The sick were often cured by means of the paepae hamuti. A sick person would be taken or carried to the tohunga matakite (seer), who would divine the cause of the illness. Perhaps a tapu had been broken or a sacred place desecrated. The sufferer would be taken to the parepare, or lavatory, and told to bite the paepae or beam. No matter what the condition of the beam, the sick person would obey to ensure restoration to health. As the biting took place the priest would repeat:

"Ngaua i te pae, ngaua i te wehi,
Ngaua i te upoko o te atua.
Ngaua i te rangi e tu nei,
Ngaua i te papa e takoto nei.
Whakapa koe ki te ruahine,
Kia whakaorangia koe.
E tawhito nuku, e tawhito, rangi,
E tawhito pa-mamao,
Etawhiti i Hawaiki.'

In English.
Bite the head of the demon.
Bite the beam, bite the terror,
Bite the heavens above,
Bite the earth below.
Have recourse to the ruahine
That you may be succoured.
By earthly tawhito celestial,
By distant tawhito,
And at distance from Hawaiki.

A Variation of the Above

When a fighting man found his courage and capabilities impaired through interfering with a tapu subject or object he would seek the tohunga and the aid of the ngau paepae rite outlined above. The priest's incantation would be as follows:

"Ka kai koe ki tua,
Ka kai koe ki te paepae e takoto nei.
Koia nga tapu, koia nga poapoa,
Koia nga whare, koia nga urunga.
Haere i tua, haere i waho,
Haere i te rangi e tu nei.
Mahihi ora, ki te whai aio,
Ki te ao marama.
Korou ora."