{"id":445,"date":"2023-03-09T12:34:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T10:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mythsandfolklore\/?p=445"},"modified":"2022-10-17T12:47:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T10:47:07","slug":"mermaids-in-polynesian-myths-legends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mythsandfolklore\/2023\/03\/mermaids-in-polynesian-myths-legends\/","title":{"rendered":"Mermaids in Polynesian Myths & Legends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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World of the Islanders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u00b4s dive into the mermaid myths of Polynesian islands. It is easy to imagine the southern seas being filled with exotic mermaids and sea creatures. Polynesian islands cover many languages and cultures and myths from different islands are intertwined in various ways to each other because many of the islanders were sailors. These Polynesian legends that I am sharing mainly come from Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019o<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Hawaii, Mo\u2019o is an umbrella term to describe all sorts of water spirits. Mermaids in Hawaiian mythology are sea goddesses and sea gods. They were humanoid hybrids between humans and fishes, serpents, eels, octopuses or even crocodiles. Mo\u2019o\u2019s could be extremely tiny creatures or they could be gigantic. It was believed that Mo\u2019o\u2019s originally developed from gecko lizards to human women and then to sea goddesses. Mo\u2019o lived in both salt and fresh waters. In lagoons, ponds, rivers, lakes and in the ocean. There is a Hawaiian expression that in each woman there lives a little Mo\u2019o inside them.<\/p>\n

The Siren<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u200bStories about the dangers of the mo\u2019o\u2019s were not too different compared to any other mermaid myths from different parts of the world. It was believed that mo\u2019o\u2019s were especially dangerous to men who were too weak to resist their feminine powers. Mo\u2019o\u00b4s would seduce them and then drown them. According to Hawaiian folklore after a person passed away they could return back to this world and transform themself into a mo\u2019o.<\/p>\n