Faamatai: Traditional Religious System

It in addition alms to define and project ghostlike connections amidst the Mat ashes and the tabulate (Indigenous pietism). decease hardly non least, it besides tensenesses on how the for flavorlession changed after Christianity arrived. M some(prenominal) state define the stipulation snarl in different representations. For example, Via and closed chain define entangle as a member of the nun ( resolution) and a loss leader of an algae potato ( wide family) with a colonial ne 2rk of f both(a) (diffuse ethnic connections. P eachs offers some other(prenominal) deflation which states that drag in evolves from two words flatness (eye or check intoing) and l (to struggleds or at).When two words ar put together, It creates a traditional definition, the act of fancying towards or at some unity or something. In other words, a mo nononic is the look of the family. He or she is the role feigning of the family. Family members look up to him or her as a pie-eyed l eader and legal decision maker. To infer the textile of the snap frame, wizness essentialiness first look backward the Samoan culture characteristics. The Samoan get a line their culture as the Fashion agency of breeding according to impost.P e re whollyy last(predicate)s described the line Fashion as rearring to the past slipway of life Inherited from the radicals. The rod FAA office in the compositionner of, so the Samoan do it blend in with trusted words in wander to pipeline the different shipway of doing things. Traditionally, on that point atomic number 18 no laws in the context of the Samoan culture. However, Samoan tidy sum respected the decisions do by their own sluggishness. To further netherstand the Samoan way of life, ane must understand the colonisation organise In the Samoan culture.The (nun) colonization Infra gram tousleical construction Is made up of all extended females and relatives who concern In that accompaniment colony. Th ey are exclusive heirs and descendents of the compressed much(prenominal) as father, mother, buddy sister and etc In the alga, all tush be related whether by soulal line of credit as trace fit to a viridity ancestor, finished marriage ties or stock- up to now adopted connections. At the organise of for each one alga was a mire. He was the one who held the family title until it was passed on by woof rather than by inheritance. The first comprise in becoming a mat was to serve as a tattletales (untitled man).A tattletales Is specify as an untitled man who serves his mat with honor and diligently. Being In this mastermind aim requires a lot of patience and caring. each tattletales has one goal in life which was taut (serve) as further excuseed by Applied as follows A effectuate mat a Samoa faithful muumuu maim lava downwind(prenominal) tag as taut Elli I lee(prenominal)(prenominal)ward mat male alga ma lee nun. O taut a lee tunas e mama maim AI fumigants sees. A iii SE e via Oho I lee tutelage pull, all e taut, AAU o lee ala I lee pull o lee taut. When a head word was chosen, a individual who served the chief, family and village swell up Is virtually likely the primary he must first serve because the cartroad to leading is service) When a mat was sought, each alga would agree on a chance and accordingly all would decide on one who would be worthy to watch over to the title. Once receiving the title of mat, he is responsible for the leadership of the whole family. In the raw o lee nun (council of chief), the mat was the one who represented the whole family.The confidence of the mat was freely expressed by him in all divisions, but burn uply of the time he is free in so far as what he does was for the good of the family. In this respectful way, it could be seen, that the role of the mat was not solely authoritative, but it was likewise one of serving. It was whence seen that all behavior was conditioned by the loyalty and d evotion not just of the mat but the whole family. It was the disdain of ones family which seemed to be the basis of the Samoan culture. This has been an initiating broker by which law and order was kept.In the Fashion, the extended family is the basic component of the village. Like I mentioned earlier, the village infrastructure is made up of all extended families which headed by a senior chief. With verboten the extended families and their chiefs, thither would be no council of chiefs in the traditional village structure. The village itself became a itemor in guardianship the fuddled bond at bottom the familiarity. Socially, each village was embraced by a common pupilages (traditional greeting of mat titles in seniority).Mauve tell that a pupilages is a rotational formula which contained all the dignity accorded to the village e superfluously to the principle chiefs, stating their analogyship to the broader purplish lineages of Samoa. In the olden times, Samoan lived in a hierarchical nightspot. In all levels of its semi semipolitical structure including the mat system, it was so agnise for it to be seen. Through all these levels, in that location was one of unifying soak up at work in the guardianship of law and order much(prenominal) as loyalty and devotion, organism soften of the family, and villages and districts connecting to the purple line.Politically, with the hierarchical structure of society, it could be seen that the quaint matinee idols were in any case structured in such a way. It was the courtship that authority was delegated from the acme to the bottom. If on that point was a need to lead out a proposal or any radical reports, it was first to be ap proved by the laid-backer(prenominal) authorities. liberty had to be sought from the chiefs. Although these different levels good-tempered existed in the Samoan society, but there was ease the awareness of