Matariki 2022
For the first time, this year Matariki will be a public holiday. Here are some resources and reflections on how we might celebrate this.
matariki
Matariki 2021
As of next year, 2022, Matariki will be a public holiday. Next year, this holiday will be held on Friday 24 June 2022. The public holiday will shift each year but will most likely always fall between June and July.
Matariki 2020
Many urbanised, westernised people have little connection to nature and the changes in our sky.
Winter Soulstice Matariki
In the Southern Hemisphere, at the time of the winter solstice, a cluster of seven stars, called ‘the Pleiades’ in the Northern Hemisphere and ‘Matariki’ in Aotearoa New Zealand, becomes visible on the horizon just before dawn. For Maori, this marks New Year. It is a time to remember those who have died, particularly in
Winter Soulstice Matariki Read More »
Winter Soulstice Matariki
In the Southern Hemisphere, at the time of the winter solstice, a cluster of seven stars, called ‘the Pleiades’ in the Northern Hemisphere and ‘Matariki’ in Aotearoa New Zealand, becomes visible on the horizon just before dawn. For Maori, this marks New Year. It is a time to remember those who have died, particularly in
Winter Soulstice Matariki Read More »
Government Evades Christianity?
On the “portal for education information in New Zealand, maintained by the Ministry of Education” it is eye-catching that, while celebrations of other spirituality and world religions are explicitly mentioned in the Awareness days/weeks to celebrate in Early Childhood Education in our country, there is no referring to the well-known Christian celebrations. Chinese New Year
Government Evades Christianity? Read More »
Matariki
I do not think we have really been deeply inculturating Christian spirituality into the Southern Hemisphere. Today is the beginning of Matariki. Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades. In the winter sky just prior to dawn this star cluster marks the Māori New Year. Different tribes celebrated Matariki at different times. For some
shortest day
Christchurch “city” is glum, grey, and empty. Acres of empty grey spaces, rubble, and the ever-present sound of cascading debris, and metal dinosaurs chewing their way through munted buildings. Fog and grey skies. That’s not even mentioning the people sleeping out in cars, vans, etc. because they have not been helped yet after quakes a