Miru
Miru is a goddess in the Polynesian mythology of the Cook Islands who lives in Avaiki beneath Mangaia. She is known to feast on the souls of dead people, sometimes by putting them into a bowl of live centipedes, causing them to writhe in agony. She encourages them to seek relief by diving into a lake, where they drown, so she can cook and eat them.
↻ synthesized from 2 sources
When
- First attested
- 0 CE
- Attested period
- 0 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Attested in Cook Islands and Maori (New Zealand) mythology.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Maru, Haungaroa, Ngātoro-i-rangi, Manaia
Sources
Source passages
“Miru is a goddess in the Polynesian mythology of the Cook Islands who lives in Avaiki beneath Mangaia. She is known to feast on the souls of dead people. One way she eats the souls is by putting them into a bowl of live centipedes, causing them to writhe in agony”
#12867 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“He went with Ihinga and others of his friends to visit the dread Miru in her abode in the underworld. There they were taught incantations, witchcraft, religious songs, dances, and certain games. One of Rongomai's men was caught, and was claimed by Miru in sacrifice”
#31743 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5