the necessity to de ratify together as a collective unity in order to survive.The socio-political structure of the mat system was look atd to buzz off great magnificence. Many entrustd the importance again lies inside the mind that it was probably within such a companionable structure and that the structuring and the pinch of the paragons had originated. jibe to Mauve, he stated In Samoan society, there were As such as the As Militate, As Loyola or As Amiga. The As gives the core of macrocosm in truth high in gross within the Samoan society. The full nub of this word would not be expressed if all the word healthy was used.The meaning of the word was not only honorable but took up other meanings such as sacredness and holiness in the pursue of been higher above all others in society. In this sense, As would really refer to the Alai(high or paramount chief). An Alai(high chief) was considered as the head of the village and its council of chiefs. Telltale (high talking chief) were orators and they stave on the behalf of the Alai. jibe to Applied, mat were unceasingly the ruling military units in the society. Their authority is still strong today.Their authority was to be chiefs were, it was unendingly to be carried out by the magma(group of tattletales or untitled men). What tramp be verbalise at this point is that in the morphological crop up of the Samoan society, there is a gain distinction amidst the higher and glower classes. The structure of the society and the distinctions could have been the basis of the religious structuring and thought of the ancient idols. In fact, the Samoan endemic religion also had a structure where there was the recognition of higher theologys and lower gods.In such a structure, there were responsibilities and functions performed by the gods that coincided with the responsibilities set out in the social life of the mickle. If the high chiefs were seen to rule and provide permission, then the higher gods were seen to posses more than power. The highe r gods would then be sought for the granting of the things that the society wanted. In this section, I leave do-nothing focus on the religious connection betwixt the Mat system and a more detailed study of the traditional religious beliefs and other cultural practices.I strongly look at that much of these beliefs and practices had great modify on the way Samoan had endureed Christianity. beforehand Europeans had ever set foot on the islands, Samoan had their own beliefs of deities confided to be divine. jibe to Melissa, he stated Samoan religion as it generally understood refers to a system of beliefs, the ceremonial and tall activities that are associated with it, and the worship of a eldritch being or beings. In addition, Samoan had no national religion. This was a time of myths and what has a good deal been referred to as a time of superstitious beliefs.It was at this early stage that these myths and the floor of Samoa were preserved in memories and through spontan eous traditions. According to traditional beliefs, every man-to-man had his own tutu(guardian spirit). It was the case that the families had little gods and villages had their own local deities. These deities such as fire, rain, agriculture and etc Were insider sacred and classic to the Samoan. In the next couple of paragraphs, I will briefly explain the religious connections of the mat system and the native religion through some a(prenominal) traditional beliefs such as the Toga myths, man, spirits, and other mixed gods.One of the near best-selling(predicate) beliefs in Samoan society was the toxicologic macrocosm myth. In the alga, the head of the family is considered as the mat which was closely similar to the toxicologic and his rule. According to one myth, it stated that toxicologic existed as the main source in space and created the heavens. He was also cognize as the superior being or leader. I study these creation stories had influenced umpteen traditional terra firma views of the Samoan and its mat system. In fact, the mentality about Toga creating Samoa still exists.The variety of these creation stories has led to the idea that traditional beliefs had been elaborately connected in Samoa. In this case, the Samoan culture was produced in distinction of ranks and indigenous religion enforces it by giving the high ranks a special place in it. As also stated by Isaiah The Samoan be system and cultural structure appears deceptively simple on the surface at first glance, but a deeper look into it vales a very competitive, complicated and firm system. The religious beliefs of the mountain played a very all- classic(prenominal) part in society.As I mentioned earlier, the Titus (guardian spirit) had influenced many another(prenominal) Samoan greatly especially the mat. The tutu is sometimes considered as a god of an individual. In virtually cases, mat are considered as the god of their own family. They believe the spirit of an ancestor is li nks the mat system to the indigenous religion is the concept of man (invisible alert force) which responsible for all the startling occurrences and effects beyond the human mind. In the Samoan culture, if a mat was able to obliterate another mat at war, then he was said to have feature more quantities of man than the man he defeated.This concept was unendingly associated within the mat system. The traditional belief of man(power) that a mat had to protect the family physically and his ability to planning materially had been a strong arriere pensee for becoming a leader. Man, however was also know in the primitive world as the abundant special supernatural forces that could present in a man. In Samoan society, man was that force behind anything which was impossible for man to do. In this case, Samoan believe man and gaga(spirits) have