, feel, mood, feeling, nature, essence, atmosphere.

Ko te wairua o te kōrero, kia Māori mai (HM 2/1994:10). / The feel of the language should be Māori.

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Synonyms: piropiro, tino, matū


3. (noun) bonfire moss, common cord-moss, Funaria hygrometrica - a moss that grows in profusion on moist, shady, and damp bare soil, especially on sites of old fires, and in plant pots in glasshouses and shadehouses. Found throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Haumu

1. (location) place at Te Rerenga-wairua - a hillock where the wairua is said to stop and look back to the place where they can look back on the country where their friends are still living. Also said to leave a whakaau, a token of the spirit having rested there on its way to Te Reinga.

Haumu: Ki ētahi whakahua he puke, ki ētahi he one. Kei Te Rerenga-wairua, e whakahuatia ana i roto i ngā kupu mihi ki te tūpāpaku, i ngā tangi apakura hoki (M 2007:18). / Haumu: To some it is a hillock, to others a beach. It is at Te Rerenga-wairua and is mentioned in eulogies to the dead and in laments.
Haere atu, e pā! Haere ki Paerau, takahia atu te one ki Haumu, hoatu ki ērā tini i te pō! (TP 7/1906:9). / Farewell, sir! Go to Paerau, and travel along the beach to Haumu, and go on to the multitude in the world of the dead!

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whakaau

1. (noun) token of the wairua - left at Te Rerenga-wairua as the wairua travels to Te Reinga.

Ka tae mai te wairua o te tangata, ka waiho tana whakaau i Te Ārai, he rae tēnei e kōkiri ana ki te moana whaka-te-hauāuru. Ka haere ka piki i te puke ki Haumu, ko te whakaau mutunga tēnei. Ka kitea i konei, mehemea he kota he pīngao rānei te whakaau nō te taha moana tēnei tangata. Mehemea he rau rākau tana whakaau, nō te ngahere tēnei tangata (TTT 1/7/1922:13). / When the person's spirit arrives it leaves its token at Te Ārai, a headland jutting out into the sea to the west. It goes on and climbs the hill at Haumu, where the final token is left. When these are seen here, if the token is a shell or a piece of pīngao, this person is from a coastal place. If its token is tree leaves, then this person is from the forest.

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Manawatāwhi

1. (location) Three Kings Islands - a group of 13 uninhabited islands about 55 kilometres northwest of Cape Reinga. Strictly speaking the largest island is Manawatāwhi (Great Island), which was inhabited in 1642 when Abel Tasman visited. Other smaller islands are known as Ohau, Moekawa, and Oromaki.

Ioio-whenua

1. (personal name) according to some narratives, he was the eldest son of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku. He was banished to Whiti-reinga by his father because he continually attacked his brothers. Some say that he was a star that took Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno) as his wife. Represents peace and all peaceful conditions and pursuits.

(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)

Ko Ioio-whenua te tama mātāmua a Rangi-nui rāua ko Papa-tū-ā-nuku (HWM n.d.). / Ioio-whenua was the first born son of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku.

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