Saveasi'uleo

Saveasi'uleo is the God of Pulotu, the underworld of spirits or Hades in Samoan mythology.[1]

He is the father of Nafanua the Goddess of War in Samoa. Nafanua's mother is Tilafaiga, the sister of Taema another figure of Samoan mythology.

Saveasi'uleo is sometimes referred to as Elo.

The spirits of gods were able to take the form of animals and human beings[2] and Saveasi'uleo is believed to take the form of an eel or appear as half man and half eel.[3] His ancestors were rocks. One story says that his mother was Taufa and his father, Aloa. His brothers were Salevao and Ulufanuase'ese'e. The brothers agreed that Saveasi'uleo would go and become king in Pulotu.[4] Saveasi'uleo would come up from his kingdom and wander the earth. There are different versions of stories told about him. He is referred to as a god and sometimes as a demon. One day Saveasi'uleo met his twin nieces Tilafaiga and Taema swimming back to Samoa from Fiti where they had learned the art of tattooing. Saveasi'uleo abducted Tilafaiga and she later gave birth to Nafanua, the goddess of war.[5] The story of the sisters bringing a basket of tattoo tools for the pe'a to Samoa is another well known legend.

Pulotu

According to Samoan beliefs, the entrance into the spiritworld Pulotu is at the village of Falealupo, at the western end of the island of Savai'i.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago & Long Before by George Turner, p.123
  2. ↑ http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-GraIntr-c10.html
  3. ↑ , Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol 59, No. 3, 1950, Proverbial expressions of the Samoans by E. Schultz, p. 207-231
  4. ↑ , Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology by Robert D. Craig, p. 243
  5. ↑ , Coming of Age in American anthropology: Margaret Mead and paradise by Malopa'upo Isaia, p. 38
  6. ↑ , Polynesian Reminiscences:or Life in the Pacific Islands by William Thomas Pritchard, p.401
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