Go to National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
Volume 34, 1901
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Ngau Paepae.

A person falls ill. The priest is sent for. He finds that the illness has been caused by some infringement of tapu. The priest will then proceed to cure the patient by means of the rite known as “Ngau paepae.” He conducts him to

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the village latrine, and says to him, “Bite the paepae” (wooden bar), which the patient does, the priest reciting:—

Ngaua i te pae, ngaua i te wehi
Ngaua i te upoko o te atua
Ngaua i a Rangi e tu nei
Ngaua i a Papa e takoto nei
Whakapa koe ki te ruahine
Kia whakaorangia koe
E tahito nuku, e tahito rangi
E tahito pamamao
Ki Tawhiti i Hawaiki.

The following is another such karakia (charm, spell, incantation, invocation):—

Ka kai koe ki tua
Ka kai koe ki te paepae
E takoto nei
Koia nga tapu, koia nga popoa
Koia nga whare, koia nga urunga
Koia nga tapu nei
He atua kahu koe
Haere i tua, haere i waho
Haere i te rangi nui e tu nei
Mahihi ora
Ki te whaio ao, ki te ao marama
Ko rou ora.

After this rite the patient is noa, or free of the dread tapu, and so recovers.