The Wairua Journey
Mythology & Lore
"Where the wind once howled with rage,
it now carries the call of an oath.""I te wā i auē ai te hau i te riri,
nāianei ka kawea e ia te karanga o tētahi oati."
In ancient times, Whenua was protected by the Haukingi, immense eagles known as the Kings of the Sky. They wielded the wind like a blade and ruled the air with pride. When Māui the Giant arrived with his kin to settle the land, the Haukingi saw him as a threat. Conflict erupted. The skies turned into battlegrounds, and storms tore forests apart.
Māui, though mighty, lost his firstborn in the war. Enraged, he struck down the Haukingi one by one—until only one remained. As the final blow neared, the last Haukingi offered something greater than surrender: his essence, his spirit, his Wairua. Touched by shared grief, Māui accepted.
Thus, the first Pact of Invocation was born. The Haukingi became the first Tapu—a great spirit not slain, but remembered and called upon. It is said that from that day on, the Māuikura would be forever able to form bonds with spirits of nature, not as masters, but as partners.
Tenets of Faith
- Nature spirits are alive and sovereign, but may choose to bond with mortals who show respect, sorrow, and shared purpose.
- Tapus are legendary beings—some animal, some elemental, some ancestral—that offer their Wairua to a worthy soul.
- Māui was the First Invoker, not because he stole power, but because he was given it through grief, compassion, and strength.
- Totems are ancestral spirits who once served a mortal family or tribe and became eternal guardians.
- The Sky remembers—wind and storms are seen as the echoes of the ancient war.
Worship
Māuikura believe that each person may one day bond with an Eidolon, though few are worthy. Becoming an Invokā (Invoker) requires years of training, deep connection with one's Wairua, and sometimes a moment of crisis.
Invokers do not summon spirits to fight blindly—they negotiate, sing, and remember them through ritual.
Spiritual Practices Include:- Te Karanga a te Wairua – A ritual chant used to call upon an ancestral or elemental spirit during times of need.
- Waiata o te Haukingi – The Song of the Eagle, sung at funerals, invokes the story of Māui and the last eagle, linking grief with transformation.
- Tatau-a-Karanga – Tattoos gifted to Invokers, stylized after their Eidolon, carved with ceremonial bone tools.
- Te Whakaari o te Rangi – The Sky Rite. A ceremonial reenactment of the ancient battle between the Giants and the Haukingi, held on cliff peaks or sacred mountains.
Granted Divine Powers
Only a few are chosen to form true bonds with Eidolons. These Invokā are the spiritual intermediaries of their people—not priests, but listeners and voices for the unseen.
The ritual of bonding is deeply personal and sometimes traumatic—it often requires the Invokā to relive an ancestral grief or overcome a trial that echoes the pact between Māui and the Haukingi.
Some believe the most powerful Invokers are able to merge with their spirit, gaining traits of their Eidolon (e.g., feathers on the arms, echoing voice, glowing eyes during storm chants).
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