The Headless Man

i desperately wanted to get back into collage and this is an attempt at getting back into it. i have been preoccupied with getting on with tweaking this website so it is more accessible (and as such have neglected writing more of the Superstitions game). i'll be back to it shortly - following the ground on Google Earth has been a journey in itself.

In honor of the Hopi Fire Clan, Keepers of the Tablet [above] i have left the The Second Sacred Kete [Basket of Knowledge] of Kiwa and Hotu Matua here:

'THE KETE OF KIWA AND HOTU MATUA

WE ARE BORN OF DIFFERENT COLOURS

WHERE DO WE ENTER THE CIRCLE OF LIFE? Our ancestors moved with the Gods and touched the distant stars to bring light to the darkness and wisdom of the Kete of Knowledge. Before all else we honour them, the oldest ones, the tupuna who have gone before us, those who departed so long ago. And while we leave their names in the shadows, we go forward in their strength and wairua [spirit].

We begin our Histories with their children, with Kiwa and Hotu Matua, who were born of different tides and crossed strange waters to find each other.

'And Kiwa brought his people to a new home'

Kiwa sailed out of the east to explore the waters under the star of Rehua. He looked on the vastness of the surging ocean and his heart responded to the restless spirit of Tangaroa. And he voyaged towards the setting Sun where the lands beyond the horizon whispered his name.

We are Uru Kehu [of Lake Titicaca] and Kiwa was our first Pae Arahi, our great Trail Maker. And although he sailed to many beautiful islands, his mind kept returning to one, and only one. Waitangi Ki Roto, the island of 'Weeping waters', held him in its thrall for it drew the Long Tides to its shores and was favoured by winds that filled the great sail of his waka. There our Uru Kehu people made their home.

Then Kiwa urged us to join our strength to his courageous heart, and he sailed again and again to chart islands seen today, and some that are no more. While few men did more than Kiwa to mark the sea trails, one woman did as much, and she stands beside him in the songs of the tides.

'Hotu Matua crossed the oceans on a great quest for the Cord of Life'

As Kiwa left the eastern shores of the great ocean to begin his voyages of discovery, another brave spirit set sail from the other side. We speak of our ancestress Hotu Matua who journeyed out of the west [from the Chatham Islands] in a swift double waka. As Supreme Ariki of our Maoriori people, she commanded many vessels, and said to her captains...

'Haere ki Te Pito Te Whenua, whakato ai nga rakau mana... Go forth and find the Sacred Birthing Cord of the world.'

Her quest was for the very centre of the being of Papatuanuku. Her captains sailed towards the rising Sun, and she followed in Ngatoki Mata Whaorua, and after nights beyond recall reached Waitangi Ki Roto [Easter Island]. And she knew her search was over.

Kiwa came to this island for its place in the weave of tide and wind because it anchored the life line of the Earth Mother. Then tide, wind and wairua bound these great navigators to the land, the oceans and each other, for they joined to make Uru Kehu and Maoriori one.

Kiwa and Hotu Matua were the balance of life; contrasting spirits joined in harmony. He was short and fair skinned, while she was tall and dark; his hair was fired by the colours of the Sun and hers the browns of the earth. To meet, they sailed the Line of Life joining east and west; Kiwa from the light of the rising Sun, the promise of creation and renewal; Hotu Matua out of the setting Sun, the end of all. They are the wholeness of our world, our beginning and our end.

'Hotu Matua became Te Kupenga o Te Ao in southern waters'

Hine Moana, Mother of the Seas, guards us on the waves and we honour her by following the ways set down in ancient days. Hotu Matua knew she had to take another name when her waka left the warm waters of the Giant Turtle and travelled with the White Whale. She became Te Kupenga o Te Ao, the 'Net of the World', the great navigator who added many islands to the kete of the sea trails. So Hotu matua is also the one we know as Te Kupenga, the explorer whose name reaches to every shore, even to the waters of the Old Tides and the islands of the Double Sea.

In later days, the ten children born to Te Kupenga and Kiwa braved the deeps and rode the Long Tides to defy the Octopus (Mu Torere) and discover distant lands. And they sailed in the mana of their mother. And when they went ashore, they took her name with them and gave it to many headlands and bays to honour her courage and vision.

'He koha kia tatou... it was her gift to us'.

Although we come to the end of the first of our Histories, we know it is only the beginning, for the world turns and truth emerges in the light of the flames.'

from 'Song of Waitaha: The Histories of a Nation', being the teachings of Iharaira Te Meihana, Wiremu Ruka Te Korako, Taare Reweti Te Maiharoa, Perenara Hone Hare, Heremia Te Wake and Renata Kauere, Tohangamaramatangi o Te Waitaha [Enlightened Teachers of Waitaha]

The Headless Man

i desperately wanted to get back into collage and this is an attempt at getting back into it. i have been preoccupied with getting on with tweaking this website so it is more accessible (and as such have neglected writing more of the Superstitions game). i'll be back to it shortly - following the ground on Google Earth has been a journey in itself.

