Bonnie BatyAs we move into the depths of winter my homeland Aotearoa (New Zealand) is celebrating and rejoicing the arrival of the Māori New Year. This is marked by the rising of Matariki, also known as the Pleiadean star cluster.
Winter itself is a time of new beginnings and perfectly aligns with this phenomenon. June marks a time of wrapping up everything in the cycle before going into the chrysalis of July which is the time for seeding the new.
With the first sightings of Matariki occurring in late June or early July there are important ceremonies held to herald its arrival.
The first is a time to observe and assess the star cluster to ascertain the bounty for the incoming cycle, the second is a gathering of community to honour the dead, specifically those who had passed since its previous rising and have been prepared for their final journey to become stars in the sky. Finally, there is a third ceremony referred to as ‘hautapu’ where specific foods are prepared in an earth oven as sacred offering.
As above so below, as within so without.
On the external the time is marked with celebration and ceremony and the same process gets mirrored on the internal. Time is taken to reflect on observations and assess what has or has not worked well in the newly completed cycle for the individual.
Personally, I step into the chrysalis with the intention to creatively visualise exactly what I want to birth into the next cycle. I become the creator and designer knowing I can be, do and have my heart’s desires. The star cluster as such consists of the learnings and experiences of the previous cycle.
I know that I want to experience ease and can make that happen with commitment to planning and organising the new pathway or cycle ahead in line with the elements, seasons and calendar months, planets and celestial bodies. Sacred geometry shows us that they all have a code and when we know the codes we can create success in all aspects of life.
This process as sacred as all else, also requires the honouring of ‘death’. We get to assess ourselves as individuals to ascertain what aspects of ourselves are no longer and have died off.
This 2022/2023 calendar year I have experienced so many personal shifts and consciously carried out this self-assessment. So many aspects of me dead and gone.
Where I used to feel unstable, I’m now unshakeable.
Where I believed life was a struggle, I now understand it is easy,
Where I believed I was too overwhelming for some, I now own and shine my brilliance.
I’ve gone from unorganised to organised.
I critically self-shamed my body constantly where now I’m free from that state and love my naked image.
Lack mentality has become abundance mindset.
Where I lacked standards, they are clear and embodied.
The list goes on…
And underneath all of it, a child creating patterns to protect herself the only way she knew how.
I have to honour and grieve all of that because they were part of my life for so long. My patterns, my characters. Dead and gone.
And so, I undergo my own ‘hautapu’ (sacred offering) process through the art of surrender as I bathe in the current full moon whilst writing this article.
I celebrate and rejoice.
Connect with Bonnie at: www.bonniebaty.com
Charlie Lally
Gerard Bini
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