Today, Chuuk's cultural heritage, the Mask of Tepwan, also often known as the Devil's Mask, helped exorcise a spirit that plagued the island of Tol in Micronesia during a famine.
In the distant corners of Micronesia, among the many azure waters and swaying Chuuk palms, lies a story as chilling because the depths of the ocean. Archaeological finds have shown that the Chuuk lagoon islands have been inhabited for about 2,000 years, and the legends about these places are ancient.
Legends say that the primary inhabitants got here from the nearby Kosrae islands and slowly spread to the nearby islands. It is one in all desperation, ingenuity and the incredible power of religion – a story woven into the material of the islands and etched within the memories of their inhabitants like ancient glyphs on weathered stone. This is the legend of the Devil's Mask.
Long ago, within the mist-shrouded past of Chuukese history, you will discover an island often known as Tol, also often known as Toleisom. Today it’s the most important and most populated island within the Faichuk Group within the Chuuk State of Micronesia. The indigenous persons are Micronesians who fish, raise pigs and poultry, and grow taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes and bananas. Today it’s a preferred diving site. But its past is way more haunting, just like the story of their Tepwan mask.
Haunted island and devil mask
According to local legend, the island of Tol was a spot of hardship and fighting, where the inexorable grip of hunger tightened its fingers on the hearts of its inhabitants. But it was not only hunger that plagued the inhabitants of Tol; an evil spirit roamed the land, a ghastly specter preying on the islanders' meager food.
This specter was said to be the embodiment of hunger itself – a merciless force that steals food from the mouths of the ravenous and leaves only despair in its wake. As crops withered and fish became scarce, the people of Tol found themselves on the point of despair, their souls crushed under the load of constant hunger.
In a desperate try and do away with the spectral thief that haunted their nights, the people of Tol turned to an ancient tradition passed down from generation to generation – the tradition of masks and magic, ghosts and sorcery.
Gathering all of the resources they might, the people of Tol set to work carving the Devil's Mask, otherwise often known as the Tepwan mask. Shaped within the likeness of a devil, with features contorted right into a grotesque visage of fear and rage, the Tepwan mask was a talisman that warded off evil and guarded their meager livelihood.
Tepwan mask protecting against ghosts
The Chuukese consider deeply in spirituality, including ghosts and using magic. An example could be the standard tepwan mask, also often known as the devil's mask. It was often not worn, but carried across the house to guard them from evil spirits and ghosts.
When the Devil's Mask was finally accomplished, the people of Tol donned it as one, their faces hidden behind the terrifying mask of Tepwan.
Then, as if summoned by the very essence of their desperation, a ghost appeared. But when he saw the devils surrounding him, the spirit became afraid. Due to how he saw the devil surrounding the world, the spirit fled and never returned.
And while Tol's spirit can have faded into memory, his legacy lives on within the eerie face of the Devil's Mask – an embodiment of hope within the face of darkness and a reminder that even probably the most terrifying specters may be banished by the ability of religion.
Bibliography:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Chuuk-Islands https://delightfuldepartures.blogspot.com/2013/01/chat-about-chuuk-chuukese-culture.html
Image Source: Pixabay.com
