Ngā mihi o te tau hou! / Greetings for the New Year!
This year, 2023 marks the second year Aotearoa, New Zealand has acknowledged the magic and significant arrival of Matariki with a national statutory holiday.
Māori iwi (regional descents or tribes) in Aotearoa, and Polynesian tupuna (ancestors) share a number of different legends around the birth of Matariki. One and possibly the most common legend begins with the separation of Ranginui (The Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (The Earth Mother) - forcibly pushed apart by their children. Tāwhirimātea (Their son, God of Wind and Weather) became so angry and upset that he tore out his eyes and threw them up into the sky, to his father Ranginui as a sign of his aroha (love). Some say that this is how "Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea" / "The eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea" or in a shortened forms "Ngā mata o te Ariki" - "Matariki" came to be.
Māori are known to have always been tohunga kokorangi (expert astronomers) and long observed the heliacal or pre-dawn rising of the Matariki star cluster, also known as the Pleiades or Messier 45 (M45) located in the constellation of Taurus. Commonly thought to contain a group of seven stars / "seven sisters". Recently however Māori astronomer (and the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on Matariki) Dr. Rangi Mātāmua suggested that two stars have been lost to indigenous knowledge, making Matariki a group of nine whetū (stars). According to his whakapapa (genealogy) Matariki watches over us with each star having a defined purpose, ensuring our well-being, abundant harvests from the earth, sea and sky and reigning over our cycle of life and death.
Matariki (Alcyone) the brightest star, the mother and "kai whakahaere" (the gatherer), encourages people to reflect on the past and connect to the environment for health and well-being.
Pōhutukawa (Sterope/Asterope) the star that carries the spirits of those who have died since the last season of Matariki, bridging the living to those who have passed. Pōhutukawa gave rise to the saying "kua wheturangihia koe" (you have now become a star).
Tupuānuku (Pleione) is the eldest of Matariki’s daughters, her purpose is to connect us with everything that grows in the soil for harvest, kai (food), rongoā (medicine), and kākahu (clothing).
Tupuārangi (Atlas) is linked to the birds and food from the sky and trees, fruit and berries. Kererū (wood pigeon) were traditionally caught, cooked and preserved in their fat (confit) as Matariki rose in the early morning. Tupuārangi also sings the songs of our native birds and encourages the sharing of gifts, talents with others.
Waitī (Maia) is the star for fresh water and food that is harvested from lakes, rivers and streams.
Waitā (Taygeta) connects us with the ocean and it's kaimoana (seafood). Waitī and Waitā - the twins, remind us to value and treat all water sources with respect.
Waipunārangi (Electra) this star can be translated as "water that pools in the sky" and links us to the resource of rain.
Ururangi (Merope) determines our connection to that of the winds.
Hiwaiterangi / Hiwa (Celaeno) is the youngest star, the wishing star. Māori would request that Hiwa bring abundant harvests and grant all their aspirations, hopes and dreams.
While historically not all Māori have celebrated Matariki at the same time, I think it's fair to say all agree it is a period of renewal and reflection. Te Mātahi o te Tau / A New Year dawns and with it the opportunity to gather together to give thanks.
On choosing the dates for our Matariki / Māori New Year national holiday the current New Zealand Government created a Matariki Advisory Committee, including a number of iwi and regional Māori representatives to help set out the holiday dates in legislation for the next 30 years. Much like Easter, the date of Matariki will change from year to year, but it will always fall in June or July. The holiday will be marked on the closest Friday to the Tangaroa lunar calendar period of the correct calendar month. This year 2023, Matariki is July the 14th.
A pūtātara (shell trumpet) traditionally heralded the start of Matariki. Today given the national holiday people all across Aotearoa, New Zealand have the opportunity to gather and celebrate. We are encouraged to use this time to mourn lost loved ones, reconnect and gather together, celebrate and share kai (food) and make plans for the future. The new year’s revival has also helped increase the popularity of traditional Māori kites / manu tukutuku or manu aute, also pākau meaning the wing of a bird. Māori, including ancient ancestral Polynesians welcomed Matariki with kites as they were thought to reach the stars.
