Kite Flying for the Maori New Year

In the past two decades, the population of New Zealand has adopted Matariki — the Maori celebration of the end of one year and the beginning of the next — as a wonderful mid-winter holiday.  The Maori mark the beginning of the new year as the first new moon after the Matariki stars* have reappeared (which happened on June 24 here in Auckland).  *see explanation below

The Mt. Eden Quakers celebrated, too.

We began by gathering more than 30 people on top of the nearby extinct volcano (Mt. Eden) for kite flying. What fun! With a steady wind we had more than a dozen kites up in the air, from old-fashioned diamond-shaped kites to modern parafoils, from zippy acrobatic kites to a giant kite-surfing kite that took three or four people to launch. The age-range was from infant to 70+, and we all shared equally in the enjoyment.

There was something special for me (Marsha) in the analogy of kite flying to Meeting life: a bunch of people who seem to be focusing on their own idea or project, but who are enjoying helping and watching others’ ideas and projects because, at heart, they are all animated by the same spirit/breath/wind.  The analogy was even stronger as I saw kites get entangled and the good nature with which folks unraveled the problem; and as I saw folks who chose not to fly a kite, but to help launch kites; and as I saw people passing control of a soaring kite from one person to another so that everyone could feel the glorious tug of the wind. The movement of spirit, made visible.

After kite flying, we returned to the Meeting House for a shared meal and a talent show that began with a children’s skit that helped explain Matariki.

In a nutshell, the timing of the Matariki celebration is based on the reappearance in the sky of the constellation that we Westerners refer to as the Pliedes (the seven sisters). The Maori refer to this constellation as Matariki, and in their version of the heavens, the Matariki are a mother and her six daughters, each representing different gifts necessary to nurture life. (The National Museum of NZ has a wonderful retelling of this story.)

After the children finished retelling the Matariki story, we celebrated with a talent show. Mike was a rather busy fellow since he was assisting Kerehoma, a young lad serving as emcee, accompanying Heather on the cello, accompanying Sophie on the flute, singing in a quartet (with Margaret, Sophie, and Marsha–see below, and playing two piano duets with Marsha!

The talent show also included a violin solo, poetry, a presentation on the relative size of the things we see in the heavens, and a circle dance to the George Fox song (everyone jumps up each time the word “light” is said!). All great fun and a good reason to gather and socialize with all ages together.