strong relations.It can be noted that for a man or mat to mystify man, it would be possessed through party favour of the gods or the passing o f it to him by another man who had it before him. Many scholars cut this concept as a way for the gods to communicate their will to the people. Many believe that Samoan were also affiliated to polytheistic beliefs. Applied stated that the life of the people depended greatly on the gods in which they consented as having strong powers over them. It was the gods that they would always call upon in times of difficulties. both(prenominal) of these various gods such as Laminas, Lethally, and Fee were believed to garter many people avoid vomit upness, war and death. Laminas was defined as the child of the moon. This crabby god was identified with the moon. In worshipping this god, there was much feasting and prayers. The head of the family or mat would pray that the god would financial aid their family to prevent disease and death from first appearance their home. In other cases, such as war, this god was also asked to help that particular family or chief. It has been noted that this god was one of the inferior gods in the traditional beliefs of theSamoan society. other particular god which many believe to be one of the well cognize house- hold gods was Lethally. This god was cognize to be embodied in the form of the centipede. In worshipping this god, people would often seek it in a tree that was usually near the house. If a someone within the family was very cast off, this god was called upon as to determine whether this person would die or become well again. In this particular belief, the mat would halt a mat outside and depend the coming of this god. The mat would be under close observation.If the god did come, and was seen to eave crawled under the mat, this meant that the sick person would die. If the god came and crawled on the mat, this meant that sick persons health would be restored. One of the or so famous gods which was also well known to the Samoan people was the Fee (octopus). This god was often worshipped as the warriors god. It was b elieved that this god had its resting place on the island of Western Samoa. According to Melissa, it showed that before any war, the chiefs would seek this god and receive his signaliseings.In receiving the blessing of this god, there was the vicissitude of position among the warriors. As a matter of fact, the main point behind all these traditional beliefs is that these gods really had much affect on the lives of the people. Not only the gods helped wartime or other ceremonial events. This proved to me that many of these gods were considered as important factors behind keeping the law and order in the Samoan society and also the mat system. Samoan also had strong affection towards many cultural practices such as the outage, VA communion, biogas, sofas and etcIn the next part of the research, I will explain the relationship of the mat system and each cultural practice that Samoan hared and believed in since ancient times. Earlier, I mentioned that the framework of the Samoan soc iety was revolved close to the mat. These mat were responsible for all lands and matters pertaining to the alga. They also served as main decision makers for the alga or village. They also had man(power) that could cause any injury to anyone in society. In this matter, the power of the chiefs and traditional beliefs of the gods was believed to bring law and order in unity.It also brought strong ties and cultural connection between the gods and chiefs. One of the intimately important cultural practices that Samoan dealt with was known s outage (oath). According to Mauve, outage is one of the scariest and most sacred practices that chief ever pull together in the olden time. In this practice, the accuse offender goes before the village councils and admits his guilt. This was where the hero-worship of the gods came in to help solve a problem within society. This method was stringently practiced and enforced by the chiefs.According to the practice, if a crime was committed and the person who committed the crime was not known, all the villagers would be gathered by the chiefs of the village. Each person was asked to sake the outage(oath) and swear by the trope of their own family god or village god. The chiefs then asked the curse words of the gods to be on that person if he was the one. It was often the case that the curse would include ones family member to become very ill if the person lied. It was the fear of these curses by the chiefs that would lead the guilty person to confess. In fact, many believe these cultural practices scarcely failed.The reason for this is because the guilty individual really feared the possibility of offending the gods and he could not at any time via media the reputation of the await to which he belonged. some other important cultural practice that Samoan still carried on today was the VA eucharist. VA ceremony is a traditional ceremony in which formal speeches are present among the chiefs. This ceremony usually held durin g the welcoming of the amalgam(traveled group). The religious part of this ceremony is when a chief relate his VA cup. Before each chief jam his cup, a portion of the VA was poured out of the cup.This was considered as an fling to the gods. It was also a sign of respect to acknowledge the help of the gods in bringing the Amalgam to their destination. To clearly explain the meaning of it, Tubule stated The spilling of a a few(prenominal) drops of VA on the floor before insobriety would seem to have the same entailment as do many of the ceremonies in/the various religions of the world incense fervent sprinkling of holy water offering libations of wine and the offering of sacrifices varying from overreach notes to lizards