Manaia - Guardian Spirit T-Shirt

Maoris believe Manaia is a guardian spirit, represented by a creature with a bird's head, the body of a man and the tail of a fish, in order to symbolise the equilibrium between sky, earth and water. Manaia embodies multiple symbolic meanings: first, its shape recalls the 8 figure, which represents to Maoris the path of life and eternity; also, the hand of the man is often drawed with three fingers, to underline how Manaia is the messenger, the link between the three worlds: the worlds of men, spirits and divinities, in a neverending cycle of birth, death and rebirth. In this specific design, the analogy with the same belief shared with the Celtic culture was remarked by adding a stylised triskell around the eye.