Masks - Figurines - Reliefs
Ceremonial Stuff and Ritual Masks
Every
year,
rituals
in
honor
of
the
ancient
goods
take
place
on
the
Fiji
Islands.
The
masks
worn
by
the
dancers
are
bird
masks
-
not,
as
psychologists
would
have
you
believe,
because
people
have
always
had
the
desire
to
be
like
birds,
but
simply
because
the
people
of
the
South
Pacific
imitated
their
ancient
gods.
And
in
their
world
of
ideas,
they
could
fly.
Thus
in
the
often
small
museums
in
the
Pacific
region,
we
find
so-called
ritual
clothing,
ritual
masks,
ceremonial
masks,
or
ritual
props,
which
refer
to
ancient
one-man
flying
machines.
Image
35
shows
the
upper
part
of
the
Indonesian
(also
Indian)
god
Garuda.
Here
the
two
vertical
pieces
of
wood
symbolize
the
wings.
The
same
motif
can
be
seen
in
several
manifestations
in
the
Bishop
Museum
in
Honolulu,
Hawaii.
Masks,
which
the
dancers
pull
on
over
their
heads.
The
upper
arms
are
passed
through
the
semi-circles
at
the
bottom,
depicting
the
flapping
of
wings
when
they
are
moved
up
and
down.
Image
38
shows
such
a
wing
mask
in
the
rest
position.
The
arm
and
other
supports,
often
the
whole
corset
itself
into
which
the
dancers
had
to
squeeze
themselves,
have
been
remembered
in
the
folklore
for
thousands
of
years.
Source:
Evidence
of
the
Gods, page 45