Te Ao Raranga: Māori Philosophy and Mental Health Framework

Kiri Prentice explores Māori philosophy, emphasizing that relationships and connections are fundamental to existence.

### Exploring Māori Philosophy: Te Ao Raranga and Whanaungatanga
* 🌍 Kia ora, I’m Kiri Prentice, and welcome to Māori Minds, where I delve into **Māori philosophy and mental health** through the framework of **Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe**, rooted in traditional Māori metaphysics.
* 📚 The concept of Te Ao Raranga pays homage to Reverend Māori Marsden's work and the teachings of Hine-te-iwaiwa, the goddess of weaving, highlighting the **significance of relationships** in Māori philosophy, where **whanaungatanga (relationships)** is seen as **fundamental to existence**.
* 🔄 Māori philosophy emphasizes a **process-relational understanding of existence**, focusing on the **ever-changing nature of life** and the **importance of connections** rather than rigid classifications.
* 🧬 The framework of Te Ao Raranga consists of **mātauranga Māori** (Māori knowledge) and **tikanga** (the right way of doing things), where mātauranga is derived from **Māori ancestors** and tikanga serves as a **practical guide** based on this knowledge.
* 🌱 The ontology of whanaungatanga illustrates that everything is **interconnected through kinship**, and the metaphor of flesh and bones helps explain how Māori knowledge is structured, with **whakapapa (genealogy) as the skeleton** and **traditional stories providing the flesh**.
* 🌌 Māori metaphysical concepts such as mana, tapu, and mauri serve as processes that underpin this ontology, emphasizing that **existence is not static but rather a dynamic interplay of relationships and experiences**.
* ✨ The beauty of Māori philosophy lies in its unique perspective, which contrasts with Western traditions by prioritizing **qualitative experiences and the interconnectedness of all things**, allowing for a **richer understanding of existence**.
* 🌿 Ultimately, the framework of Te Ao Raranga invites us to appreciate the **depth of Māori wisdom** and its potential contributions to contemporary discussions on **mental health and well-being**.

### Understanding Mauri: The Cohesive Essence in Māori Philosophy
* 🌌 Mauri is described as the principle of **cohesion**, embodying the **vital essence or life force** that binds entities together in the universe.
* 🔗 The breakdown of the word 'mauri' reveals its meanings: "**mau**" signifies **holding and taking up**, while "**rī**" denotes **binding and protecting**, suggesting a **pure and divine origin** with **creative and protective functions**.
* 🌱 Reverend Māori Marsden characterizes mauri as a "**bonding element that knits all the diverse elements**" in existence, emphasizing its role in **maintaining relationships and order within ecosystems**.
* 🌍 Mauri is present in all entities, from stones to humans, and is essential for **internal and external cohesion**, linking individuals to their **families, communities, and the broader universe**.
* 💖 The concept of mauri aligns with the Māori health framework, Pae Ora, which advocates for **internal cohesion (mauri ora)** and **social cohesion (whānau order)** to enhance overall well-being.
* 💫 Mauri can fluctuate in vitality; when low, it is termed **mauri noho**, while a vibrant state is referred to as **mauri ora**, indicating the importance of **uplifting one's mauri through connections with nature and community**.
* 🌀 The principles of **hau (reciprocity)** and **tapu (sanctification)** are interrelated, illustrating how actions and relationships affect the balance of **mauri** and the **empowerment of individuals**.
* 🌈 Ultimately, understanding and maintaining one's **mauri, tapu, and mana** through healthy relationships and self-awareness is crucial for achieving a **harmonious existence** within the interconnected universe.

Kia ora, I’m Kiri Prentice and welcome to Māori Minds, where I explore Māori philosophy and mental health and find new ways of applying traditional knowledge. In this video, I will be introducing my framework of Māori philosophy, Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe. Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe is my framework of Māori philosophy, and it's based on traditional Māori metaphysics. The name refers to The Woven Universe, a book written by the Reverend Māori Marsden, a very famous and well-respected academic and tohunga. It also refers to Te Whare Pora, and that is The House of Weaving, where women would learn genealogy, weaving, and higher knowledge. The atua, the goddess who presided over that school of higher learning for women, was… is Hine-te-iwaiwa. Now she is involved with weaving, fertility, childbirth, and understanding.

