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Many eons ago, before time itself, long before life began to form or continents arose, earth was but a blue planet. No land, no life, only water. A vast desert of the deepest blue. Until one day the unbroken surface of the water was pierced and three islands emerged. Little dots in the middle of nothing. Three humps that mark the beginning of a beautiful journey called life.

 

Tied to these islands a spirit energy came to light connecting the water and land in a symbiotic bond. This energy was called Chi. Mother of all, a superior being now vibrating within the deepest core of planet earth.

 

Her essence was so powerful and as life on earth grew Chi grew into seven entities that are known as Mahina, Lani, Lanuola, Ikenga, Mami Water, Tane and Tausa Afia.

 

1.Mahina, the first to be created would guide and watch over the moon. Portrayed as a beautiful woman wearing a crown that reflected the light of night and day in all its beautiful spectrum like a rainbow in the sky.

The spirit of the moon would ensure the division of day and night, providing sunlight during the day and the gaze of the moon during the night. As time passed we find her in all cultures, with different names and different appearance, but if you look closely, it would still be Mahina as our caymanian ancestors knew her.

 

Before Chi formed land, the sky and the ocean would exist as one. With the islands emerging, 2.Lani gave the sky purpose. In order to create life, the water and the sky had to be seperated. Seasons emerged and made way for a diversity of life.

3.Mami Water was a water spirit, guiding and aiding life underwater and controlling the oceans' movement. She would raise new land, redirect the ocean into rivers and make way for trees and flowers to grow. To this day Mami Water is still worshipped in many caribbean islands and west africa where she has a major cult following as Spirit of the Seas.

Never far from Mami Water; 4.Tane would follow in her path spreading the seed of life. As Mami Water would bring the essence of life into the lands Tane would bring the seed. Wherever they went wild forests would grow, healthy ecosystems would emerge out of the vast dry soil and beautiful grassland with wild flowers, fruit trees and herbs turned earth into a likeness of the garden Eden.

5.Lanuola would journey endlessly around the world and whenever she touched water, life would emerge from her footsteps. As she wandered among her creation she would ensure equity and give out punishment to offenders and thereby set an example for others to work in a just and loving path. Respecting life as her creation.

6.Ikenga is the third avatar of Chi. He is the provider of strength and self discipline. Long before the existence of man, Ikenga was the paramount protector of the world. When humanity was created he provided man with the knowledge on how to plant and harvest, hunt and protect themselves and led the way for society to grow into divergent cultures that live in symbiosis with the land.

As humanity conquered the world, they forgot about their ancient spirits and to this day, the only tribe keeping his memory alive are the Papatuanuku. Here, Ikenga is found in many homes in the form of a horned figure holding a sword, a hoe and the tools of crafmanship representing power and honor.

With the appearance of wildlife and humanity 7.Tausa Afia guided all beings and gave them instinct and freedom of thought but also the ability differ between right and wrong. He taught the rabbit to run and the fox to lay still and followed Lanuolas idea of equity and fairness. He was closely bonded to Ikenga but to this day not much is known about Tausa Afia. The only few traces left of his existence are found in ancient Samoan culture and heritage.

 

Together these Spirits or Duppies, as we know them now, are the protector of the realm. Together they are Nature, the Chi itself and keeping their balance is of upmost importance for the survival of this planet.

 

As the world expanded and mankind ventured out to explore and conquer, these Duppies were taken into various culture's and their stories were some way or another modified as they were passed down throughout the lifespan of many. The stories we hear now have changed significantly so what we hear today is only a fraction of their unique origin story.

 

Throughout millenniums humanity has disturbed this fragile balance over and over again. War and death changed the energy in the land and evil spirits arose from the grounds roaming the surface of the earth spreading fear.