Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Wutumara
Category: Ghost, Coconut, Plant
The Myth
Wutumara was a woman of great force and determination, a culture heroine whose life became entwined with the world of spirits. She was married to a man who also took a second wife—a ghost from the underworld. This ghost-wife often visited, and each time she came, she drew the husband away from the human world for long stretches of time. Wutumara grew resentful and jealous, angered that her rival’s presence disrupted her household and marriage.
Seeking to resolve this, Wutumara persuaded her husband to bring the ghost-wife permanently into the world of the living, believing that if they all lived together, harmony might be restored. Secretly, however, Wutumara intended to murder the ghost, unaware that spirits cannot be killed in the way humans can.
She attacked her rival and left her body in the jungle. But the ghost was not destroyed. Instead, she returned in vengeance, using powerful magic. She exchanged the genitals of Wutumara and her husband, a transformation meant to humiliate and confuse, and then killed Wutumara. After this, the ghost transformed herself into a pubic hair growing on the husband’s groin, hiding in plain sight.
Eventually, the husband tricked the ghost into revealing herself and managed to destroy her. Yet even this was not the end. Shortly afterward, the ghost reappeared once more, transformed into a coconut palm. To this day, it is said that the face of the angry ghost can still be seen in the coconut, watching from within its shell.
Thus the coconut palm became a lasting reminder of jealousy, rivalry, and the persistence of spirits beyond death—a living monument to Wutumara’s tragic conflict with the unseen world.
Gallery
Sources
Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Coconut Ghost of Wutumara