The Polynesians believe that the souls of the dead, before they find their way to paradise, wander to and fro playing unpleasant tricks on the living. In spite of the teachings of Christianity the Polynesians are very much afraid of the tupapau, as they call these ghosts, and believe that they heavily out-number the living people.

For this reason few Polynesians will go out alone at night, even with a lantern, and no Polynesian will sleep without a light by his bed. Throughout the islands of Polynesia there are specially furnished houses for the ghosts to meet.

According to the Polynesians most of the ghosts simply make a lot of noise by chattering away to one another. Some tupapau, however, are thought to be dangerous. These ghosts can cause illnesses and assume the strangest of shapes. The Polynesians believe they are protected from the tupapau by spirits called varua-ino. These spirits are evil and they come to life whenever a comet is seen in the skies. At such times the varua-ino, who are the sworn enemies of the tupapau, attack and destroy the ghosts.

Polynesians have learned to live with these ghosts and to keep them at bay by flailing the air with a bamboo pole from time to time and by calling the name of a varua-ino to come to their aid. This is enough to drive any mischievous ghost away.