Lightning
Now the boy is reminded that when he was baptised, a bolt of
lightning came from the sky. This thunderbolt was an Apa, a
messenger from Rangi, bestowing on the boy the ability to create a
sacred fire that brings good health. The chief reminds his son of
this by repeating a chant used during the boy's 'tohia' ceremony,
held just after his umbilical cord dropped off.
The chant was also recorded by a witness of the tohia (baptism) of
Karauria, a high chief's first-born son, at Ahuriri in 1846 –
The priestly expert immersed
himself and the infant in the water until the water reached the
neck of the child. He would clasp the infant's body with his left
arm, and then, with his right hand, take up water and sprinkle it
over the child's head... The expert then took the iho from
the father of the child with his right hand and deposited it in
the hole... As he did so he repeated the following:—.
"Tukia i Wharerangi ko te ngaruru mai rangi. Mata tohi kura
apa ihonga." At this juncture the thunder would resound,
without fail (although I did not hear any thunder when Karauria
was baptized!)
A full account of that
'Tohia' ceremony, and all other Maori birth customs, is HERE |