Michael Cremo - Human Devolution - A Vedic Alternative To Darwin's Theory

Some of the akuaku were inimical to humans, functioning as demons. A legendary man named Raraku killed thirty of these demons long ago, but some survived and continued to trouble the people (Métraux

1940, p. 317). Occasionally, a demon would help a human. Métraux (1940, p. 317) says: “Paepae-a-Tari-vera (Stone-house-of-Tari-vera) saved a famous warrior ( matatoa ), whose soul ( kuhane ) was kidnapped by another spirit.”

Easter Islanders worshiped the akuaku by offering them portions of food cooked in their houses. Sometimes the akuaku appeared to favored persons and spoke with them. In these communications, some times they revealed the future and other secret things. Métraux (1940, p. 317) says, “I was told by Viriamo’s son that in her youth Viriamo had been seen at night speaking familiarly with the two spirits, Tare and Rapahango. The voices of these spirits were always high-pitched and recognizable.”

The rain god was Hiro. In times of drought, the people would ask the king for help. The king would then send a priest ( ariki-paka ) to conduct a ceremony and make prayers to Hiro. The king of Easter Island was called ariki man . This divine chief traced his lineage to the gods Tangaroa and Rongo (Métraux 1940, p. 330). The king possessed supernatural power ( mana ). The concept of mana is found throughout Polynesia. In his publication Polynesian Religion (1927) , E. S. Craighill Handy says: “ mana was thought to come into individuals or objects only through the medium of gods or spirits. . . . The primal mana was not merely power or energy, but procreative power, derived from an ultimate source and diffused, transmitted, and manifested throughout the universe. This was the original mana which was believed to be continuously passed down through the gods, the mana atua ” (Lessa and Vogt 1965, p. 258). A Maori teacher explained to Handy that the mana atua were “godlike powers” that originally came “from Io, the Supreme God” (Lessa and Vogt 1965, p. 258).

Cosmology of the Black Carib People of Central america

The cosmology of the Black Carib people of Central American countries such as Belize (formerly British Honduras) is a mixture of Christian, African, and Caribbean elements. Most Black Caribs believe that God’s throne in heaven occupies the central position in the universe. Over the throne of God the Father is the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints stand at God’s right hand, and to his left stand the angels and a group of beings called blessed souls, or gubida (Coelho

1955, p. 235).

Outside the gates of the heavenly realm of God lies Sairi, the paradisiacal realm of pagan spirits, apparently of African origin. Below Sairi are roads leading to earth. Below the earth is Hell, the residence of Satan, who like God, has assistants sitting to his right and left. Coelho (1955, p. 235) says: “On earth, places such as cemeteries, crossroads, clearings within forests, the bottom of the seas, and the tops of mountains and hills, are considered to be the abode of ‘pagan’ spirits, while churches and sanctuaries constitute the strongholds of heavenly forces, especially the centers of pilgrimage, Suyapa in Honduras, and Kaquipulas in Guatemala.” The “masters of the land,” called labureme ubau, were the gods worshipped by the vanished Indian civilizations of old and they are now thought to be “wild,” completely outside the control of the current spiritual hierarchy (Coelho 1955, p. 237).

The universe itself is a cosmic battleground, in which several (i.e., more than two) parties of combatants are constantly fighting. But the makeup of each group changes, because of shifting alliances (Coelho

1955, pp. 235, 237). In other words, there is not a fixed duality of good and evil forces. Saints, angels, and spirits have a considerable degree of independence, and don’t always use it in harmony with God’s own will. In the Carib cosmology, saints are given control of the universe on their name day. But people are often afraid of this. For example St. Francis of Gordon is feared because he loves storms and might take advantage of his day of control to cause floods (Coelho 1955, p. 237).

The independence manifested by the Carib saints, angels, and spirits has a parallel in Vedic cosmology. Vedic demigods sometimes oppose the Supreme Lord, Krishna, when he enters this world as an avatar. Once Krishna arranged for the residents of the village of Vrindavan to stop their sacrifices to Indra, the god of heaven who controls the rain. In retaliation, Indra poured incessant rain on Vrindavan. Krishna protected the inhabitants by raising with his hand a hill called Govardhan, employing it like a huge umbrella. Seeing his attempt to drown the residents thwarted, Indra came to his senses and returned to his normal position of worshipful subordination to Krishna ( Shrimad Bhagavatam 10.24–25).

The gubida, who live in Sairi, are souls of persons who formerly lived on earth. Valentine (1993, p. 12) says, “The word Gubida means dead.” Sometimes called “the Carib angels,” they are officially under the command of the traditional Christian angels, like St. Gabriel and St. Michael, but they sometimes act indepedently for the welfare of Carib people with whom they had family connections during their lives on earth (Coelho 1955, p. 237). Such interactions between the gubida and their living descendants are not always favorable. According to Staiano (1986, p.

125), the gubida return to earth fifteen or twenty years after their deaths, demanding favors from their descendants. If their demands are not met, or they feel offended, they may cause illness or allow an illness to take place (Staiano 1986, p. 125).

Following Catholic teaching, Caribs believe that departed souls must spend some time in purgatory before going to the final spiritual destination, God’s paradise in heaven. Purgatory is sometimes identified with Sairi.A soul who is remembered by relatives with masses and ceremonies spends only a short time in purgatory. A soul who dies without relatives to offer such help must spend a long time in purgatory. Such souls are called lonely souls ( animas solas ). Sometimes, someone who is not a relative of a lonely soul will conduct a ceremony that helps the soul get deliverance from purgatory. In such cases, that soul will then act for the benefit of the person who gave it assistance (Coelho 1955, p. 237).

Pagan spirits, called hiuruha , live permanently in Sairi, as opposed to other souls who pass through on their way to heaven. The hiuruha are technically subordinate to the higher angels but, like the gubida , display some independence. Sometimes they help fortunetellers and soothsayers to understand the future and hidden things. They also help healers cure diseases brought on by spirits. Traditional healers are mostly female, and are called buyai (Foster 1986, p. 17). A woman becomes a buyai by virtue of being possessed by hiuruha, or spirit helpers. According to Foster (1986, p. 17), hiuruha are “the spirits of mediums of the past.” Generally, a medium will have a principal hiuruha . Foster (1986, pp. 17–18) states: “The medium’s possession by spirit helpers enables her to differentiate between illnesses of natural origin ( lisandi ubau, ‘sickness of the world’) and those caused by the malevolence of ancestral spirits. In fact it is believed to be the spirit helpers themselves who, in their petulant voices, communicate diagnoses to the afflicted in a séance ( arairaguni, ‘descension of the spirits’) held either in the cult houses ( dabuyaba ) or in a domestic house.” As mentioned previously, illnesses are sometimes caused by gubida , departed ancestors. Healers will therefore conduct curing rituals to placate the gubida. During these rituals the gubida responsible for the illness are summoned by the buyai to a cult house, where they make their presence known by possessing one or more of the participants (Foster 1986, pp. 41–44).