The Atua Man: A Novel

A moon rose over the valley, peeking out between the clouds. After two days of intensive work, Jason’s body had been covered in the swirling designs of a tapu man. Jason knew a tapu person was sacred. He held the wisdom of the people and could not be approached. The uniniatiated who ventured into his presence to learn the mystery of life would die. Jason’s body now warned people to stay away. The only ones allowed close were the haka‘iki and the high priest. They would come prostrate, bringing food and tapa, and in return they would hear the will of the gods through Jason’s voice. After the final phase of the ritual Jason would be the atua, god incarnate on Earth.

When the planet Venus reached its summit, the village elders, in their ceremonial dress, formed a circle in the center of the me’ae. Musicians and dancers chanted and performed in front of the sacrificial altar overlooking the sacred valley. Two warriors—temple guards—brought a naked and kava-intoxicated Jason into the middle of the circle. The moment he saw the stone alter he tried to get away. The strong men held him tighter as the haka‘iki, wearing his chiefly regalia, led his naked daughters up to Jason. The haka‘iki tied his oldest daughter’s wrists to Jason’s, while the younger daughter aroused him. Jason resisted, squirming and kicking as much as he could with two huge guys holding him.

“You must,” said the haka‘iki.

The older girl, tied to Jason, kissed him and begged him with her eyes to fulfill her.

The haka‘iki and the elders squeezed in closer, encircling the couple. And the music swelled. When Jason was fully erect, the young girl slipped out of the way and the haka‘iki took hold of Jason’s penis and slipped it into his daughter’s vagina. Once Jason was inside her he couldn’t stop. The girl’s father and the other elders—relatives all—embraced the pair. They needed to experience this union too.

When Jason reached climax, they knew that their princess was impregnated. The elders moved back, and the girl collapsed in ecstasy. Jason was breathing hard, like he had run a race. The guards untied him from the girl and Jason immediately tried to escape. The men had anticipated this and seized Jason, forcing him back into the circle where the younger daughter waited. The Tuhuna O‘ono’s acolytes bound them together and wrapped them in white tapa—their finest native cloth. The attendants of the high priest then carried the couple through a phalanx of warriors, to the stone alter while the dancers and chanters called on the gods to join the ceremony.

As much as he tried, Jason couldn’t move. It took six strong men to lay him and the girl out on the stone and hold them down. The senior acolyte handed the Tuhuna O‘ono the ceremonial knife and the high priest approached the altar. As the Tuhuna O‘ono began the ritual, and the chanting grew quiet and reverent, a white bird flew into the temple and landed on the Tiki of Atanua, the wife of the Creator and the progenitor of the people. Immediately the Tuhuna O‘ono fell to his knees. He raised his arms and the warriors unwrapped the couple. The girl ran to her sister. She had been saved by a sign from the gods. But Jason was forced back down and pinned to the stone by the temple guards. He was on his back and his heart beat rapidly, uncontrolled.

The Tuhuna O‘ono raised his ceremonial knife again, and this time made a shallow cut from Jason’s neck to his navel. He waited for the blood red line to grow. Panic rushed into Jason’s mind as the pain pushed into his brain. Yet something kept thundering from the fringes of his mind, oneness, oneness, oneness! He had experienced oneness with the Creator, that which never changes, that which always exists as the individual expression of the Divine. He had experienced immortality at the bottom of Makaha Bay in Hawaii. And, he had experienced mystical union through Dr. Green. His life was not his; it was the life of the Creator living through him and as him. Nothing could alter that.

The tuhuna made a second cut, and a profound stillness came over him, something so powerful that his body calmed, and his mind became silent. He was in the Divine Presence, and the actions of mortal man had no effect on him. Jason seemed less dense, lighter, and pulsed with energy. The priest made another cut, and Jason began to disappear. The more they cut, the more ethereal he became, shifting from matter to energy. The other tuhunas began chanting wild desperate sounds, calling on their ancestors to help. The Hiva nation needed his heart, but it was not theirs to take. Before the ceremonial blade reached his heart, Jason had become pure energy and had disappeared.

The following day Jason found himself lying on the beach at Hakahau, the popular tourist port on the opposite side of the island from where the ritual had taken place. Hakahau was famous for the gigantic granite spires, the main attraction of the island, that rose up over the village like a primitive cathedral. Jason was naked and covered in tattoos. He was drowsy and confused. Had it been a horrible nightmare? After looking at his body, and all the tattoos, and the long red cut from his neck to his stomach that was fast disappearing, he knew it hadn’t been a dream. Now he had to confront his current situation. Where was Larry and the Matai‘i? How was he to find them? Where was he going to get clothes? How was he going to get along with his life after what had happened?

As Jason stirred, trying to get his bearings, a Canadian fellow nudged him with his foot, wanting him to move. Jason looked up at the Maple Leaf cap and scowling face and groaned. More tourists from the anchored yachts wandered over, wanting him to get off the beach. One man who spoke French shouted at a group of natives nearby to do something about this bum. Another person tossed Jason a light jacket to cover his body.

Jason got up, wrapped the jacket around his waist, and staggered over to where the natives were. The Hiva people didn’t mind his nakedness, but his tattoos terrified them. An old woman warned her people to stay away from him. Somehow their language was in his head and he asked them, “Have you some clothes?” A teenage boy wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt—the one with the tongue falling out of Mick Jagger’s mouth—went up to Jason and said in English, “I have some clothes. I live right over there.