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| The tapu and blessings. | |
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| Topic Started: 23 Feb 2014, 01:07 PM (123 Views) | |
| Sandy | 23 Feb 2014, 01:07 PM Post #1 |
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Just in case you're not sure on pronunciation, this is pronounced as 'taa poo'.. Anyway, the tapu is used to bless land usually, a cemetery or urupa is blessed before it's used as a cemetery, the idea of it is so the dead can rest in peace, I guess in a way it's similar to a normal cemetery, a priest will bless a churches cemetery, but the elders and such bless the urupa or cemetery.. Quite often a tapu will be put on some land if one or more people have died violently there, then once they've found out how the people died, and they've been buried the tapu will be lifted by the same elders that put it there.. The idea of putting a tapu on land if someone died there is so others will stay off that area of land, and to protect the spirits of the dead until after their funeral and after others have found out how they died.. I guess it's kind of like protecting the dead, and honouring them.. Once the tapu is lifted from an area where someone died, people can go back on the land, but while the tapu is in place most Iwi ask that no one goes on the area out of respect for the dead.. The only exception to the above is going onto an urupa, which is also sacred land, but there is usually a few rituals involved when you leave an urupa such as washing shoes or feet, and washing hands, the idea of this is to leave anything that was in the urupa there and not take it out to other parts of the marae or further, which may bring bad luck to everyone... |
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| funnysis | 6 Jul 2016, 12:25 AM Post #2 |
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I am not sure that we have anything like that here but will see if I can find out it seems like a good thing to do. |
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| Sandy | 6 Jul 2016, 03:37 AM Post #3 |
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It's done here to give the dead a safe place to rest, keep any evil out just like our cemetaries are on consecrated land... |
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2:03 PM Jul 11
