Tohunga: The Revival

Part One, Te Wananga o Te Ao Marama, tells of the coming of the world of light. It recounts oral creation traditions from the Io priesthood. In Part Two, Tohungatanga, discusses Maori esoteric knowledge. It explains how the student of tohunga lore was originally introduced to the priesthood via initiation and looks at the tohunga schools of learning. It follows the grade structure of tohunga learning, including traditional methods of communicating with the atua, reading weather signs, reciting chants, understanding the roles of the atua and healing. The last chapters are devoted to the lore of Io-matua-kore, the higher cosmology of the Io religion.