In honor of the Hopi Fire Clan, Keepers of the Tablet [above] i have left the The Second Sacred Kete [Basket of Knowledge] of Kiwa and Hotu Matua here:

'THE KETE OF KIWA AND HOTU MATUA

WE ARE BORN OF DIFFERENT COLOURS

WHERE DO WE ENTER THE CIRCLE OF LIFE? Our ancestors moved with the Gods and touched the distant stars to bring light to the darkness and wisdom of the Kete of Knowledge. Before all else we honour them, the oldest ones, the tupuna who have gone before us, those who departed so long ago. And while we leave their names in the shadows, we go forward in their strength and wairua [spirit].

We begin our Histories with their children, with Kiwa and Hotu Matua, who were born of different tides and crossed strange waters to find each other.

'And Kiwa brought his people to a new home'

Kiwa sailed out of the east to explore the waters under the star of Rehua. He looked on the vastness of the surging ocean and his heart responded to the restless spirit of Tangaroa. And he voyaged towards the setting Sun where the lands beyond the horizon whispered his name.

We are Uru Kehu [of Lake Titicaca] and Kiwa was our first Pae Arahi, our great Trail Maker. And although he sailed to many beautiful islands, his mind kept returning to one, and only one. Waitangi Ki Roto, the island of 'Weeping waters', held him in its thrall for it drew the Long Tides to its shores and was favoured by winds that filled the great sail of his waka. There our Uru Kehu people made their home.

Then Kiwa urged us to join our strength to his courageous heart, and he sailed again and again to chart islands seen today, and some that are no more. While few men did more than Kiwa to mark the sea trails, one woman did as much, and she stands beside him in the songs of the tides.

'Hotu Matua crossed the oceans on a great quest for the Cord of Life'

As Kiwa left the eastern shores of the great ocean to begin his voyages of discovery, another brave spirit set sail from the other side. We speak of our ancestress Hotu Matua who journeyed out of the west [from the Chatham Islands] in a swift double waka. As Supreme Ariki of our Maoriori people, she commanded many vessels, and said to her captains...

'Haere ki Te Pito Te Whenua, whakato ai nga rakau mana... Go forth and find the Sacred Birthing Cord of the world.'

Her quest was for the very centre of the being of Papatuanuku. Her captains sailed towards the rising Sun, and she followed in Ngatoki Mata Whaorua, and after nights beyond recall reached Waitangi Ki Roto [Easter Island]. And she knew her search was over.

Kiwa came to this island for its place in the weave of tide and wind because it anchored the life line of the Earth Mother. Then tide, wind and wairua bound these great navigators to the land, the oceans and each other, for they joined to make Uru Kehu and Maoriori one.

Kiwa and Hotu Matua were the balance of life; contrasting spirits joined in harmony. He was short and fair skinned, while she was tall and dark; his hair was fired by the colours of the Sun and hers the browns of the earth. To meet, they sailed the Line of Life joining east and west; Kiwa from the light of the rising Sun, the promise of creation and renewal; Hotu Matua out of the setting Sun, the end of all. They are the wholeness of our world, our beginning and our end.

'Hotu Matua became Te Kupenga o Te Ao in southern waters'

Hine Moana, Mother of the Seas, guards us on the waves and we honour her by following the ways set down in ancient days. Hotu Matua knew she had to take another name when her waka left the warm waters of the Giant Turtle and travelled with the White Whale. She became Te Kupenga o Te Ao, the 'Net of the World', the great navigator who added many islands to the kete of the sea trails. So Hotu matua is also the one we know as Te Kupenga, the explorer whose name reaches to every shore, even to the waters of the Old Tides and the islands of the Double Sea.

In later days, the ten children born to Te Kupenga and Kiwa braved the deeps and rode the Long Tides to defy the Octopus (Mu Torere) and discover distant lands. And they sailed in the mana of their mother. And when they went ashore, they took her name with them and gave it to many headlands and bays to honour her courage and vision.

'He koha kia tatou... it was her gift to us'.

Although we come to the end of the first of our Histories, we know it is only the beginning, for the world turns and truth emerges in the light of the flames.'

from 'Song of Waitaha: The Histories of a Nation', being the teachings of Iharaira Te Meihana, Wiremu Ruka Te Korako, Taare Reweti Te Maiharoa, Perenara Hone Hare, Heremia Te Wake and Renata Kauere, Tohangamaramatangi o Te Waitaha [Enlightened Teachers of Waitaha]