Thirdly, the metaphor of weaving is useful when trying to conceptualize a Māori understanding of existence using a process-relational philosophy. Now, what the heck does that mean? Well, it means that Māori consider whanaungatanga (relationships) to be the most fundamental thing in existence; and that life and existence are ever-changing; they’re always in flux and always in a process of becoming. In this way, Māori focus on finding connections and building relationships through whanaungatanga and always considering things within a context; rather than trying to categorize things or people and trying to understand them in more mechanistic terms. First, I'm going to be talking about the evolution of Māori philosophy, and that will help provide some context and background; I’ll then outline the framework itself, Te Ao Raranga, and then I’ll explain the ontology of whanaungatanga. Following that, I will describe the structure of mātauranga Māori, its flesh and bones,

then I’ll go into a bit more detail about the metaphysical principles that provide a structure that supports the central ontology of whanaungatanga. I won't go into too much detail about key values, tikanga, and methods in this video. When I think about Western philosophical traditions and cultural practices, I am reminded of how I was taught to learn about history at school. We were asked to draw a timeline of historic events and milestone ideas from great thinkers that shaped the world. I think about the age of enlightenment from the 17th and 18th centuries, where reason and rationality came to dominance. This Age of Reason gave rise to the scientific, industrial, and political revolutions and amazing technological advancements. The Māori philosophic branch, so the Māori ways of knowing and Māori ways of doing, had a very different evolutionary path, a path that developed independently of any European influence of the 1700s.

So, there is no clear timeline of events or a great list of Māori philosophers to refer to as Māori have an oral culture and very different ways of structuring and sharing knowledge compared to the west. Now I'm of the view that there is value in learning about many different ways of knowing and doing. Why would I restrict myself to a single branch when I can know many? As Māori philosophy, in particular, has largely been ignored, misunderstood, and misrepresented as primitive, superstitious, or just naive mythology, its potential contribution to the world has been squandered. This is not surprising because Aotearoa and its indigenous people have been colonized, and European ways have come to dominate, and they have formed the basis of our governments, our legal system, our education system, and our entire Kiwi culture. So, when certain ways of thinking come to dominance or become popular, their foundations and presuppositions are largely accepted and therefore unquestioned.

So, when you approach those ways of thinking from a position of a different philosophical tradition, like the Māori philosophy tradition, there are many things that you notice and question because they may not make a whole lot of sense, or they may contrast significantly from this other position. Now, this is the beauty of having a diversity of perspectives, and this is the value of the process of decolonization; thinking about your positionality and the critical analysis that can be undertaken from there. Let me give you an overview of Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe, a framework of Māori philosophy. The two main concepts of this framework are mātauranga Māori and tikanga. The simplest definition of mātauranga Māori is Māori knowledge, and ironically this term causes much confusion due to its varied definitions. They can include knowledge, philosophy, worldview, customs, values, practical knowledge, the

list goes on. And there are various forms of mātauranga Māori, such as whakapapa (genealogy), kōrero pūrākau (traditional stories), waiata (songs), and so on. For this framework, I will narrow down the definition of mātauranga Māori to mean knowledge derived from tipuna Māori (Māori ancestors). Tikanga is derived from the word tika, which means right, correct, or straight. Tikanga means the right way of doing things. It is the practical face of mātauranga Māori. It is a code of conduct, its protocols, and it's a guideline for behaviour. Tikanga is based on mātauranga Māori. This distinguishes tikanga from customs, which is just developed through habit or adapted from other cultures. Tikanga is empirically based. It's developed through trial and error, with a proven efficacy, and it still aligns with

mātauranga Māori. Philosophic subcategories of mātauranga Māori include Māori Ontology, and that is, how Māori understand the nature of existence; Māori metaphysics, that is, Māori’s understanding of the first principles of existence, with concepts like wairua and mana and mauri. And there's Māori epistemology so, that is how Māori understand knowledge itself. Māori methodologies and methods come under the heading of tikanga. Kaupapa Māori methodology is an example of a tikanga-based Māori methodology. Ngā Uara (values) are the link between mātauranga Māori and tikanga. Finding shared values is often a useful starting point when you are seeking to find common ground between people with different philosophies or different methodologies. Māori ethics is informed by a Māori understanding of existence so that includes Māori ontology.

