Mani's beliefs in Natural Phenomena

Mani's beliefs in Natural Phenomena

In Mani belief, Wan Auck is full of colonies of bees ruled by the goddess who used her bees' wax to construct her throne.

·         In a distant land, named Wan Auck, there lives the Mani moon goddess, Yah Ngoh, wife of Wan (the sun).

o   She has given birth to the first pair of human beings, to animals and to plants. The first human and animal couple is called the "Original Father and Mother".

·         There is also a river in Wan Auck with a never-ending flow of water, the origin of all waterways.

·         Yah Ngoh also has a favorite animal, resembling an enormous snake with a green back and a red stomach, Hung (the rainbow).

o   Yah Ngoh is overflowing with mercy towards all the creatures on earth, whether they be animals, human beings or plants, because these creatures all are descendants of the Original Father and Mother created by her.

o   Every night, without exception, she notices the whereabouts of all earthly creatures.

Story 1
 “Where do they go after Death?"

                After death, everyone has to return to Wan Auck to find the Original Father and Mother. This belief has prevented the Mani from burying their dead. People buried cannot return to the Original Father and Mother, while cremating them allows them to do so. If a dead person has left no bones he or she has returned to Yah Ngoh. On the other hand, people who have suffered a "real death" and have left their bones behind will become evil spirits, residing among trees and making living people sick. Because of this belief, the Mani tells their descendants before their death "if I die, bury me not"

Story 2
 "How does the Waxing and Waning Moon come about?"

After the Mani goddess Yah Ngoh had given birth to the father and mother of every creature, she still had worries about the happiness on earth of her children. Thus, every night, Yah Ngoh observes human beings, animals and plants on earth everywhere. The full moon we see is the Mani Goddess looking straight at us. After looking at us, she gradually turns towards other directions as we see when the moon becomes a crescent. The new moon is when Yah Ngoh turns her back towards us and looks in the opposite direction. She then turns slowly towards us again and so the cycle goes on

Story 3
"Where does the Rainbow come from?"

Yah Ngoh's favorite animal is Hung, the rainbow. It resembles a snake, has a green back and a red stomach and it is very big indeed. No one has ever seen its face. Yah Ngoh has given Hung the responsibility of helping her bees find their food and so it gathers the bees and takes them to the forest in search of food, especially during rains. Hung itself feeds on water. Since there is not enough water for it in Wan Auck, it finds its food also in dark caves, too. The Hung we see in stripes in the sky is only the part that is towards its tail end.

Story 4
 "How do Day and Night come about?"

Hung, the Mani Goddess's favorite animal, shows strange behavior: every day it must slowly swallow its tail and then gradually spit it out again before once more swallowing it - forever. As Hung swallows its tail, the whole of the sky and earth darkens, but as it slowly spits it out again, daylight starts. When it has spit out the whole tail, it is dawn. Starting at noon, it gradually swallows its tail, bringing on darkness. This is how day and night come to be

Story 5
"How are Rain and Thunder caused?"

In Wan Auck, beside the bee-wax throne of the Yah Ngoh is a river with water flowing forever. When the wind blows hard, the river will burst its banks or boil up, causing it to strike against the waxy throne from where it thunderously splashes across the country as rain (reported by Mr. Sung: BE 2534 / AD 1991).

Story 6 
 "Why do the Mani have Black Skins and Curly Hair?"

Once, in ancient time, there was a fire that spread and made people and animals to flee for their lives. Those who did not flee were consumed by it. Of those who could save their lives, some were scorched but did not die. They fled into the forest together with many animals such a langurs, chamois, deers and many others. Humans and animals alike were scorched and have been of a dark colour every since. The fire not only caused the Mani to have a dark skin but it also caused their hair to be curly

Story 7
"Why do certain Plants have Leaves shaped like Human Fingers?"

In the old days there was a group of Mani who were very selfish. They did not share their food with others and just took the food found by other Mani by force and ate it all, leaving nothing or very little. This caused hardship for the people in general. When the Mani of the selfish group died, they were reincarnated as plants with leaves shaped like human fingers. These plants include poh (kapoh), peng, kanamsua and chid, all of which used to be Mani persons
 These stories were taken about the Mani were taken from  http://web.archive.org/web/20130520173144/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter36/text36.htm
I did not want to change any of the meaning behind the stories.