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RE: Havey’s Australia & New Zealand Adventure Part 20 – Franz Josef Glacier, South Island NZ
Quite a story about Hine Hukatere and Wawe. I always try to imagine what a person who originates one of these tales was like, and why they made up the story. Some visitors say they hear her voice, and they say it's bone-chilling.
I dislike the cold very, very much. I'm uncomfortable when it's 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so a glacier won't be one of my travel destinations, lol. Awesome pics though! Really weird about how the blue is reflected because it's the only color the ice can't absorb.
I think it would be very difficult to imagine who or what the first tribes people were like as the more you discover about the Maori, and indeed the Aborigines, the more spiritual it gets and that's where your own imagination takes you places. The stories and legends are quite different to how we have been brought up in the Western world.
You must live in a desert or something haha! The cool temperature was only really noticeable when you were at the top and standing still with the wind blowing in your face. If you have a thermal underlayer, it was fine. Mind I'm from the UK so the climate is pretty similar vs NZ.
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I find the proliferation of mythological characters in ancient times to be one of the strangest of all human oddities throughout human existence. It's as though one individual in each primitive culture worldwide felt obligated somehow, to devise an enforceable and forcibly "accepted" rationale that attributed forces of nature to human-like gods, goddesses and a variety of other characters.
Each character has a unique story of course, and is followed up with mandatory sacrifices and offerings for good measure. (Goodies for the myth's originator and his minions).
The creation of mythological entities happened similarly all over the primitive world. Quite odd when they had no means to communicate with other cultures doing basically the same thing.
Myth creation just seems to me, to be something we humans were, and are, compelled to do. When we drill down to the core, it had to begin with a story that just one of the humans concocted.
There were, and are, severe penalties for not accepting myths. How else can one maintain control?
What was the motivation? The control of other humans? Why do some humans crave power to force others to do their bidding? It certainly seems the act of controlling people is likely the most prominent legacy of ancient mythology; arguably the fore-bearer of our religious institutions today.
This hasn't gone unnoticed by all historians. Beginning at some point, it's clear that at least one human has always held the power over others - power that was charged in the first place by a myth that one single human started.
I think that's human nature isn't it though? Lead or be lead? In this world you have people with a natural incline to lead people and those who like to follow. However, there are always bad eggs and if the leader you choose to follow is a bad egg then the smell would get pretty rotten (i.e. using what you described as "divide and conquer" or using fear to control the people you want to control). @wales wrote a fine blog recently about evil in this world that you might want to check out here if you haven't already.
Humans love stories though, it's how we learn and get educated, feel like we're connected to one another of similar interests so it's no wonder that stories, whatever they're telling, have been around for as long as we've been able to communicate.
Please note, I'm not a historian but I've read a few books on social science and persuasion tactics which are pretty fascinating indeed but they all come around to this same idea of "selling a story".
That's my theory anyway of my observations of this world so far. I could be wrong of course :)