and Māori metaphysics. The way that it is applied in practice is guided by tikanga. Therefore, Kaupapa Māori methodologies should be based on tikanga and therefore align with Māori ethics. Now Māori have an ontology of whanaungatanga, meaning that everything is connected through ties of kinship, and nothing can exist outside of relationships. A metaphor for explaining how Māori structure knowledge, mātauranga, or their epistemology, is with flesh and bones, where whakapapa is the skeleton or the bones and the organising principle of knowledge and various forms of mātauranga, in particular kōrero pūrākau, so our traditional stories can flesh out that skeleton and give it body. Māori metaphysical concepts include mana and tapu, and mauri and wairua. These concepts provide a metaphysical structure for the central ontology of whanaungatanga.

Māori metaphysical concepts are non-physical, and they’re best understood in terms of processes. So, they are not substances. So, if you can avoid thinking about them as constituents or building blocks of the universe, you’ll avoid mis-categorizations and false comparisons with certain Western philosophy ideas. In Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe, relationships are fundamental to existence, and it's not just about genetics or biology but all types of relationships; and the Māori metaphysical concepts that I will discuss, they are the concepts Māori use to make sense of the dynamic process of weaving relationships. So, an actual entity is not a substance that exists in a point in space at a moment in time. It is a confluence in the weaving of relationships that is ordered, complex, and novel. A confluence in the weaving. It doesn't actually have any clear margins or boundaries, so it's better to focus on

the ngako or the kind of heart or the core of that confluence, or nexus, rather than trying to delineate one entity from another. Māori have an ontology of whanaungatanga, meaning everything is connected through ties of kinship and relations are prior to relata. So, things can only come into existence through their relationships. Now if we compare this to some Western analytic philosophical traditions and science, we’ll notice some big differences. An ontology of whanaungatanga focuses on kin not kind. It focuses on relationships and connections, not trying to distinguish different things into categories or dissecting them into their component parts and reducing them down to their basic constituents. That is not how Māori philosophy works. Māori philosophy embraces the subjective experience and the qualitative; and think about science. Science puts a lot of effort into being objective and focusing on the quantitative, that which can be measured and understood in terms of mathematics.

An ontology of whanaungatanga presupposes that everything is in a process of becoming, and there is no such thing as a static substance. It is very much about taking a broad ecological perspective on existence. If everything is connected in some way, every entity is its own little ecosystem that is embedded within yet another ecosystem. So, let’s think about that. If we think about an atom as an entity, it is also its own little ecosystem. It is made up of little subatomic particles. Now, atoms are embedded within a larger ecosystem such as molecules, and molecules are embedded within cells, and cells within organs, and organs within people, and so on. So, you can understand this kind of ecological thinking that Māori do because of their ontology of whanaungatanga. The best way to organize a relational universe is with whakapapa, that's genealogy, rather than a taxonomy; a classification system that is based on different categories of things.

that exist. I like to use the metaphor of flesh and bones when describing the structure of mātauranga Māori and epistemology. So, we know that whakapapa is genealogy, and it is the organising principle of Māori epistemology in Māori philosophy. So, you can say that it provides the skeleton or the infrastructure upon which more layers of mātauranga Māori can be added and, in this way, it fleshes it out and gives form. And there are many different forms of mātauranga, remember; things like kōrero pūrākau, our traditional stories, waiata (songs), karakia (prayers), takutaku (old chants), and tauparapara, and that's an opening saying in a formal speech. Now as Māori have an oral culture, they rely on their memory and ngā mahi-a-rēhia.

