Mountains don’t need healing

The Herald reports:

A person has died on Mount Ruapehu.

Local iwi have placed a rāhui over the Tūroa ski area. …

“The rāhui acknowledges the sacredness of our maunga, the sacredness of the loss of life and acknowledges the family’s loss.”

The rāhui meant operations on the ski area would be paused to allow for a “quiet time” to heal the mountain.

“This is done to uplift the spirit of the deceased and restore the elements to make it safe for visitors to return,” the statement said.

Mountains don’t have spirit. They don’t have feelings. They don’t get sad when someone dies on them., Mountains are made of rock and soil. The rocks are mainly silicon and oxygen.

I wouldn’t have a problem with a place being closed because of mourning the loss of life. That is not superstition. But to give credence to claims that rocks need time to heal because someone died on them is just more mixing science and mythology.

I love mythology. I love reading about and studying the Greek Gods, the Roman Gods, the Norse Gods and the Maori Gods. They all have a wonderful place to play in culture. But they have no place to play in science or law.

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