Tāwhirimātea

Say it: TAH-fee-ree-MAH-teh-ah · Tāwhiri = to wave, beckon; mātea = ?, read broadly as the beckoning winds.

The only sibling who refused the separation. Tāwhirimātea is honest feeling — grief, anger, and the force that clears the air.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te Pō → Papatūānuku → Tāwhirimātea

Te Kōrero (the story)

The winds and the weather. He was the only brother who opposed the separation of their parents, and he has fought his siblings ever since — which is why storms hit forest, sea and crops.

Enraged at the parting of his parents, Tāwhirimātea tore out his eyes and cast them into the heavens, where they became Matariki. He remains in the sky with Ranginui, sending wind and rain against his brothers — a reminder that strong feeling is not a fault, but weather.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku; the only one who opposed the separation.

Stayed above with his father; wars on his brothers still.

Tore out his eyes and cast them to the sky — they became Matariki.

His children are the winds, the clouds, the squalls and the rain-bearers.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

Wind, storm, cloud and all weatherBreathMatariki, and the new year it opensHonest, forceful feeling

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

Wind changing direction mid-afternoon.
A door slamming in a house you thought was still.
Your own anger arriving faster than the reason for it.
Washing on a line, all pointing one way.
Wind on your face, and every change of weather.
Your own breath.
Sudden anger — his energy is honest, not evil.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

Wind gets up

Stand into it for thirty seconds instead of turning your back. Let it be weather, not an insult.

You're carrying something you haven't said

Say it outside, out loud, to the wind first. Then say it to the person.

Matariki rises in mid-winter

Look for the cluster before dawn and name your dead. His eyes are up there doing the same.

If you are new to this

Take four slow breaths outdoors and name what the wind is doing today.

A Common Misunderstanding

He isn't the 'bad brother'. He is loyalty and grief expressed as force. Māori thought does not split the world into good and evil beings.

Ngā Taha o te Ora (aspects of life)

Wairua (Spirit)Hinengaro (Mind)

Ngā Uara (values)

Pono · Truth and integrity

Feel the truth of it before acting.

Tūmanako · Hope

Every storm passes over.

Ngā Pūrākau (the traditional stories)

Told in full, the way they would be shared out loud. Versions differ between iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau (family).

Te riri o Tāwhirimātea — the storm of the loyal son

The one brother who said no, and what he did about it.

About 4 min read

Matariki — the eyes thrown into the sky

Why the new year begins with a cluster of stars, and what we do when they rise.

About 4 min read