(the creative arts and pastimes), to store and transmit knowledge. For the pre-colonial Māori, repositories of mātauranga were not libraries, but they were actually people. So, they became very skillful at using different memory-enhancing techniques, including the use of rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and symbolism, and narratives within their songs, prayers, chants, and stories. So, this allowed them to memorize prodigious amounts of mātauranga, including very long whakapapa sequences. And these techniques also served other purposes. They made mātauranga Māori more user-friendly by making it simple, condensed, and entertaining; and because they can be broadly interpreted, particularly kōrero pūrākau and whakatauki, our sayings and proverbs, they allow mātauranga Māori to remain relevant across time. It’s not just a memory.

These techniques encourage you to relate to characters, the narratives, and to be moved by music or entranced by the rhythm. It encourages a more intuitive way of knowing and people making their own personal associations with things, so that there's a familiarity there. Māori ways of transmitting and sharing and creating knowledge are very much about inviting you to have a qualitative experience with the mātauranga. To understand how whakapapa works as an organizing principle, one must first become familiar with some whakapapa conventions. Māori is an oral culture, so it follows that whakapapa is shared orally in different ways. For instance, through waiata or tauparapara, which are poetic tribal chants. These tauparapara are used by opening speakers to begin their whaikōrero, their formal speeches; and tauparapara often contain whakapapa references and philosophical statements.

There are different formats of whakapapa, but the most common that is recited is the tararere, and that is a single descent line from a tipuna, an ancestor, and it excludes all the other partner's or relatives. Often speakers at a formal hui, a gathering, will recite a whakapapa of the creation of the Universe as their tauparapara. This is a famous, condensed version of a cosmic whakapapa in the tararere format. Te Pū, Te More, Te Weu, Te Aka, Te Rea, Te Wao Nui, Te Kune, Te Whē, Te Kore, Te Pō, ki Te Wheiao, ki Te Ao Mārama, Tīhei Mauri Ora. The Origin, The Taproot, The Rootlet, The Creeper, The Increase, The Great Forest, The Forming or Conception, The Sound, The Void, The Darkness, to The Glimmer of Light, to

The Realm of Life and Light, sneeze the breath of life. Now this tauparapara is a very contracted version of the whakapapa of the universe, the cosmos. It uses the metaphors of a growing tree, and then conception and birth, and it concludes that the sequence, tīhei mauri ora, and that refers to Hineahuone sneezing after she drew her first breath. So, according to Māori, Hineahuone was the first human and thus, the cosmic whakapapa concludes with the birth of humanity. Now you’ll notice here that there is the addition of “Te”, which means The, and the capitalization of the word, so it says “Te Pū”, that means, The Pū or The Origin. That is how we indicate a personified form of something. This is actually referring to an entity, a tipuna, our ancestor, not a thing. Now we’ll

be adding some pūrākau (stories) to this whakapapa. Pūrākau are laden with symbolism and meaning, and it's not by chance; it's by design. They are engineered to be expanded upon. The Reverend Māori Marsden explained that kōrero pūrākau add flesh to whakapapa. So, this whakapapa of the creation of the universe provides a skeleton for the pūrākau of Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) to be attached. To demonstrate this, we can take the lines from this whakapapa of the cosmos “Te Pō, ki Te Wheiao, ki Te Ao Mārama,” and flesh them out by referencing the famous pūrākau about Ranginui and Papatūānuku and their wehenga, their separation.

First, it is essential to note that there are intertribal variations of whakapapa, tauparapara, and pūrākau, that's really common. And there are very many different versions of this pūrākau that I am about to share. The primal parents Ranginui and Papatūānuku held each other in tight embrace. They conceived 70 children who were confined between them. Three of the children were Tāne Māhuta (the God of Forests and Birds), Tāwhirimātea (the God of Wind), and Tūmatauenga (the God of War). There was no light or space between Ranginui, Papatūānuku, or their children, and thus the children grew frustrated with their restricted existence in the darkness. Tūmatauenga proposed killing their parents to escape their confinement. However, the other children sought less drastic methods.

