438: 438-Maui: Whatever Happened to the Man Who Snared the Sun?

Myths and Legends - Jason Weiser, Carissa Weiser, Nextpod

This episode explores Maui's legendary journey after his final feat—lifting the sky—revealing his eventual demise and lasting impact on Polynesian mythology. The story blends myth, reflection, and cultural commentary thr

Key takeaways

• Maui’s greatest act was lifting the sky, symbolizing defiance against oppression

Transcript preview

Quick disclaimer toward the end of today's episode there's a bit of iffy content. I would say it's very adult in nature I do something a little different and give a warning before it at about the 40 minute mark but there are many more details in the post on myth podcast.com this week on myths and legends we're back in the story of Maui from Polynesian folklore we'll see that if you want endless grief and haters just spending your life helping everyone out and that if you're thinking to fight death and give humans immortality, you might want to practice imitating a hairless dog. On the creatures of the week, we have the two foot tall sneaky Hawaiian creatures who will shoot you in the heart, with love, but only if you're a jerk. This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly popular tales you might think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen. The last time we did a Maui story was December 2020, episode 208. The six year wait was not intentional, but I feel like I did need to grow as a writer to be able to tell the story we're going to tell today. If you don't know Maui, he's a demi, a, a didn't make it. He was born prematurely, but he was raised by his grandfather, the god of the sea. He reunited with his parents and his four other brothers, all also named Maui, and, since he was premature and cast out, decided that he would help the little guy, us. In previous episodes, we told stories of how he slowed down the sun, fished up islands, gave humanity fire, got married, and killed tuna, a giant eel. But a strange thing, the intervening years. Maui is gone. No one has seen a new feat or heard a new story of him in what feels like a lifetime. A gathering has been called for that very reason on a far island at the edge of the world. the island because he had been there for years. He dressed up in his finest shreds of coverings for the ships on the horizon saying that for years, decades he had been stuck there trying to get anyone to pass by and now it seemed the whole world was coming to him. The Hawaiians, despite having the farthest to go, were the first to arrive and offer the man some food, though he provided for them even more generously from his bounty, coconut crab, octopus shellfish, of every variety actually. He even managed to cultivate a little farm racing the variety of pig that appeared native to the island. Except for the whole being stuck there for the rest of his life, it was pretty nice. Ships from the Samoans, Maori, Tongans, Tahitians, and others showed up soon after that. They all had been led to this place by different signs and wonders. Fish traveling different currents than they usually did. Birds they had never seen before arriving on their islands. A bonehook washing Strange Wins led some and pulled others to this place. No matter where they started or for what purpose, the Wins drew them here. But what's here, the stranger? The man who had been shipwrecked, asked. No one knew. A funeral, one Maori man spoke up. The cloudless sky and the beautiful beach juxtaposed with his grim tone and downcast face. A funeral, one Maui man spoke up. The cloudless sky and the beautiful beach juxtaposed with his grim tone and downcast face. A funeral for Maui. Many, many years ago, the man army crawled across the field. Looking up ahead, he sighed. Without any trees or plants on the plane, the sky hung low, really low. It had the consistency and hardness of like a new gym mat, at someone said on a concrete floor, you could bump your head against it and be fine, it wouldn't feel good. But unless you wanted major back pain, you couldn't lift it. And even if you managed, it would just drop back down after you inevitably dropped yourself. So people crawled. The forests were manageable. Plants seemed to have a quiet strength that pushed up at the sky, which led to their own leaves flattening out. Valleys were good too, with the mountains holding up the sky at points like a circus tent. If you had to travel between the forests and the valleys though, the sky hung low until it was nearly on your shoulders. The seas too were basically impassable. The people that lived in this world though had been born in this world. They didn't know anything else so the sky slapping their face like taffy if they weren't paying attention between trees was just something that happened. The man said, squeezing under the sky toward the bowing palm trees of the village. annoying as it was. It was his job to go out and gather supplies and he had found a place for himself in this world. Standing up and stretching, he called out to his house to announce his return, but it was empty. Calling out to the other houses, they too, were empty. He emerged into the village to see them gathered around one man. Where did you come from? A woman asked and then took a sip from her gourd. Across the sea? The stranger said, that's nonsense. No one the clouds would smother you," the woman replied. And yet here I am, unsmothered, now please can I have a drink? The woman looked him over, still not offering the gourd. Like you said it's hard to get across the sea. I had to do a lot of pushing up at the sky. Eventually I just got out and swam. My brothers are still out there napping under an especially soft cumulus cloud. But still, the woman didn't offer him any water from the gour. Okay. How about this, the gourd. and I will push the sky higher. After a long silence, the woman nodded. Okay, oh my gosh, thank you, the man said. Swipe the gourd and guzzled the liquid within. Wiping his mouth, the man pointed, it looked like some of those storm clouds over there were getting a little heavy. The trees were bowing, he'd start there. The man walked over to the edge of