Evidence of the Gods (5 page)

But Rupe was only able to reach his sister after he had broken through the “protective screen.” After giving birth, Hina asked her brother to fly her back home. But first he was to evacuate the inhabitants of the island. Rupe said that in order to do so he would have to make the flight three times, because there was not enough space on his back. So the islanders seated themselves on Rupe, who flew them far out over the ocean where he tipped them into the water. Finally, he collected Hina and her infant. Flying high up, Hina saw pieces of clothing that had belonged to the islanders floating on the ocean waves and asked her brother Rupe why he had killed the people. He answered, “They wronged you while you were living on their island. They locked you up and no one helped you at the birth. That is why I grew angry and threw them all into the ocean.” A brutal way to teach people to be helpful!

In the mass of literature on ethnology, I keep stumbling upon preconceived doctrines which were set down in these books in the last century or earlier, and which no one dares to challenge. Eyes have become blind, thoughts dull. Science, I read, cannot accept fantastical solutions, because they have no empirical foundation that can be verified. In fact, there are most certainly artifacts which can be verified by looking at them and which support the myths. Outdated views, no doubt espoused 60 years ago by learned scholars, are in my eyes growing more fantastical and incredible by the day, while a contemporary way of looking at things is gaining a solid foundation. Three prerequisites form the basis of all research: freedom of thought, the gift of observation, and a sense of context. I would like to add a fourth one to that: overcoming the spirit of the times.

It is not just in Indonesia that the multi-purpose bird Garuda—the mount of the god Vishnu—haunts the immortal traditions. (
Image 33
) Garuda independently dropped bombs, extinguished conflagrations, flew to the moon, and also transported people—as required. His depictions and reliefs in innumerable temples belong to the empirically verifiable foundation of Garuda research. Why should the same principle not apply to the gods of the South Pacific such as Rupe, Nareau, Tagaloa, Rongomai, or Pourangahua? The latter is part of the Maori legends of New Zealand and belongs as much to the flyers of antiquity as Garuda.

The god Pourangahua flew on a “magic bird” from Hawaiki to New Zealand. Tradition tells about this god Pourangahua: “I come and an unknown earth lies beneath my feet. I come and a new sky revolves above me. I come and the earth is a peaceful resting place for me.”
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The empirical foundation is provided by comparative mythology and the depictions of these gods in wood and stone.