Tag Archives: mo’o

Hawaii does it best with Mo’o

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I will admit that my complete knowledge of mermaids before taking this class consisted of Ariel and her underwater fish friends; I don’t even know what the true plot is. But using this, my understanding of mermaids has mainly been that they are all just pretty girls with nice hair who want to know what it’s like to be human. Contrary to this previous belief, it has come to me that mermaids/merpeople are historically considered extremely vain, evil, and vicious by many. In the Penguin Book of Mermaids, these beliefs are further elaborated, as it is stated that the framework of the belief in merpeople is “strongly patriarchal, and in some, it is also heavily Christianized, so that the (water) serpent is reduced to a demonic symbol of evil” (xix). The consideration of merpeople or even just ocean hybrid creatures being evil further pushed through the use of the siren luring traveling men in to torture or kill them. As this evil is the traditional thought within many European spaces, it is common for the stories of the merpeople to either get lost or not ever be created at all as no one cares to consider the stories of evil/monstrous beings. Although these common beliefs tend to paint a horrific picture in peoples minds, an aquatic Hawaiin water character by the name of Mo’o may help repair the disdain people harbor towards hybrid ocean beings.

The Mo’o is a reptilian water deity in Hawaiian mythology, commonly depicted through encounters with human men. While this is still a patriarchal creation of ideas, it is a much more positive one. It is more positive in the way that it completely counters the common notion of “sirens and mermaids being notorious for their seductive songs that drive sailors mad with longing”, but instead “mo’o are renowned for their loveliness” (xix). So, as these creatures are revered as being lovely and free from domestication, the underlying sense of misogyny in other stories is completely absent in tales of mo’o. Europeans even adopted tales of mo’o filled with lessons of self-control, respect, and divinity. Stories of mo’o are not used to scare audiences, but instead are used to make them aware of supernatural beauty and feminine powers, making it known that these creatures are not ones than can be nor should ever be captured/domesticated. I feel hybrid water beings are made much more approachable through the sharing of mo’o as there isn’t the inherited sense of fear or danger present with many stories of evil mermaids/sirens. So far, the introduction to the Penguin Book of Mermaids has me hooked, and already thinking of the infinite new ways to think about these intricate hybrid beings of water. I can’t wait!

Mermaids and Mo’o

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In an introduction to The Penguin Book of Mermaids Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown define monsters etymologically as “That which reveals, that which warns”. Going on to say that “Biform are signs, then, that often serve as admonition for humans not to cross borders and incitement to do so.” (xii) This definition reveals our classroom perception of mermaids represented on maps. Easy to perceive as a place to stay away from, or a place to colonize, to humanize.

In their collection of mermaid mythology our authors notice that duplicity and demonization are most prevalent in European societies and reflect an anthropocentric worldview. Furthermore, these tales exhibit a society’s relationship with water.

As it does between nations, races, and religions, always being depicted as the other, as the permeating being, inherently demonizes. Concealing a merperson’s environment strips the capability of sympathy and relatability of their circumstance, “the experience is conveyed as a disappearance form the human world—the only proper social world—into an abyss that is not described. This silence in the narrative furthers the perception of the captivating mermaid as monstrous.” (xix) Not only are these European tales monsterizing the mermaids but they are monstering the ocean itself.

In contrast, Hawaiian myths of the mo’o “renowned for their loveliness” offer a reflection of a society with an animistic world view. “there are no tales of men who try to tame their mo’o partners, because the mo’o, like the features of water they embody, cannot be contained or domesticated.” (xx) Hawaiian water deities display a respect for the ocean and for “nonhuman life”.

A European, monstrously depicted mermaid reveals a fear of the other as well as a fear of the ocean. And what lies beneath the ocean, a fear of the unknown. On the other hand, a respect towards water deities, like mo’o, embodies respect towards the ocean and therefore respect for life itself, no matter the form.