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R. Gard
fisherman in the myth literally opens himself up to nature in a conflation of interior
and exterior, man and animal, terrestrial and aquatic. Through human–environment
interdependence and interaction, all life on the planet is integrated. This is also what
Bernard Narokobi speaks of in What is Religious Experience for a Melanesian?
when he states one’s “encounter with the Spirit, the law, economics, politics, and
life’s own total whole… [is the] Melanesian’s vision of cosmos, and its relationship with it” (Narokobi 1977: 8). From this perspective life is understood to be all
encompassing, transcendental, sacred. In this spiritual world, “[l]ife is consecrated
towards upholding that religious order… within the world of spirits” (Ole 1990:
36). It follows, then, that life emerges from a divine source and thus it is only right
that human endeavours be centred on a spiritual path embedded within a religious
framework. One might imagine that this path is circular and that life both emerges
from the divine and submerges within the divine over the course of an individual’s
lifetime.
From this Melanesian spiritual and religious framework it is life itself, and
through life, that all things are connected; such that to separate a human life from
its surrounding environment results in a false dichotomy. Consider that for many
Melanesians, “[i]f we lose our land, for example, we lose our place in creation. If
we find ourselves alienated, or exiled, from our land, we find ourselves at odds with
ourselves and all creation” (Ole 1990: 36). This is a view of the natural world that
contrasts with the Western scientific view of the natural world that can be rationalized and comprehended without reference to spiritual forces that cannot be observed
directly.
Drawing upon my own experiences of living and working in the Pacific and my
recent fieldwork in Hawai‘i, Fiji, Vanuatu and Aotearoa New Zealand (Gard 2015–
2017, np), I found the spiritual reality to be far more complex than one might initially
think. Though the trope of rupture is embedded in Christianity in such elements as
conversion or the second coming of Christ, rupture is too simple a way of describing
the complex synthesis of spiritual beliefs that arise in many Pacific populations
following contact with Christian missionaries from the seventeenth Century onwards.
Scholars describe this complex synthesis as a mixing of various Christian beliefs
and aspects of traditional Oceanian animistic beliefs. For example, this complex
synthesis can take the form of continued belief in indigenous deities and spiritual
entities (Meyer 1999), such as in Hawai‘i where many who consider themselves
Christian also believe in Pele, the goddess of fire, volcanoes and the creator of the
Hawaiian Islands. In fact, when I was preparing to leave Hawai‘i several colleagues
and friends encouraged me to make an offering to “Madame Pele” or Ka wahine
‘ai honua (“The earth-eating woman”) to make sure I was “right” with her before
my departure from the islands, as this was deemed sound advice and would ensure
safe travels. My colleagues and friends did not find this suggestion, nor belief in
Pele, to be in conflict with their Christian faith or religious practices, as “Tutu Pele”
(“Grandma Pele”) is a part of everyday life and coexists within the same worldview
as the Divine Godhead or Trinity in Christianity.
R. Gard
fisherman in the myth literally opens himself up to nature in a conflation of interior
and exterior, man and animal, terrestrial and aquatic. Through human–environment
interdependence and interaction, all life on the planet is integrated. This is also what
Bernard Narokobi speaks of in What is Religious Experience for a Melanesian?
when he states one’s “encounter with the Spirit, the law, economics, politics, and
life’s own total whole… [is the] Melanesian’s vision of cosmos, and its relationship with it” (Narokobi 1977: 8). From this perspective life is understood to be all
encompassing, transcendental, sacred. In this spiritual world, “[l]ife is consecrated
towards upholding that religious order… within the world of spirits” (Ole 1990:
36). It follows, then, that life emerges from a divine source and thus it is only right
that human endeavours be centred on a spiritual path embedded within a religious
framework. One might imagine that this path is circular and that life both emerges
from the divine and submerges within the divine over the course of an individual’s
lifetime.
From this Melanesian spiritual and religious framework it is life itself, and
through life, that all things are connected; such that to separate a human life from
its surrounding environment results in a false dichotomy. Consider that for many
Melanesians, “[i]f we lose our land, for example, we lose our place in creation. If
we find ourselves alienated, or exiled, from our land, we find ourselves at odds with
ourselves and all creation” (Ole 1990: 36). This is a view of the natural world that
contrasts with the Western scientific view of the natural world that can be rationalized and comprehended without reference to spiritual forces that cannot be observed
directly.
Drawing upon my own experiences of living and working in the Pacific and my
recent fieldwork in Hawai‘i, Fiji, Vanuatu and Aotearoa New Zealand (Gard 2015–
2017, np), I found the spiritual reality to be far more complex than one might initially
think. Though the trope of rupture is embedded in Christianity in such elements as
conversion or the second coming of Christ, rupture is too simple a way of describing
the complex synthesis of spiritual beliefs that arise in many Pacific populations
following contact with Christian missionaries from the seventeenth Century onwards.
Scholars describe this complex synthesis as a mixing of various Christian beliefs
and aspects of traditional Oceanian animistic beliefs. For example, this complex
synthesis can take the form of continued belief in indigenous deities and spiritual
entities (Meyer 1999), such as in Hawai‘i where many who consider themselves
Christian also believe in Pele, the goddess of fire, volcanoes and the creator of the
Hawaiian Islands. In fact, when I was preparing to leave Hawai‘i several colleagues
and friends encouraged me to make an offering to “Madame Pele” or Ka wahine
‘ai honua (“The earth-eating woman”) to make sure I was “right” with her before
my departure from the islands, as this was deemed sound advice and would ensure
safe travels. My colleagues and friends did not find this suggestion, nor belief in
Pele, to be in conflict with their Christian faith or religious practices, as “Tutu Pele”
(“Grandma Pele”) is a part of everyday life and coexists within the same worldview
as the Divine Godhead or Trinity in Christianity.