Papua New Guinea Mythology

Gabora

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: The Saw-Fish of Madiri
Category: Fish, Sawfish

The Myth

Long ago, in the bushland along the coast of Kiwai, between Iasa and Kubira, there was an open stretch of land that had been cleared in a terrible way. This clearing was made by Gabora, a gigantic saw-fish that lived in a nearby swamp.

One day, a woman was fishing in the swamp using sádi, a poisonous substance placed in the water to stun fish. The poison disturbed Gabora. Driven from the swamp, the monstrous saw-fish surged out onto dry land. As it moved toward the sea, it swept its enormous saw from side to side, cutting down the bush in a single, devastating passage. Trees fell as if sliced by a blade, and the land was left bare. From that day onward, no trees ever grew there again.

Later, the people returned to fish in the same place, again using sádi. Once more, Gabora rose from the water. This time, it swung its terrible weapon across the fishing grounds, killing nearly all the people present. The destruction was so complete that the event was remembered as a warning never to disturb certain waters again.

Gabora is spoken of not only as a fish, but as an obisare, a dangerous and uncanny being whose presence marks places of death and desolation. The empty land it created remains as proof of its passage, and the story endures as a reminder that some waters are guarded by powers that do not forgive intrusion.

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 Gabora

Obouibi

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Obóubi, Obóubi-spirits
Category: Spirit, Dwarf

The Myth

The Obouibi are mysterious beings who belong to the water. They live in the sea and travel far up the rivers, moving freely between saltwater and freshwater. Though they are spirits, they appear largely human in form. Both male and female Obouibi exist, and they resemble ordinary people, except that the females wear skirts made of grass. At times, an Obouibi may be seen swimming like a frog, its short limbs and stout body cutting through the water.

The language spoken by the Obouibi is said to be the same as that of humans, but their voices are feared. Those afflicted with sores or sickness are believed to be under their influence. They are masters of crocodiles and other water animals, and when a crocodile kills someone unexpectedly, people say it is the work of the Obouibi. At night, a strange wailing may be heard from the water—this is said to be their cry.

Some Obouibi live near villages such as Kimusu. They kill and eat dugong, leaving behind piles of bones. Some of these bones are left in the water, some are taken fresh, and others are arranged in circles, much like the way humans arrange the skulls of enemies they have captured. If a canoe is lost at sea, the people believe the occupants have been taken by the Obouibi and will never return. Sometimes, however, a person may escape. It is said that one man passed an Obouibi and was carried alive to their dwelling beneath the sea, where he remained for several days.

There is a story of a handsome Puruma boy who was visited at night by a beautiful Obouibi girl while he slept in his canoe. He married her and kept her hidden from the people. She bore him a child, and for a time lived among humans. But one day, when the husband was absent, she overheard people speaking badly of her. That night, she took her child and returned to the water, vanishing back into her own world.

It is also said that male Obouibi sometimes rise from the sea and take human women with them, carrying them away into the depths.

The Obouibi are known to give medicines and knowledge to certain people through dreams. These gifts are used in harpooning and gardening. Along with other related beings, they are closely associated with dugong hunting. Harpooners appeal to them for success and guidance, and in earlier times offerings of dugong bones were made to gain their favor.

Thus, the Obouibi remain beings of both danger and knowledge—powerful water spirits who can kill, heal, abduct, or instruct, and whose presence is felt wherever rivers meet the sea.

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 Obouibi

Pairio

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Fish, Catfish

The Myth

On the reef of Kubani-kikava there lives a cat-fish called Pairio, feared by all who travel those waters. No canoe dares to pass close to her home, for Pairio destroys vessels by thrusting up her back, which is lined with sharp spines. At times a single spine is seen breaking the surface of the sea ahead of a canoe, a warning that forces the crew to turn away at once. At other times she swims behind a vessel, one spine aimed like a weapon, and the paddlers must flee with all their strength to escape destruction.

Pairio was not always a fish. In the beginning she was a malignant female being, akin to other dangerous spirits of the land. One day she was pursued by a great cloud of butterflies. They swarmed over her and settled upon her body until she was completely covered, their wings beating and clinging so tightly that she could not free herself.

To escape them, Pairio fled into the sea. The butterflies followed and were soaked by the water. Their wings hardened, their bodies changed, and spines rose along their backs. In that moment they were transformed into stone-fish and cat-fish, bright and richly colored, just as the butterflies had been.

Pairio herself remained in the reef, now fully a creature of the sea, armed with spines and power. From that time on, the waters of Kubani-kikava became dangerous to all who ventured too near, and the presence of strange, spined fish in the reef was remembered as the legacy of butterflies that once chased a spirit into the ocean.

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 Pairio

Emobali

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Crocodile, Fish, Shapeshifter

The Myth

Emobali was once a Djibu boy. One day, while hunting, he shot a woman without knowing who she was. When he discovered that he had killed his own mother, grief and terror seized him. Unable to live with what he had done, Emobali went to the Binatui River at Mude and threw himself into the water.

At the place where he entered the river, a deep hollow was formed close to the bank. This deep spot is said to exist because of Emobali’s leap, and it remains as a sign of his death.

Afterward, Emobali became a spirit of the river. In the water, he appears in the form of a crocodile or a fish, moving silently beneath the surface. Yet Emobali does not only haunt the river. He also comes to people in dreams. When Djibu people sleep naked, Emobali may appear to them and instruct them, teaching medicines and giving knowledge useful for hunting and gardening.

In these dreams, he does not appear as an animal, but in his human form, as the boy he once was.

Thus Emobali lives on as a crocodile–fish spirit of the river, born from an act of tragic ignorance, dwelling in water and dreams alike, feared and respected as both a reminder of guilt and a giver of hidden knowledge.

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea; a nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., p. 302.