the tree line and lay down. As he prop his legs up and flexed, a number of people in the village thought the village thought that the clouds must have cleared, was After counting down, the man kicked upward with a grunt and stood. Stood in a place where humans or anything else for that matter had never been able to stand before. The man stretched, hey all right this was pretty nice. Looking up he saw the sky was staying where he kicked it. Hmm, this actually gave him an idea. The group that followed him to the foot of the mountain whispered on the way and the man who had been crawling across the fields earlier that day, couldn't help but follow and listen. People wondered who the stranger was. Wait, could it be? Maui? Where are you going to throw it? The man asked. The one they thought it could be Maui. Turn to him. Up there? You're going to throw the sky to the top of the mountain? The man asked with a laugh. Do you have any idea how ridiculous it would be to throw the sky that far? Well, I'm already throwing the sky, so you should probably recalibrate what's normal for you now he said but yeah he was gonna make that man eat those words the only thing I'm gonna be eating is victory pie the man called out with a laugh despite that not remotely being a thing except for maybe a like a South Korean snack cake that pops up on Google for me people were less surprised but more awestruck if that made sense that this man the one that everyone now knew to be Maui himself was able to throw the sky up to the top of the mountains now everyone walk everywhere without the knee to crouch or crawl. But as Maui looked up and saw that he could do even better than that, there were detractors or detractor. You can't do it. The man who'd been crawling through the fields earlier, our point of view character, told Maui. Maui turned around, is that he wasn't capable of doing it or a, the man wouldn't allow him to do it? I mean, pick one, the man put his hands on his shoulders. Yeah, both, Maui replied, and my response to both is, Watch me. Honestly, I don't know what you're going on about. This is only good for you. The man pointed, no, it's not, because you're an agitator. This is how the world has always been. Yeah, and how it's always been is bad. To have the sky hang down and brush your head, like the interior fabric of the roof of a car from the 90s is bad. Just because something is a certain way doesn't mean it has to, or should stay that way that way that way that way that way. way. For instance, islands. You have them now thanks to a fishing trip I took with my bros. You're welcome. Maui said and looked directly at the camera and winked. Who are you winking at? The detractor asked. Now he told him nobody don't worry about it. But he was going to get to throwing the sky up to where the sky belonged up there somewhere. He asked for the people to excuse him. Even for a deme god who took the form of a bird, a trip up a forested mountain, a tropical climate is a difficult one. So it was a little while until the speck of Maui appeared at the top. The form grabbed the sky that still touched the mountains peak, and the whole of it rippled, far out over the sea with each of Maui's movements. The sequence of events was expected now. Maui laid down on his back, got his feet underneath the sky, took a few quick, sharp breaths and pushed. Maui would return, years later. before his final voyage, and told the man as much. But the detractor was right, or he would have been right. The pushing of the sky was his greatest task to date. As he was doing it, he didn't know if he could. But then he looked down the mountain, to the man, to the detractor, standing with his arms crossed and a pleased look on his face. If Maui was teetering on the edge of success and failure, pure uncut spite, gave him the strength he needed to throw the sky up to where we have it today, where it has remained ever since Maui climbed the mountain and put it there for us. Streaming with sweat, Maui descended the mountain to the adoration of the village and the shouts of the detractor. Maui had changed the natural order of things. This would bring destruction. Maui, still exhausted, turned and pointed. Drawing his fish hook from seemingly nowhere. The bone flashed, in the sunlight. All right? The man never wanted anything to change. Cool. Maui would make it so that the man never changed. At all. Ever. The man bolted. He thought that they were participating in a marketplace of ideas but no. This rogue demi-god was threatening him with violence just because the man criticized everything Maui did every step of the way while Maui did all the work. While he didn't actually make any arguments but just he'd on abuse. Some people just couldn't the intellectual debate. If the man the detractor didn't know any better, he could swear that Maui was purposefully staying just a few steps behind him, to keep him scared. He didn't know any better, but it wasn't to keep him scared. That was just a fringe benefit. It was to find the perfect spot. Maui might be mercurial and maybe a little vindictive, but he wasn't evil. When the man was sprinting across the most beautiful section of the beach, almost moved to tears by a breathtaking sunset he could appreciate now that Maui had moved the sky, he felt the tap of Maui's fish hook on his back. And then he stopped. Forever. The man found that he couldn't move. He tried to make his feet go, but while there were no more feet. There were no more anything. No legs, no hands, no head, being able to see, though with no idea how, he just knew. that he was a big black rock that now sat on the edge of the beach. Maui gave him a satisfied hmm and the man will call him rocky now saw his family jogging up behind Maui. Where is he? the girl his daughter looked around as the man's wife found them now he pointed at the black boulder is is he dead? the man's wife asked now he turned to her shocked and a little offended dead no of course not he's just a rock can we talk to him the woman asked as the elder child a son found them oh of course he can hear you he doesn't need to eat sleep or move he can't talk back though now he said seemingly bracing for