Goldie. — Maori Medical Lore. 33 



is based on their conception of the human hau. The hau is a 

 vital essence which cannot, like the ivairua, leave its physical 

 basis, the body. Parts, however, may become detached when 

 one walks or sits down, and on this fact is based certain sor- 

 ceries belonging to the category of sympathetic magic. 



This sympathetic magic, which is so commonly practised 

 by the tohunga mdkutu of New Zealand, worked on the supposed 

 vital connection between the object (ohonga) and the subject 

 (human hau). The victim is supposed to be in sympathy with 

 the bait (ohonga), and sickens and dies as it burns, melts, or rots. 

 The first essential, then, in practising this form of makutu is the 

 ohonga or bait, which is the ahua or representation of the hau. 

 The bait, as already stated, must be some object which has 

 touched the person to be bewitched, such as a drop of spittle, 

 some hair, paring of finger-nail, shred of clothing, remnant of 

 food, some earth on which the victim has sat or walked, or even 

 a drop of blood, as in the classic case of Maui. Having obtained 

 the material medium, it is converted into an ohonga, when the 

 appropriate incantation is repeated over it. When this ohonga 

 is obtained the sorcerer ties it to a piece of the karamuramu 

 (shrub used in mystic rites). He then carries it to the sacred 

 grove or village altar and invokes his own or the tribal atua. 

 The cryptic karakia repeated over the bait makes the victim 

 sicken and die. When taking the bait from the person a karakia 

 suited to the occasion must be repeated. The bait, says Best, is. 

 the passive agent ; the incantation which destroys the hau, and 

 through it the physical body, is the active agent. In Melanesia- 

 and some parts of Polynesia, however, it would seem that the 

 bait is an active agent, for as the bait melts or rots or burns so 

 does the victim become feverish or ill. When no incantation is. 

 employed, as in some instances in certain Australian tribes, then 

 the bait becomes the active agent of sympathetic destruction. 



Sympathetic magic was practised by the great Maori gods 

 For instance, Hine-nui-te-po destroyed Maui by this kind of 

 sorcery. The bait used was a drop of Maui's blood. Hine sent 

 in succession the butterfly (kahukura), the mosquito (waeroa), 

 the midge (tuiau), and the sandfly (namu) to secure for her the 

 necessary ohonga, and the last succeeded in obtaining it after the 

 others had failed. 



A favourite bait was saliva, because there was not generally 

 much difficulty in obtaining it. The Urewera, famed all over 

 New Zealand for their skill in mahutu practices, often used 

 spittle as a bait. For this reason, people are careful not to spit 

 when in company with members of this tribe. So great was- 

 the dread of sorcery in the Sandwich Islands that the kings used 

 always to have near them spittoon-bearers, and these people 



3 — Trans. 



