Page:Maori Religion and Mythology.djvu/122

108 hos panniculos intra juncos parietum abdere; et hâc de causa paries est domûs pars adeo sacra ut nemo illi innixus sedere audeat.

This word generally rendered by 'charm,' does not signify what the word charm would mean, in its popular sense. The word 'invocation' conveys more correctly its meaning; for it is a prayer addressed to spirits of deceased ancestors, in form somewhat like a litany.

one whom the spirit of an ancestor visits, and who is its medium of communication with the living.

a spirit, the author or first teacher of any karakia.

any very sacred ancestral Spirit: also sometimes applied to the female Ariki.

a person who is being instructed by a tohunga, or by the spirit of a parent or ancestor. He had to submit to a strict fast of several days before he was taught any important karakia.

, or the spirit of one who when living was noted for powerful karakia.

a strip of flax leaf or toetoe so placed as to serve as an imaginary pathway for an Atua. In sickness a tiri is suspended above the head of the sick person to facilitate the departure of the Atua who causes the disease. A tiri is also suspended near the kaupapa, when he desires his Atua to visit him. It is also applied to signify the karakia used on such occasions.

a person skilled in karakia, also one skilled in any craft.