Happy Birthday Matariki: PARTY TIME AGAIN ;=}

MagickMuffin

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Wed Sep-15-10 12:08 AM
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Happy Birthday Matariki: PARTY TIME AGAIN ;=}

Upon doing a google search on Matariki this is what I found out about it. I found it fascinating and didn't know if I was the only one here who wasn't familiar with the name. So, in case others aren't aware like myself here is some data

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Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, in the Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, appearing in the tail of the Milky Way in the last days of May or in early June, just before dawn. This heralds the Māori New Year.

Various Māori tribes celebrated Matariki at different times. Some held festivities when Matariki was first seen in the dawn sky; others celebrated after the full moon rose or at the beginning of the next new moon.

For all tribes, the importance of Matariki has been captured in proverbs and songs, which link it with the bright star

Ka puta Matariki ka rere Whānui.
Ko te tohu tēnā o te tau e!

Matariki re-appears, Whānui starts its flight.
Being the sign of the year!

Matariki is also associated with the winter solstice. It appears when the sun, drifting north on the shortest day in winter, reaches the north-eastern end of the horizon. The sun then turns around and begins its journey south.
Legends

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. Others say Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters, Tupu-ā-nuku, Tupu-ā-rangi, Waitī, Waitā, Waipuna-ā-rangi and Ururangi. One account explains that Matariki and her daughters appear to assist the sun, Te Rā, whose winter journey from the north has left him weakened.

http://www.matarikievents.co.nz/history-of-matariki/

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And the image in the card is by a Māori artist that I wanted to acknowledge. His name is Lewis Tamihana Gardiner.

Lewis Gardiner is regarded as one of the most innovative and respected Maori jade artists of his generation. In 1994, he graduated in Maori Craft and Design at the Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua. During his final year he was introduced to the valuable medium of pounamu (jade) and was immediately attracted to its artistic possibilities. Maori had always valued pounamu for both its hardness and for its translucent beauty. Lewis was no different — as he says, "Our tupuna (ancestors) have given us, the Maori people, the resource and knowledge base to provide a reference for us and our children for years to come".

In 1995, he became a full-time jade and bone carver specializing in traditional Maori imagery. Since then he has established his own business, which has enabled him to develop his own style and to shape other carvers' perspectives on the use of pounamu. Winning the bi-annual Mana Pounamu Awards for contemporary Maori design in 1999, 2001, and 2003, further enhanced his reputation as one of the major jade artists. In 2003, he traveled to China to visit a master jade carver to source tools and study techniques to carve on a larger scale. This knowledge has influenced and enabled his ability to work on both massive sculptural forms as well as small delicate work. His unique sense of design and use of inlay, coupled with his ability to envision large-scale works — often using several varieties of jade — has set Lewis Gardiner apart from many of his contemporaries.

http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?products_id=86

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With all that said: Happy Birthday Matariki, I hope it is filled with mata ariki :hug: