108. Visitors from afar

Late in the night and around my own bed
footsteps are heard and shadows are seen
But neither malevolent or danger is felt
as I slumber deeply while trying to wake

And into a dream I find myself fall
until I am sitting upright in my bed
where I turn and I see outside my window
an Alien space ship surrounded by fog

Having no fear cept pangs of excitement
I step from my bed and out onto the carpet
but all around me the scenery changes
where a tent is constructed around my own bed

A reality as low and as dense such as ours
prohibits our visitors from moving with ease
So standing together, outside space, outside time
we can meet, we can heal, until our hearts climb

86. A Shift

Planets and stars move way above me

while ions and particles collide and contract

and the current and tides of the water and air

will bring forth vibrations which break through reality

Experiments begin of a peculiar kind

on the nature of man and connections to Spirit

Breaking dependencies on Mother Nature

and creating a barrier in the Ionosphere

Genetically modified food is now grown

not from her soil but from metal and glass

and nuclear weapons are exploding above us

to alter and fortify the space round the planet

Papatuanuku must come of age

where her body will shift and vibration rises

where we can no-longer rely on those things

which helped us, or served us, or kept us sustained

And so too, will this usher in another new age

which push the boundaries of our bodies and minds

We've been here before and we'll do it again

another new epoch in the lives of wo(man)

39. Eyes of an owl

Large round eyes peer unblinkingly
As I wonder what message is brought in the night
A bird of the dark most often brings
a message of sadness at least just to me

And sure enough, the periphery widens
and a silhouette comes of a lonely figure
of one who is walking ahead in the dark
with one single street light showing the way

No more than 30 and the build of a man
that would turn heads in the street
as well as the changing room
But dimly lit is his path ahead
filling him slightly with trepidation

I call to him, I run to him, I surround him with love
He goes on, ignoring me - not even to face me
This challenge is his, to face albeit alone
with courage and acceptance fueling him on

Then my last final attempt is to brighten his World
to walk out of the Darkness and into the Light
The scenery changes from dimly lit streets
to pastures and meadows with green and gold grasses
He now turns to face me, with a beautiful smile
and waves as he turns back, to run down, a new lane..

5. Karanga mai!

Early 20th century german physicist Albert Einstein said "The only reason for time is so everything doesn't happen at once" which intrigued me because I had always seen a disconnect between what was real in a Pākehā - Western philosophical sense, and what was real in te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) - of what the definition of reality was.

In this specific case, Western philosophy uses time; the past, present and the future to determine reality, i.e you are reading this blog now so this is the present, and if you read it tomorrow it will be the future. Here reality is defined by actions and place - reading a blog in the present. But in this quote Einstein alludes to a broader context of time, and in turn - of reality, and one which is more aligned to the Māori worldview?!

Einstein talks about things potentially "happening all at once", and when we use ritual, when we use kawa and tikanga, when we use specific things like karanga, tauparapara and karakia - that's exactly what we're doing. We use sacred words, coupled with sound like pitch and tone, and maybe even employ actions and tools like talking sticks in an effort to break through our reality and reach out and beyond to other planes of existence.

As a man - far be it from me to talk about the finer points of karanga but as a general summary when we hear a woman cry "karanga mai ki ō tātou mate tuatini e..." we see an attempt to call 'beyond the veil of death',and asking ancestors to come and be with her. Einstein's words kick in here when we think about the two realities coming into play; ancestors from a past reality, who are now being called into this woman's reality here in the present - in this case, two things "happening at once". Whu, neat alright aye!

Anyway, apart from getting a glimpse into metaphysics (studying the nature and structure of reality, in this case - by using time), there was a bigger issue now at stake. My own sense of reality, of what's real, and potentially - impacting on my own sense of sanity?! This discovery was further compounded after making a discovery relating to semantics (the relationship between language and reality, and in this case nouns) where inanimate objects like your computer are non living things - sitting with you in a particular point in time - further assuring you of your sense of place in your current reality.

But then I remembered that in te ao Māori, everything has a mauri or a life force. These 'inanimate objects' actually have a life force of their own and in a different reality - manipulated by ritual, they morph, breathe, and maybe even get up and walk around..

So how can we be assured of our own certainty and sanity through our need for a reality? It wasn't until my own time spent with a tohunga that I learnt the true nature of ritual - of where we can break through to other realities but we can re-align reality also, "kia ea ai ngā kōrero ō rātou mā, apiti hōno tātai hōno, te hunga mate ki a rātou, te hunga ora ki a tātou"...

Generally we see the nature of reality (metaphysics) and the relationship between language and reality (semantics) differ between Māori and non-Māori, in that "what rings true for some doesn't ring true for all" but what is similar is the existence of a higher level of philosophical thinking and of knowledge.

3. Footsteps

Tēnei au, tēnei au te hōkai nei i taku tapuwae
Ko te hōkai nuku, ko te hōkai rangi
ko te hōkai ō tō tupuna a Tāne nui ā rangi
i pikitia ai ki ngā Rangi Tūhāhā, ki Tihi ō mānono
i rokohia ai ko Io matua kore anake

I riro iho ai ngā Kete o Te Wānanga
ko te Kete Tūāuri
ko te Kete Tūātea
ko te Kete Aronui

Ka tiritiria, ka poupoua ki a Papatuanuku
Ka puta te ira tangata ki te whaiao, ki te ao mārama,
Tīhei mauri ora!

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