#From these five Myths of Creation: Irokesen-Schöpfungsmythos (Nordamerika) Maori-Kosmogonie (Ozeanien) <-- this one chosen for inspiration! Pangu-Mythos (Asien) Traumzeit (Australien) Book of Genesis (Naher Osten) #################################### [verse1] Rangi the Sky and Papa the Earth lay bound together in endless night. Their many sons were pressed between them, growing in darkness without a light. Tūmatauenga spoke in anger: "Let us strike our parents down!" But Tāne answered soft yet firmly: "No, let the Sky rise high above the ground." [pre chorus] In the narrow dark they whispered low, longing for a world to grow. [chorus : call&response] How shall we live, my brothers? "Not forever in the night!" What shall become of our world? "We must bring forth the light!" Who shall loosen Earth and Heaven? "Who has strength enough for the fight?" [verse2] Rongo first pressed with all his power, yet Rangi and Papa would not divide. Tangaroa strained like the rising ocean, still Earth and Sky lay side by side. Haumia joined with all his force, yet darkness held them tightly bound. Again the sons cried out in sorrow, for still no space or light was found. [chorus : call&response] How shall we live, my brothers? "Not forever in the night!" What shall become of our world? "We must bring forth the light!" Who shall loosen Earth and Heaven? "Who has strength enough for the fight?" [verse3 : builds] Then mighty Tāne laid upon his back, his shoulders pressed to Papa below. Against great Rangi set his feet, and slowly he began to grow. [massive crescendo] He pushed with every living sinew, groaned with all the forest's might. Till cries of grief split Earth and Heaven, and through the wound there poured the light. [instrumental expansion – vast open sky, no vocals, airy harmonic space, rain begins forming in distance] [choral echo enters – distant, fragmented, reactive] [chorus : call&response] What floods the world, my brothers? "The shining of the newborn day!" What fills the eyes of all living things? "The light that drives the dark away!" Who divided Earth and Heaven? "Tāne forced the Sky away!" [verse4 : wide open] High above remained great Rangi, Papa lay weeping far below. Still they longed for one another, though endless space between them grows. The tears of Rangi fall as rainfall, Papa's sighs rise pale as mist. And between the Earth and Heaven all the living world began to exist. [bridge : half spoken] When morning rain falls on the forest, Rangi still mourns for Papa's face. When white mist rises from the valleys, Papa reaches for his lost embrace. [final chorus : call&response] How shall we live, my brothers? "Now beneath the open sky!" What grows between Earth and Heaven? "All living things that breathe and die!" Who brought light unto the world? "Tāne raised the heavens high!" [outro : lament] Thus the forests climbed toward Rangi, while rivers wandered over Earth. And all things living still remember the sorrow woven into birth.
