Statue Mold En Route
by Liesl Clark
April 22, 1998
"The Rapa Nui people are tied to the moai by their roots," says Petero
Edmunds, the mayor of the island community here on Easter Island. Petero
can trace his genealogy back 30 generations on this remote island, to a
time when moai carving was not too far in the past. He has graciously
offered us permission to conduct our moai transport and raising
experiments. On the eve of this experiment, we asked the mayor how he
thinks the moai were moved. His eyes lit up as he explained in vivid terms
the power of "mana." "When you live in a place from generation to
generation, isolated from the world, you have more time to bring up your
mind to a maximum. It was possible, back then, that there was this
paranormal phenomenon, called 'mana'."
Petero, and many of the Rapa Nui people believe the moai walked as a result
of mana—the ability of a priest or a person endowed with a deep
spiritual acuity to move colossal stone. "We as humans use not even one
quarter of our minds. They perfected something because they were able to
concentrate more than we are able to today." The power of mind over matter,
says Petero, was unique to this island hundreds of years ago. It's
certainly true that in their isolation, the Rapa Nui people had few
distractions to occupy them. Petero has demonstrated this for us, in a
small way. Through his assistance and power of focus, along with those of
the governor, he has helped us move the mold for the replica moai out of
customs in Santiago and onto a plane to Easter Island. This is no small
feat.
The roosters have begun crowing, and the sun is cresting over the horizon
behind a bank of murky gray clouds. Rebar (reinforcing bars) must be cut, a
hole will be dug for the mold, and tomorrow the pouring of concrete in the
mold will begin under the direction of Darus Ane.
Statue Mold En Route