Miru (goddess)

Miru is a goddess in the Polynesian mythology of the Cook Islands who lives in Avaiki beneath Mangaia. She feeds the souls of dead people a bowl of live centipedes, causing them to writhe in agony, then encourages them to seek relief by diving into a lake, where they drown and can be cooked and eaten at her leisure.[1] The Tapairu are her daughters, and Tau-Titi is her son.[2]

Miru also features in Maori mythology (New Zealand) as the Goddess of Death.

References
  1. William Wyatt Gill (1876). Myths and Songs from the South Pacific. London: H. S. King & Company. pp. 172–174.
  2. Robert D. Craig. Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology. p. 171.


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