The legend of the creation

This is one of a number of legends which Claire uses in the course of her work. There are several themes in the creation story that can be related to a career context – the need for sacrifices (the parting of the parents) to achieve gain, the importance of teamwork and involving others to achieve your goals and the critical importance of leadership and decision-making skills. Encountering barriers and conflict, and developing solutions to overcome those barriers, is a frequent challenge we face in achieving our goals.

Before there was light there was darkness. Still and quiet it lay; a huge void; a vast nothing filled with the potential of all there was to be.

And the great void was profound, a limitless night. And deep in the blackness of that long night rested the creative thought, reaching away into forever, creating the earth and the sky.

Ranginui, the Sky Father, held Papatūānuku, the Earth Mother, in a close embrace. And there they lay, deep in the darkness of that long, black night.

Many children were born to them. The children lay cramped between their mother and father, deep in the blackness, longing for the freedom to move.

Tangaroa, the restless, the discontented, Tangaroa, god of the oceans to be, murmured in the darkness. “Let us part our parents.”

There was a long silence. Then, with one voice, all but one brother whispered, “Ae, let us part them.”

It was Tāwhirimatea who did not speak. Tāwhirimatea, the passionate, the caring, Tāwhirimatea, god of the winds to be. Then he said quietly, “They are our parents. They gave us life. Leave them as they are. Let them be.”

“And what kind of life is that for us,” argued Tangaroa, “with no space to stretch our limbs, no space to explore the unknown? Again I say, let us part them!”

The brothers quarelled. Bitterly they quarelled. Alone in his view, Tāwhirimatea was defeated. It was decided that Tangaroa should be the first to try and separate Ranginui and Papatūānuku.

Impatiently he rose up. He heaved, he pushed, he shoved... and his parents clung tightly to one another, for great was their love. Finally, exhausted, Tangaroa sat down in the darkness.

Tānemahuta, god of the forests to be, spoke next. “Let me try,” he said.

He lay with his shoulders pressed on his mother, and placed his feet on his father. He pushed, he pressed, he heaved and he struggled... and in the great darkness his parents lay, still bound together.

Tānemahuta the relentless, the tireless, kept pushing. He strained with every ounce of his being. “I can do it. I can do it... I will do it!” he thought to himself. And slowly, very slowly, Ranginui was parted from Papatūānuku. Tane kept pushing until his father was way up high.

Ranginui wept as he looked down upon his beloved wife far below him. His tears formed the rivers, lakes and oceans. And Papatūānuku grieved for her exiled husband. The early morning mists are her silent tears.

This article appears in our career industry magazine, Career Edge - August 2006.