Tāwhirimātea was the only one opposed to separating his parents. It was Tāne Māhuta who finally separated them. With his back to Papatūānuku, he thrust his legs up against Ranginui, pushing them apart. The separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku allowed for light and space to enter in between them, and the world changed from one of darkness “Te Pō” to the realm of light and life, “Te Ao Mārama”. And symbolically, this pūrākau represents the creative process. It is the transition from a state of ignorance to enlightenment, and it also represents the turmoil that precedes the attainment of mana motuhake, individuation, and self-determination. Let's go back to the framework. We've spoken about the ontology of whanaungatanga, how everything is connected through ties of kinship.

I’ve also explained how Māori structure their knowledge, their epistemology, using a flesh-and-bones metaphor. And how whakapapa is the skeleton and the organizing principle of knowledge. And then all the different forms of mātauranga Māori can be layered or attached, fleshing out that knowledge system. Now let's consider the key concepts that form the metaphysical system that makes sense of this ontology of whanaungatanga. Now you've likely heard of many of these metaphysical concepts that I'm about to talk about. We have whakapapa, which commonly means genealogy or your lineage. We have mana, which commonly means power or authority. There's wairua, which is equated to the spirit. Hau, which can mean wind, but it also refers to your vitality. Mauri, which is commonly defined as vital force or a vital essence. Tapu, which means sacred and restricted, and noa, which is the opposite or the yin.

to the Yang of tapu. So, it is what is free of sacred restrictions. That which is unrestricted. When we consider these metaphysical principles, Ngā Mātāpono, in terms of them being a process, we could say that whakapapa is the process of inheritance, and mana is the process of empowerment. Wairua is the process of transcendence. Hau is a process of reciprocity. Mauri is about the process of cohesion, and tapu is actually about sanctification and separation, and noa is about liberation. From these metaphysical principles, that are all processes, we can develop a whole lot of Ngā Uara (Values). So, in this diagram, I have whakapapa which is about the process of inheritance and that being related to the value of whanaungatanga, of actually seeking to make those relationships and build connections. Now the value of whanaungatanga does not solely relate to whakapapa, it also has relationships

with all these other key metaphysical principles like mana, tapu, and noa. We have manaakitanga; it's very much linked to the empowerment of others through your actions. We have aroha. That's commonly translated to mean love and compassion, but a more accurate description of aroha is when we focus or attend to the ha or the essence of a person. So, that is looking beyond their persona and the flesh or the appearance, and that's why I connect it to wairua and transcendence, 'cos aroha can transcend many different barriers and dimensions. Kaitiakitanga is the value of guardianship or stewardship, and it is very closely linked to hau, 'cos hau is that understanding of the reciprocal relationships of everything that exists. And if you want to act as a kaitiaki, a guardian, you need to really understand ecosystems and these reciprocal relationships within those ecosystems.

It's a necessary form of pūkenga, a skill or knowledge that is required to become a good kaitiaki. We have kotahitanga, that means unity or oneness, and I've linked that here to mauri, which is the process of cohesion. So, all being part of one unified collective. I've also got in their values like rangatiratanga, so, respecting people's right to make their own decisions and set their own boundaries and standards, and that is required for them to be unique & authentic. Rangatiratanga is about your own personal sovereignty and self-determination, and for that, you really need to maintain your own sanctity. Finally, I've got in there Hohourongo. Hohourongo is about conflict resolution and peacemaking and stripping away the restrictions and liberation. So, in this graph of linked it to noa. But just as a reminder, these are common Māori values, but they don't just align horizontally.

