Papua New Guinea Spirit Mythology

Aromo-rubi

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

In the beliefs of the Kiwai Papuans, the sky is not empty. High above the earth live the Aromo-rubi, strange anthropomorphic beings with small bodies and great, powerful limbs. No other spirits dwell in the sky with them; the heights belong to the Aromo-rubi alone.

From their place above the world, they throw down long ropes. When they descend along these ropes and climb back up again, flashes of lightning tear across the sky. Their movement between sky and earth splits the darkness with sudden fire.

Thunder is made in another way. The Aromo-rubi roll massive tree trunks across the heavens. As the wood grinds and crashes through the sky, the sound echoes across the land as thunder, shaking forests and villages below.

Through these acts, the Aromo-rubi command the storm. Lightning and thunder are not signs of distant forces, but the visible and audible traces of their work in the sky.

Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Aromo-rubi. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/aromo-rubi/

Begeredubu

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

Begeredubu is the mythical being of Waboda, a figure who is both man and spirit. He first appears in stories set in another place, but during a great flood he was carried away by a powerful torrent and brought to Waboda, where he remained.

At first, Begeredubu lived inside a large tree called gagoro. The tree was closely bound to his existence, and in time Begeredubu himself came to be identified with it. When the gagoro tree eventually fell, he built a house for himself and continued to dwell there, maintaining his presence in the area.

Begeredubu is remembered as a powerful and unusual being, marked by physical traits that set him apart from ordinary men. Through his arrival by flood, his dwelling in the gagoro tree, and his continued presence after its fall, he became firmly rooted in the land and memory of Waboda, existing at the boundary between the human world and the realm of spirits.

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

Basai and Kaibani

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Basai, Kaibani
Category: Spirit

The Myth

On Paho Island there is a hollow place beneath the ground that answers when people stamp upon it. The earth itself gives back a deep echo, and for this reason the place is known as Basai’s drum. Nearby lies a stone called Basai’s stone, linked to the beeswax once fixed to drum skins to strengthen and purify their sound.

Some say that Basai is the name of the being who inhabits this place beneath the earth. Others tell that the spirit there is a woman named Kaibani, who lives beneath the stone. In earlier times, Kaibani was said to appear at the stone, seated and patiently working on a belt, her hands moving steadily as she wove.

The place is not only hers. The spirits of the dead pass by it on their journey to Adiri, and as they do, they dance around the stone. They beat Basai’s drum by leaping upon the hollow ground, causing it to resound beneath their feet.

In the past, whenever the Mawata people traveled to Paho Island to gather crabs and fish, they performed ritual dances at this sacred spot. The sound of the drum was taken as an omen. If the echo rang out clear and strong, the people believed their journey would be free of trouble. If the sound was dull or broken, hardship and difficulty were expected.

A verse from an old song preserves the memory of Kaibani and her work:

“Mother of Paho made the belt;
Kaibani’s belt was no good.”

Thus the drum, the stone, and the woman beneath the earth remain bound together—listening, answering, and foretelling the fate of those who pass through the island.

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.