Don’t you love a beautiful day for winter soltice in the paradise of Whaingaroa, Raglan… this was my morning at the beach.
Winter soltice is the shortest day of the year … does that mean we are on the downhill to summer?
It is also the time of Matariki, maori new year. Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. When it rises in the north-eastern skies in late May or early June, it signals to Māori that the New Year will begin.
Matariki literally means the ‘eyes of god’ (mata ariki) or ‘little eyes’ (mata riki). Some say that when Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother were separated by their offspring, the god of the winds, Tāwhirimātea, became angry, tearing out his eyes and hurling them into the heavens. In one tradition, Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters.
For all Māori it was a time to celebrate seasonal fertility and remember those who had passed.
Wishing much aroha and Matariki blessings to you for the maori new year x