ahi

It was impersonated as Ahi or Vritra, the snake demon which brings darkness and drives away the kindly rain.

But Sir J. Lubbock admits “asi” is the same word as “ahi,” and if “ahi” denotes light and heat, it also signifies fire.

The Maori explained that it was an ahi tapu, a sacred fire, used in the Hauhau war-rites.

The old weather god was Indra, who wars with Vritra or Ahi, the dragon demon of drought, whom he compels to dispense the rain.