Te whenua, te ūkaipō
Say it: PAH-pah-too-AH-noo-koo · Papa = flat earth, tū = to stand, ānuku = wide-spreading.
Papatūānuku holds everything without asking. She is belonging itself — the ground you were born onto and return to.
Ko wai tēnei? — in plain words
The earth mother, and the body you are standing on right now. Everything you eat has passed through her.
Whanaungatanga: Partner of Ranginui; mother of the Atua; grandmother of every living thing.
Where you already meet them
Te kōrero — the story
Held in the long embrace of Ranginui, she bore all the Atua in darkness. Parted from him, she was turned to face away so their grieving would ease; her back became the land we live on. Mist rising at dawn is her sigh; rain is his.
A common misunderstanding
'Mother earth' in te ao Māori is not a metaphor for nature in general — she is a specific ancestor with a name, a story and descendants, of whom you are one.
Ngā uara
Ūkaipō
The place that nourishes you.
Tūrangawaewae
A place to stand.
If you are new to this — start here
Take your shoes off outside for two minutes and simply notice the ground holding you.
I tēnei ao — acknowledging today
He mihi
Papatūānuku e takoto nei, tēnā koe. Ka mihi ki tō ātaahua.
Papatūānuku lying here, I greet you. I acknowledge your beauty.
Ngā taha o te ora