5. Taema and Titi were the names of two household gods in a family at the east end of the group. They were twins, and Siamese. Their bodies were united back to back. They swam from the east, and as they came along the one said to the other: "What a pity it is that we can only hear each other's voice, but cannot see each other's face!" On this they were struck by a wave, which cleaved asunder the joining and separated them. Members of the family going on a journey were supposed to have these gods with them as their guardian angels. Everything double—such as a double yam, two bananas adhering, etc.—was sacred, and not to be used under penalty of death. It was also forbidden for any member of the family to sit back to back, lest it should be considered mockery and insult to the gods, and incur displeasure.
34. Taisumalie—Tide gently rising.
1. This was the name of a lady in Upolu who went away among the gods, was worshipped first by her family, and then by all the people of the land where she resided. She spoke through one of the heads of the family. The bat also was an incarnation, and an unusual number of them came about the temple in time of war. One flying ahead of the troops was always a good omen. If a neighbour killed a bat, it might lead to war to avenge the insult. Another representative of this deity was a shrub (Ascarina lanceolata). The leaf of the ti (Dracaena terminalis) was carried as a banner wherever the troops went. June was the usual month for special worship. All kinds of food from the land and the sea were provided as a feast, but only the one family of the priest was allowed to partake. Whatever was over after the meal was buried at the beach. After that followed club exercise, and in terrible earnest they battered each other's scalps till the blood streamed down and over their faces and bodies; and this as an offering to the deity. Old and young, men, women, and children, all took part in this general mêlée and blood-letting, in the belief that Taisumalie would thereby be all the more pleased with their devotedness, and answer prayer for health, good crops, and success in battle.
2. This was also the name of a war god in Savaii. Incarnate in a man and spoke through him. When the war fleet was about to cross to another island to fight, they went out from the shore half a mile and then returned to a streamlet where they prayed for success, and were sprinkled or purified, and then went off to the fight, free, as they thought, from any delinquency curse which might have been resting upon them.
This deity was also supposed to be incarnate in the sea eel (Muraena). In a village where the first Christian native teachers were located one of them caught an eel and had it cooked. Two lads of the place who were their servants ate a bit at the evening meal. As soon as the people heard that these lads had "eaten the god," they mustered, gave them a beating, and dragged them off to a cooking house. They laid them down in the oven pit, and covered them with leaves as if they had been killed, and were now to be cooked as a peace-offering to avert the wrath of the deity. It was expected that the lads would immediately die, but as nothing amiss happened to them beyond the weals of the rods used by mortals, it was concluded that Taisumalie was a mere sham, and that they had better now turn to the God of heaven.
3. Taisumalie was also the name of a household god, and worshipped among various families in different parts of the group.
(1.) In one place a member of the family was the incarnation, and consulted on everything of importance. Before going to war each one would ask whether he should go, what was to befall him, etc. If wounds or death were predicted, the person would perhaps turn round and beat the priest for giving such a response!
(2.) In another place this god was incarnate in an old man who acted as the doctor of the family. The neighbours also took in their sick to him. His principal remedy was to rub the affected part with oil, and then shout out at the top of his voice five times the word Taisumalie, and five times also call him to come and heal. This being done, the patient was dismissed to wait a recovery. On recovery the family had a feast over it, poured out on the ground a cup of kava to the god, thanked for healing and health, and prayed that he might continue to turn his back towards them for protection, and set his face against all the enemies of the family.
(3.) To another family he was incarnate in the cuttle-fish (Octopus). To another in the mullet. To another in the turtle. If, through a stranger or by any member of the family, an incarnation had been cooked in the family oven, it could not be used again until some one had been laid there as a mock burnt-offering, and gone through the "make-believe" process of cooking. It was death to the family if the oven was used without this ceremony.