” Haere Mai Haere Mai” . The call came and we responded. Shafia Stephens and Wendy Hodder from New Zealand shared their Maori dances for a very special October long weekend 2012 at Karuna Blue mountains.- Tihei Mauri Ora – WALKING WITH THE ANCESTORS. Both had just returned from holding dance retreats in Germany, Latvia and England and we were very fortunate to have them come to Oz . It was a wildly woolly wind that wove it’s way through the weekend. We were told it was the Spirit of the Ancestors. They must have been pleased with their visit as it was a much calmer day when we were leaving.
During our time together we invoked our own individual ancestors, in a marae style meeting where everyone’ stories were heard and respected. Memories were awakened as well as a deep appreciation for the gifts of life that had been passed on to us. We also reflected on the gifts that we too would pass onto to the future generations. We closed our time together with a gift giving ritual The Dance we did ha dteh words “aroha mai aroha atu” Love from me to you , I give you a gift of love…
The retreat allowed our individual stories to be framed in the context of the whole of creation. We honoured our Earth Mother and Father Sky, Papa I Rangi , danced among the trees with Tane mahuta, danced the rivers with Te awa Tapu te awa pure, invoked our eternal spiritual parents with A I O Matuwa, A I O Wairua, and we journeyed to the void, the darkness from which the first dawn emanated with Te Kore Te Po.. The beautiful landscapeof the Mountains supported us and we danced outside when we could .
It was a great delight to have Khannah, Vajra and Asher join us along with 2 other children and a beautiful Spanish couple who were visiting. The children added a spontaneous mix of delight and effervescence to our dancing.
The marvels of technology are such that with my new iphone I was able to publish my first utube of one of the Dances for you all to enjoy. Participants gave permission and it was filmed at this Katoomba Spring Renewal Retreat
The Dance is Hei Atua Hei Tangata Tamate Ra. Honouring the god/goddess in all of us our embodiment in human form, all rays of the one sun…fabulous dance that everyone enjoyed including the children .
