Matariki atua ka eke mai i te rangi e roa e. Matariki heralds the return of lengthened light.
There’s something very hopeful as we reach solstice, the shortest day (of light) and at least psychologically and emotionally look forward to the increase of light and the coming of Spring. Some signs are already showing, the wattle flower, the swelling buds of wintergreen and some trees.
Māori have linked this turning point with the (re) appearance in the Northern sky of the star cluster they call Mat ari ki . Mat ar i k i heralds the return of lengthened light, a proverb announces. There are some lessons we may learn from this.
First, Māori do not rush into Spring when in fact the days are still short, cold and dark. There is a ceremony of farewelling the longest night of winter. Proper respect is paid to the past before trying to live for the present or future. Symbolically in one area the women give a karanga of thanks and farewell to the star Pūanga (Rigel) and then they turn 180◦ and give a new karanga of welcome to Matariki (Pleiades).
This lesson of acknowledging the past, but not staying there, was tellingly illustrated for me in a meeting with a victim of abuse. A ‘light’ dawned in his and his wife’s journey when they realized what had happened in the past was past and, while they needed to acknowledge the wrong of the past and its effects on their own and their family’s lives, they could in fact move on. ‘The past is not me; I give the wrong of the past back to you and I move on to have a life’.
So Māori see the coming of Matariki as a signal for their New Year (at the next new moon) and a marker to celebrate a lot of things. First a remembrance of the past year with a spirit of gratitude. In particular those who have died in the last year are called to mind. They have in fact joined the kahui o Matariki (the cluster of Matariki stars) and there they are, twinkling away, looking down on us with care and love, lots of ‘tiny eyes’ sparkling away. (Matariki means ‘tiny eyes’).
Once that remembrance is done, Māori moved on to look forward to ‘the lengthened light’. This involved a lot of purposeful work. It was time to fish and snare birds and preserve them in their own fat (so the people could eat in the remainder of winter). It was a time to plant medicinal herbs and especially kumera. Celebration, yes, but practical expression and preparation also.
Perhaps the closest I can think we as Marists used to follow this pattern was the time around the feast of the Assumption. We were encouraged to spend an hour before the Eucharist. This had two purposes – a time of thanks for all the previous year and what had unfolded in it for me and us all; then a prayer for grace to live the coming year to the full. In the light of that we renewed our vows and commitment to Mary’s Work for the coming year.
Mā te wheturangi o Matariki e tiaki mai, e manaaki mai, i a koe, i a tātou o te Rōpu a Mere, mo te tau e taka mai ana. May the gentle light of Matariki guide, inspire and care for you and all of us in Mary’s Society for the coming year.