Banoi
Banoi OceaniaOne of the names used in the New Hebrides for the land of the dead. In this part of Melanesia it is believed that the spirit of the deceased lingers for several days before leaving the world of the living. Possibly an underwater realm, banoi has all the amenities found above except for gardens, because there is no work. Tradition holds that the ghostly inhabitants segregate themselves according to the mode of death: thus, those who have died of cough keep together.
Banks islanders say that the nether world, which they call panoi, is as near to the earth as death is near to life. Their subterranean land of the dead seems even a beautiful place, where festivals and social activities offer solace to those who ‘have come to stay’. Fainting, or a temporary black-out, was always thought of as a brief visit to panoi. Yet a ghost, tamate, does not appear to have knowledge of distant things like a vui, a spirit or demigod: he is...
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