The Doorway to Eternal Life
Wahine toa
Hine Titama The Night Moon born of the first earthly daughter Hine ahu One. She later becomes the goddess of the underworld Hine Nui Te Po.
Hidden inside her wharenui ancestral carving she awakens to the karanga of women churning spirals of mana from our side.
Hine nui te po guards the universe of the afterlife during the tangihana.
Her duel roles a womb of old memory and tapu spirit guarding against human immortality.
Hine nui te po can take other lives when awoken so Maori follow specific protocols and rituals to maintain physical separation at her door when we bury our dead.
Te Karanga
The Veil of another universe comes to life as the karanga chants of women open the spiritual gates inside the spirit of their wharenui.
Woven flax mats on the wharenui floor laid over patterned steps up to Poutama come to life with the living spirit calling to the dead.
Te Tekoteko
Chief Guardian of the house gazing out beyond the Pa from its stepple.
He is always seeking the mood of his visitors while looking to welcome home the descendents with his wairua.
He rises with spear to open the bridge between worlds at the time of the tangihana.
Te Tupapaku
The deceased person's buriel brings their own whakapapa to rise from the other side like cards in a deck of families.
The families themselves weave chants in and out from the major lines of the papakainga back to their shared chiefs.
Karakia draws and directs our tupuna who have come to collect their loved one and then return to Hawaiikinui back to the family tree there.
Te Urupa
The karanga awakens the cemetary filled with those passed on to Hawaikinui. Their spirits are guided down into the wharenui through photos placed on the walls around the deceased.
Tupuna tears are mingled with the living as we celebrate the life of the deceased and remember good memories of those who have already passed.
