The story of Mataora and Niwareka is found in Te Kauae Runga, the Celestial basket of the esoteric book of knowledge that was composed from the oral history of Kahungunu, who originated in North of Te Ika aa Maaui. This historical record talks of Mataora retrieving the Taonga of Moko from the Realm of Rarohenga, the Underworld, where his wife Niwareka was from. 

Niwareka fled back to her home land after her husband beat her, a domestic violence occurance. He regretted his mistake and journeyed to her homeland to seek forgiveness and win her hand back. He was of course confronted by her Father and their people for the violence inflicted upon their daughter, this is not the way of Rarohenga! Rarohenga is a place of peace and Love. 

This sets the basis for the foundation of the Pathway of Mataora. He Tohu Rangatira! The Mark of Nobility, nobility in the sense of integrity and a self directed sense of morality and ethics that seeks to be a good person, of service to others, to the community. A stance of responsibility to your community at large, both human and to all the children of Papatuuaanuku, animal, plant and fish alike, for we are in fact the teina, ie: the youngest sibling in this symbiotic relationship with nature. 

In short, to wear this mark you should seek to be a good person!  Mata-Ora, the living face or the face of well being, should be a mark of transformation. We all have made mistakes in our lives, may this journey remind you everyday to make good choices for yourself and everyone around you.

Please note that a completed mataora is done via a staged process. Staging a mataora in a phased process, as done in traditional times, is essential. This methodical approach not only preserves the cultural and ancestral integrity of the practice but also revitalizes the pragmatic relevance of each section. By doing so, it reinforces the deep-rooted significance and maintains the true essence of mataora.

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Hine-Nui-Te-Po was created in the beginning as Hine-Ahu-One; the earth formed maiden, and was given the breath of life by Taane her Creator. She was known from that point on as Hine-Tii-Tama, the dawn maiden, signalling the dawn of humanity, the original mother of human kind. But once she learnt that her husband (Taane) was also her father, she was heartbroken and fled to Rarohenga, the underworld to become Hine-Nui-Te-Po.

When Maaui endeavoured to gain immortality for humanity by changing his form into that of a lizard and passing through the womb of Hine-Nui-Te-Po and taking out her heart while she slept, so that there would be no one in Rarohenga to welcome the spirits of the dead, he failed in his attempt and it costed him his life. The great lady of the night awoke and crushed him between her legs! The manawa (centre passage way) of the Kauae represents this pathway via which Maaui attempted to enter Hine-Nui-Te-Po.

Maui gained his knowledge of magic and earthly skills from his kuia (grandmother), Muri-Ranga-Whenua who gave him her knowledge symbolised as her lower jaw, as it was he who would come to feed her because she was blind. 

It was from her jawbone that he fashioned Te-Matau-aa-Maaui, the famous hook that he used to fish up the land of Te-Ika-aa-Maaui. This jawbone represents Te Kauwae Raro, the basket of Terrestrial knowledge, the Knowledge of Papatuuaanuku, our Primal mother. 

As you can see Maaui’s life was guided by and ended by feminine Atua (Deities). Te-Ara-Puapua-aa-Maaui is a reminder to mankind just who has the last say! This planet is feminine, and our women are the mothers of mankind, the womb a sacred passage way that new and old spirits alike enter into this world of light, to enact their destinies in the world.

Te Mana oo te Wahine!