by Juliet Batten | 7, Jul, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
A profound cultural event has just taken place in Aotearoa: the first Matariki public holiday. At last, the new year has come into alignment with the seasonal cycle of Aotearoa! — the return of the sun at winter solstice; the return of the stars at... 
by Juliet Batten | 16, Jun, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
Photo: Anne Dean Ruffell What does Matariki mean to you? Can you remember when you first saw Matariki? I can. But it was by another name. In my early twenties with the help of a little star book, I began to explore the night sky from the balcony of my... 
by Juliet Batten | 2, Jul, 2021 | Seasons Newsletter
Mānawatia a Matariki! Matariki has risen and it is time to celebrate. Welcome Matariki! Why has Matariki become so popular for both Pākehā and Māori, to the extent that in 2022 it will become a public holiday? Is the adoption of this festival just another... 
by Juliet Batten | 17, Jun, 2021 | Seasons Newsletter
Do you ever allow yourself to lie fallow? — like the land after harvest, when its energies are spent? — when you know a growth spurt cannot be sustained and it’s time to rest, recover and regenerate? Fallow ground is land that has been ploughed and... by Juliet Batten | 18, Jun, 2020 | Seasons Newsletter
On Sunday, June 21, Matariki’s return will take place on the winter solstice. Although Matariki wanders around the solstice, it doesn’t often coincide in this way. This year the return of the sun and the return of the stars will happen together....