Friday 30 November 2007

New Zealand: The Tiki


This is one of Sue's more peculiar presents from her trip to Middle Earth. He is, apparently, an ancient symbol and a treasured part of New Zealand heritage (like Dame Kiri-te-Kanawa, although you don't get plastic models of her very often).
There are a number of legends about its meaning (no, not Dame Kiri).

Some say he came from the stars and that he was the first man of the world. Some say his webbed feet suggests a strong link to the creatures of the sea. All I know is that he is called The Stig. I mean, the Tiki.

Tiki was respected as the teacher of all things and the wearer of this symbol is therefore seen to possess clarity of thought, loyalty, great inner knowledge and strength of character. The Tiki is regarded as a good luck charm when worn and in some areas is also regarded as a fertility symbol (that I would rather avoid).

The Māori are particularly unhappy, it seems with plastic, mass-production of this ancient and mythical symbol. But who cares, they're on the other side of the world so they can stick their tongues out all they like.

As far as I am concerned he reminds me of the alien foetus from The Erlenmeyer Flask episode of the X-Files (well he did come from another world- which to most Kiwis means Australia).


Oddly, he also has the texture of those horrible Haribo jelly-like sweets which Fuzzy won't let the children eat, despite them being given them all the time at parties, as they contain gelatine so could give them Mad Cow Disease (not that you'd notice). Haribo was a sweet firm founded in Germany in 1920 (it is an acronym for Hans Riegel, Bonn). Of course our jolly German cousins deny that Haribo used forced labour in their factories in the Second World War and instead are slowly destroying the teeth of Europe's children with their gummy confectionery. Makes me glad I'm diabetic.

" Oh my God, Mulder, you went to New Zealand and all you brought me back was this?"

No comments: