One of the things that really started my thoughts towards the things we celebrate is the discussion around Matariki & if we should make it a public holiday here. Celebrations in a society show what we place value on. What we celebrate shows what we honour & what is important to us.
Matariki is the Maori New Year & celebrated in June or
July dependant on the moon phases & stars. The first question in my mind
was why would the New Year have been in the middle of winter? In my short span
of life and due to my cultural bias I understand that New Year is in the height
of summer…but for what reason? I had to think this through a bit more.
The seasons, moon & stars play a big role in your life rhythms when you live from the land. You are more in tune with so many different parts of the food chain, such as how hard it was to produce or gather that food source, how scarce or plentiful it might be, how long you had to wait for it and whether it was the right season to plant it.
I can imagine that the celebrations and or rest days that
each society had would be very closely tied to planting and harvesting, which
was what your basic survival rose & fell on. Holidays and celebrations
would be in direct relationship with hard work.
I can imagine that the rhythm of a year tied to the land might go something like this…
Starting with the new hope of spring, with a spring in your step you sense the world awakening, its time to plant & plan and set things in motion. New life, new birth, lambs, daffodils, things that were hidden or hibernating or germinating spring forth. Even the word makes sense for this season!
Then comes summer, the hotter months where maybe you don’t
have as much energy, but you can tend to your crops just the little they need
and rest and enjoy some summer fun.
I
can imagine some family celebrations fitting into this season amongst the
maintenance of your hard spring work.
The summer equinox would be the height of daylight & if you slept by
the sun then summer wouldn’t afford you much rest.
Autumn or in American terms Fall (which makes more sense in terms of word meaning – like Spring) would appear to be the next peak of work after the summer lull.
As Autumn/Fall finishes and the days draw closer you body is signalling a time to slow down, hunker by the fire, time to do some indoor projects and learning that the other seasons haven’t afforded you the time for. I can imagine this would be a time of reflection on the past season,
As I have described these seasons, I feel a sense of natural rhythms, one that our bodies respond to. It is only in very recent times that society no longer has to base their eating, sleeping & buying habits around seasons. I can now easily go to the supermarket and buy strawberries in the middle of winter and because of this we are not so in tune with the seasons & how our bodies and society are naturally based around these simple things.
Not only that, but in New Zealand our yearly celebrations
and a lot of our public holidays have been cut and pasted from our colonial
past. Not only do a lot of them not have
much relevance to our society or culture today (such as Guy Fawkes!) they were
implemented into our calendar without any thought for the fact that our country
is in the southern hemisphere with the seasons at opposite times of the year
from Mother England who are in the northern hemisphere. On the surface, this may seem a bit obvious
but when you think a bit harder it makes you wonder why we have Easter (which
is a Spring festival based around new life) in the middle of Autumn?
The ground swell to celebrate Matariki in New Zealand is a
great start & I think it would be good for us to have this as part of
calendar. It is also good to see the
reasons behind it and what it is about, being taught in schools so our children
and hopefully society has some idea behind the celebration, which give us more
meaning that “just another day off”.
I would love to see the discussion go further and deeper
though and decide on what the 10-12 public holidays in New Zealand we should
have and what they are for. At the
moment a good portion of them are devoid of meaning and don’t fit into our
normal rhythms of life.
We have the freedom next year to choose what we celebrate
& when we take holidays as we will be homesechooling. I think this is an
awesome opportunity to “reset” and decide what our rhythms might look like,
which will be totally subject to change & revision. I have outlined them below as a draft
idea. I have chosen not to bother with
marking Queens birthday or Anniversary Day as these at this point don’t carry
much meaning for me.
My suggestions and a bit more explanation of how our family
might try to make it work…
SPRING – HOPE Sept,
Oct, Nov
1.
Easter – a long weekend celebration remembering
Jesus death & resurrection.
2.
Arbour Day & Labour Day – use this long
weekend to plant a tree & a garden & dig a bit deeper into why both of
these days are important.
SUMMER – FUN Dec,
Jan, Feb
1.
Christmas – a
2 day celebration with family.
Unfortunately tradition Christmas has become commercialised with spend
$$$ on junk – that connotation is present even in the name “Boxing Day”. So we
will reclaim this as a family day, with no presents – just a good family
celebration. Maybe a day for each side
of the family?
2.
Waitangi Day – based on its historic date we
will choose a unique way each year to celebrate this, helping us to understand
the past better & what our country is founded on. This could coincide with a 7-10 day tenting
holiday.
AUTUMN/FALL – HARVEST Mar,
April, May
1.
Thanksgiving – a feast with family & friends
to remind ourselves of how blessed we are.
Be a good thing here to invite others too who are homeless or
struggling.
2.
ANZAC – using this day to be thankful &
remember those who have sacrificed for us.
Depending on the child’s age each year will determine what we do.
WINTER – REFLECTION June,
July, Aug
1.
Matariki & New Year – celebrated with a good
meal, friends & family, fire & fireworks.
