In this painting called ‘Whaingaroa rising’ Hine nui te po demonstrates to us the stages of consciousness she transverses. Herstory ignites within me a sense of connection that guides my spiritual nature to a central place. Where language is visual and metaphor reigns.

Transformation: Hine-ahu-one (the first women) created from the fertile red clay found on the pubic area of Papatuanuku.

Tane moulded her form and breathed life into her by performing the hongi and the expression ‘tihei mauri ora’ originated.

Transition: Hine- ahu- one becomes Hine- ti-tama (wife of Tane and mother of his children). Distraught to find out that Tane is not only her husband but also her father, flees to Rarohenga (the underworld) where Tane cannot follow. However, the maternal love for her uri remains and is what seals her fate to become Hine-nui-te-po, the lady of the night.

Transcendance: Hine-nui-te-po, devoted mother who waits patiently at Rarohenga that she has lovingly prepared for her uri.

‘I do not cause death and did not ordain it. Human death was ordained when human life was ordained. I am a practicality, merely an instrument in the sequence of life’.

Wahine Toa: Women of mythology – Patricia Grace

Whakapapa korero contain myth messages that guide us through emotional turmoil, trails, tests, illuminating revelations and spiritual adventure.