The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-09-03
MAGIC Or TIE hI|A.lJ. !.
Strange Powers Exercised by the
Tribal Priests.
DAZED AN ENGLISH BISHOP
Result of an Attempt to Convert To.
hoto to Christianity - Singular and
Pathetic End of the Last of the Old
Heather Tohungas.


Pathetic End of the Last of the OLE
Heather Tohungas.
What in the past has been termed
magic presents itself now to the sci
entific mind as an imperfect use OF
forces the full knowledge of which we
have yet to acquire. The Maori priest
of old, or tohunga, as he was called
was master of many powers which
can now be explained by hypnotism
although his methods of pretending to
procure messages from the gods were
doubtless due to craft. Ventrilouuism
also was practiced by the priests, par
ticularly when communication was de
sired with deceased relative. There
remains, however, a mass of evidence
proving that these men possessed pow
ers which can only be explained, says
correspondent of the Pail Mall Ca
zette, by processes into which we are
only now beginning to have any in
sight
Many white men are familiar with
servances of the Maori priests, but of
the inner meaning and origin of their
ritual we know nothing. In the teach
Ing handed down to those chosen
among their direct descendants under
circumstances of great secrecy the
pupil was put to several tests in order
to prove his proficiency.
H.
hard, smooth and round stone and.
repeating a karakia, or incarnation
called a hoa, to shatter the stone into
fragments, and that only by the mental
operation of willing, without any phys
ical effort. To all the priests opera
lions the karakia was necessary adj
junct. 1t supplied to the Polynesian
mind an outward sign connecting cause
and effect The old time Maori be-
lieved, indeed, that the karakia, the
form of words used, wrought the de-
sired effect, and the efficacy of this in
cantation depended on the absolute
fidelity with which the formula was
pronounced.
If the pupil was successful in the
stone test he was next made to try his
powers on some animate object, such
as a flying bird, the process being the
same as before. According to the
Maoris, the bird was always killed if
the pupil was proficient Or he might
hoa fleeing enemy and cause him
to be seized with all those agonies of
retardation which we are all familiar
with when suffering from nightmare.
Then came the final test, the pupil
being ordered to exercise the power
of willing to death some near relative
of his own in order to show that In
the exercise of his powers he could
rise superior to the feelings Of natural
affection. This was the dread makuku.
and it is well known that If q Maori
believed he was thus bewitched he
was sure to die. Here we see the eff
feet of hypnotism and suggestion con-
veyed by telepathy. Sometimes a
priest who considered himself deeply
affronted has been known to will to
death whole family for the act of
one individual, and all, even the babe
at the breast, have wilted away.
The tohunga was even credited with |
the power of influencing the dead. The |
present writer was a witness of the |
following incident: A branch of the
Arawas, the tribe of the district of |
Rotorua, being at war, had suffered |
defeat, and one of their braves had |
been brought home dead. The van
pushed sought at once to find out by
some omen connected with the dead
chief whether they would be success
full in their next encounter.
The tohunga was requested to pro-
cure the desired omen, the people
squatting in a ring about the bier.
few PAGES from the dead
body, the priest began to recite a pow
srful incarnation, intent on making
he deceased give some sign, the eyes
If all present being fixed on the slain
warrior. Presently the corpse was OBJ
Ierved to move slightly to one side, on
which a great cry Of Joy rose from
he people. The movement was inter-
,reted as a sign Of future victory.
This feat was often performed by the
of olden times.
Tohoto was the last of the old tohun-
.as. The number Of his years could
lardly be guessed It He vas ALMOST