eggs all are offered with the idea of placating or seeking the assistance of some divinity.We are apt, perhaps, to view the custom of the Samoan as being just the prostration of the intellect at the thresh-hold of the unknown, but re not all sacrifices by whomsoever offered, Just this. Mauve also stated that among the chiefs. For example, a chief would say o lee VA linen o lee VA o taut, la mania lee auto ambulant It means this VA, it is for the gods, bless our gathering. In all, I bring out that most of these traditional practices shared an important relationship between religion and social life of the Samoan people.It was so clear that Samoan had to live in a society where religion was seen as an important aspect in the culture. It was also clear that many of these cultural beliefs and traditional practices were considered as a set stage for Christianity. In this stage, it pointed out two important let out fragments that summarized the whole relationship between the mat systems and indigenous religion. One separate element was the recognition of one great god above all gods, which was Toxicological.It was this god that was so superior and was given such high respect. This reveals that even though Samoan were viewed as polyth eists, there was still the recognition of one god, Toga. Secondly, Fear for the gods and spirits was another key element in the Samoan indigenous religion. This element explains the fact that gods could bring fortuity to the people o matter what the case is. It can be said that the people in fearing had imagine the awful punishments that could take place because of disobeying the chiefs and the gods.With all the tradition beliefs and cultural practices that Samoan shared in their society, I can now have a clear mind of what the early missionaries had walked into. Last but not least, this section focuses on the unused changes of the mat system when Christianity arrived in Samoa. During my research, I found many ways of how the traditional and cultural beliefs were adapted to accept and embed Christianity without losing its value. I also found out how the mat system was tardily led to the process of accepting the new religion.There are many reasons why Christianity was considerabl y accepted in Samoan society. Some of those reasons can be willingly pertinacious while other reasons are more difficult to discover. To look deeply in those reasons, I trace it back to the importance and significance of the cultural and traditional beliefs that I mentioned earlier in the research. A fact that is now to be noted is that many of these beliefs and practices are still kept by the people. Though there have been many changes that have taken place, the practices of the past can till be noticed in the present.In the mat system or political structure of Samoa, mat were always nous the families or villages. Within any villages, there was an Alai (high chief) that holds a higher rank. The fact is that there is only one Alai for a village and his authority becomes highly respected and recognized. According to Applied,Alai would hold the authority to express what to do and forbid the things that should not be done. This political structure is very similar to those that Chris tianity shared.This was one of the few reasons why Samoan soft accepted the Christian god because of the thermolabile of owing respect and obedience to anything that the chief ordered. Another reason that linked the mat system to the new religion was the creation myth of Toxicological. During ancient times, Toga was referred as the shaper of the heaven and earth. I personally believe that the knowledge of these myths created a clear path for Samoan to easily accept the new Christian God. It seems that what the new religion was teaching to the people was nothing new.Same goes to the concept of man and spirits. I also mentioned earlier that Chiefs were also believed and strength. Chief also held the roles of expressing the will of the gods. In this concept, it has a very strong relation to the new religion. Christianity believed missionaries were looked upon as priests receiving power from God to preach out the new religion. For what has already been mentioned, I can now see a stro ng relationship between the traditional beliefs in the mat system and Christianity. Today, mat system played an important part in the new religion.In the pre- Christianity era, chiefs were believed to have powers that can meditate with the ancient gods. When missionaries arrived, they anticipate new roles. They became deacons in the church. It was so diaphanous that many of these traditional practices and beliefs have helped greatly in accepting and understanding Christianity. I believe the Samoan society was always flexible ever since the start of their civilization. With this flexibility, Christianity was able to integrate with the traditional Samoan beliefs.As a result, it seems the new religion had to be taken up and practiced as if it was actually part of the ancient Samoan society. In conclusion, I believe the structural set up of the mat system served as a basis for the continuing strength of the Fashion (Samoan way). The continuing strength f the Fashion was to a great p eriod due to fact that an authority did not come to bear all the tip of the emotional, political, social and religious attachment to the people to their culture.The culture and the religious beliefs had helped making the people remain Samoan. I also believe the mat system had a strong relation and religious connection to the ancient indigenous religion. After gathering all the necessary information and specific evidence, it proved me that the mat system not only had similarities with Christianity, it was very easy for the people to accept the new religion into their indigenous society.