Book Review: The Shark God

The Shark God: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in the South Pacific was written by Charles Montgonery and tells of his journey to Melanesia to learn more about the work of his kupuna Henry Montgomery who was appointed the bishop of Tasmania in 1889. The book intertwines historical accounts with Montgomery's experiences in Melanesia...meeting the tribal leaders, the shamans, and the people of the traditional faith.

In chapter 7: The Word and Its Meaning, Montgomery defines mythology. Here are some cogent comments.

"...the power of a myth always has more to do with its function than its historic origin." p. 97

His definition: "Myth: a story, often involving the expression of supernatural power, that explains its believers' relationship with the world. The definition will not alienate anthropologists, mythologists, or mystics because it omits the question about which men have argued since they first gathered to tell stories around campfires: Which myths are historically true?" p. 98

Sigmund Freud's Take- "Freud gave myths hell. He insisted they were 'public dreams'--collective expressions of obsessional neuroses. Psychic baggage." p. 98

Carl Jung's Take - "He argued that myths represented the wisdom the human species had gathered over the millenia. They contained essential truths that the 'collective unconscious' had carried for generations and that science should never be allowed to displace. ...Some of these truths were straightforward...(some were) a description of the geography of the human heart. It is a place of innocence that lies within all of us, a place we cannot return to because we have tasted the knowledge of good and evil." p. 99

Montgomery continues..."...regardless of their histories, they (myths) have been kept alive in stories in order to perform certain mythic functions. They represent ideals. They inspire. They offer their believers clues about the nature of the universe." p. 99

"but these theories mortally wound myths because even as they value them, they defang them with deconstruction. A myth without believers is a fairy tale. It is a fantasy, fiction, stripped of sacredness. It is mere entertainment. It is a loss, perhaps, of something unfathomable." p. 100

In conclusion to this discussion, Montgomery states
"...As soon as you stand apart from myths, divorce them from faith, pick apart their function and their origins, you become like an anthropologist.... You may be fascinated and amused but you will never see a ghost, or magic, or the hand of God, because you have stepped outside the realm of faith. p. 100

"You must make room for mystery beore you can reach for it." p. 100


I think this is the best part of the entire book. Generally this book was a soothing balm for my insomniac nights.

Keauhou o Ka Wa Kahiko

Keauhou...the new era, the new current
The site of the meeting of the old ways, the ancient minds
Kaneloa, autumnal equinox marking the sunsets of the depositories of ancestral memories
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

The night is ready to greet you, the quiet, the velvety soft darkness, Wakea
Time is fleeting like the evening winds cascading down from Mauna Kea
While your eyes are black, you see your sun swallowed by the azure seas of Kona
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

Use your escaping ha to comfort your loved ones, your precious essence sacrificed
You yearn to reach upward to the worlds of Ho'ohokukalani
Yet you tend to those who still cling to Papahanaumoku, keeping you earthbound.
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

Absolute balance of day and night, consciousness and another timeless reality
Markers in your life determine your destiny, your kuleana to ho'omau, ho'ea
Mundane details try to keep you grounded, yet unheard pahu drums call you from beyond
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

Too young to be an elder, lower your eyes in deference
Look to the strident voices, the demands of the kupuna..e maka'ala
Listen as though your life depended on it, whispered words linger in the air
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

The sun steps from the cradle of Haleakala to the east
Cryptic messages carried in the folds of the wind, Apa'apa'a, resound in your ears
New life, ka inoa po, emerges from the sacrifice of the ancient ones.
Say your piece, share your wisdom, teach your skills.

MOKUcentrism

Being forn on Maui, my beautiful island
The center of my universe
Surrounded by Kaho'olawe to the left
Molokai to the right
Lanai directly in front of us.
The panorama was of a safe harbor.
I was shocked to learn that demigod Maui lived on Hawai'i
Ka moku o Keawe
My childhood stories pivoted on Maui as a Maui boy
He learned about fire from the alae at Kanaha Pond
He lassoed the sun at Haleakala

What a revelation that Maui, the land of my birth
Is not the center of Hawaiian mythology.

Tanka o Wakea

Sky, earth, distant stars
Love, create, clash, envy, nurture
in Cosmic liaisons

Lau kalo wave their heads in greeting.
Ua wakes old minds in modern bodies