The Matariki / Pleiades star cluster contains well over 1000 stars, but to most only six to nine are visible with the naked eye, much depending on light pollution and the observer's eyesight. The Pleiades is, and has been significant to many cultures since antiquity. Mentioned in the Koran, the Talmud and the Bible. It is even believed to feature in the 20,000-year-old Palaeolithic drawings in the Lascaux caves in France. The Bronze Age Nebra Sky Disk discovered in Germany in 1999, features a cluster of seven dots, once again interpreted as the Pleiades. The Japanese call the cluster “Subaru” also meaning to unite or gather together. While Australian Aboriginal legends would have you believe they are seven women being pursued with the unwanted attentions of a mythological man. In Norse mythology, Vikings referred to the cluster as Freyja's hens, indeed in many older European languages the stars are described as a hen with her chicks.
To the Celts, the heliacal appearance of Pleiades also signaled the last harvest, a change in season and honouring the dead. Yes, Samhain, All Hallows Eve or Halloween on October 31. The threshold of Winter when the boundary between our physical world and the spiritual world was believed to be thinner, the thin veil allowing us to more easily connect to those who have passed. Due to gravity-induced and very gradual precession over the centuries, the Pleiades no longer marks Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere. But the association persists and may account for the significance of the Pleiades astrologically to many cultures during seasonal change.
So many common threads, our roots intertwined and shared by so many different cultures over a few visible stars way, way out in space - isn't that magic?!
Here are some activity seeds for celebrating Matariki…
While some of these suggestions will feel familiar to those a traditional European Winter celebration might include. I want to emphasize creating homespun rituals, using what you already have, rather than purchasing anything.
Get out your old photo albums and any genealogy / whakapapa, family tree information - explore further!
Create a new family album or scrapbook and take new family portraits
Create a whetū (star) cluster including each member of your whānau (family) with their purpose, a talent or hobby (try to stay away from chore or work purposes - Mum doesn't want her star purpose to be the dishes! Trust me!) Record this prompt in any way you wish, illustration, magnets for the fridge, photos, digitally or analog, video, sound, song, poem...
Record family stories, interview your parents, grandparents or friends. Create a mock podcast sharing your experiences for future generations.
Find more Māori legends online and, or from the library and read them aloud, wānanga (discuss) what they mean to you.
Practice your Te Reo Māori and/or learn a few more phrases. Kei to pēhea koutou? How are you all? (To three or more people)
If you can't be with family or friends, try some of the above prompts over zoom, or send them your recorded interview.
Write a letter - Send it snail mail! Create a care package or hamper, filled with homemade, emphasis again on homemade goodies!
Get outside, view the stars, take a family walk, build and, or fly a kite together.
Visit a cemetery whether or not it's the final resting place of your own loved one/s, they can be a place of peaceful contemplation and remembrance.
You can use this time to revisit any rituals you resonate with for Samhain, especially if you didn't get the opportunity earlier in the year.
Create a shrine or altar which reflects what Matariki or spiritual reflection means to you.
Finally if you do feel the urge to purchase something, seek out Māori creatives and producers. There are a number of Matariki Mākete (markets) and Kapa haka performances happening around the country over the weekend celebrating Māori with an opportunity to support local Māori owned and operated businesses. I would also recommend Maisey Rika’s “Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea” album of beautiful Matariki inspired waiata. (songs)
My knowledge is that of a Pakeha, New Zealander of European, mostly Scottish descent and my intent always, is to recognise and honour the heritage and culture of Māori without appropriation.
Sources and References include: Celebrating the Southern Seasons, Rituals for Aotearoa - Juliet Batten
https://www.manawamaori.com/ https://teara.govt.nz/en https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.worldhistory.org/Matariki
https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/celebrating-matariki-as-a-public-holiday/
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/matariki-dates-2022-to-2052-matariki-advisory-group.pdf
Thanks so much for subscribing, if you enjoyed this piece, I would be delighted if you shared it anyone you think might also resonate with it. I’ll be back soon with some yummy kai ideas and an art witching journal prompt for celebrating the magic of Matariki.
Mānawatia a Matariki (Let us honour, acknowledge and welcome Matariki)
Seasons Blessings 💫
Bron