to a single metaphysical principle. All these different metaphysical principles relate to all these different Māori values. The first metaphysical concept that we need to review is whakapapa, which we’ve already spoken about. It is the principle of order when it comes to Māori knowledge and epistemology. So, remember it forms the skeleton, the substrate upon which knowledge can be fleshed out. Whakapapa is also about inheritance. For something to exist and to have its own uniqueness, it needs to have an inheritance. So, our inheritance is what constrains our potential, so that we can actually become an actual entity. A bird can't become an elephant because it is constrained by its whakapapa; it's limited in that way. Our whakapapa (inheritance) also conveys some kind of positive attributes. So, we can think about our momo, our traits, and our Pūmanawa; those are our talents or

attributes, and often those rundown whakapapa lines. So, it might be helpful to think about this in terms of Io. So, Io is at the very beginning of the cosmic whakapapa, and Io has many different names. Io's The Supreme Being in Māori understanding. It is the origin or source of everything, and one of the common names for Io is Io Mātua Kore, so that is Io The Parentless. What we can infer from that is Io, in his first state, his kind of quiescent state, didn't have any parentage. So, he was omni-potential, full of potential, with no inherited constraints. I include this so that you can kind of understand that we actually need some inherited constraints to actually become an actual entity, because if we were pluripotent or omni-potential, if you can be everything, how can you be a single thing? This is another whakapapa sequence, and it's quite a useful one to look at.

It starts with “Te Hauora.” Te Hauora, Te Ātāmai, Te Āhua, Te Anu, Te Wā, Te Ātea, and then comes Ranginui and Papatūānuku. So we have The Breath of Life, The Knowing, The Shape, The Form, The Time, The Space, and then comes Heaven and Earth, the natural world. And what is interesting here is that Māori understand that humanity, which is a result of the creation of Ranginui, Papatūānuku, and all their children, is confined by our whakapapa, and we can see that there is Time & Space. Often they are so closely related that they are mushed together into a word Wātea, instead of Wā and Ātea. Humanity is confined or constrained by its whakapapa and its tipuna, including Wā and Ātea, Time and Space.

That means that we cannot exist as an entity outside of time and space. But Māori have massively long cosmic whakapapa sequences, and you can infer that there is a lot about a Māori understanding of the universe that is beyond time & space. So, we actually have some words to refer to all of that which is beyond kinda space or time. It's Te Ao Tūātea, The World Beyond Space and Time. So, from that, you can appreciate that a lot about Māori philosophy is abstract, relates to the mind and the non-physical and spiritual because only at the very bottom of the cosmic whakapapa does humanity appear. Now let us talk about mauri. Io, Te Kore, Te Kōwhao, Te Anu, Te Pō, Te Mauri. The Supreme God, The Void, The Abyss, The Cold, The Night, The Life Principle.

Mauri is the principle of cohesion. If we whakawetewete ngā kupu, if we untether the word, we can learn about the meaning of mauri. “Mau” means to hold, to take up, and a precursor, and “Rī,” he means to bind, to protect, and shield. Divided differently, we have the words “ma,” which means white or pure, and “uri,” which refers to a descendant. This suggests that mauri is pure and divine in its origins, and it has a binding, creative, and protective function. Now, the Reverend Māori Marsden described mauri as a “bonding element that knits all the diverse elements” within the universe. Now, this account supports the idea of mauri having a binding nature. Mauri tends to be defined as vital essence or a life force, and it has often been equated to the soul, and so it tends to be included in discussions about animism and vitalism.

in Māori and in Polynesians by anthropologists for example. But Mauri is very different from the soul. So, mauri is more like a cohesive, a cosmic glue, and it binds together actual entities, and it is ubiquitous, found in everything. So, a stone, a mountain, and a person all have their own mauri. An actual entity, something with tinana, a body, is a confluence in the weaving of existence, in the weaving of relationships, that is ordered, complex, and novel, and it is mauri that binds this nexus, this confluence of the relationships, of whanaungatanga. So, mauri is this process that binds entities into existence. It is like a cohesive process, and it is necessary for existence. And this existence is not one-dimensional. Think about mauri. It is what embeds entities within ecosystems, within an ecosystem. So, remember when I gave that example of an atom being its own little ecosystem that is

embedded within a larger ecosystem? Well, it is this cohesive binding, embedding nature of Mauri that achieves these kinds of ecosystems within Māori philosophical viewpoint. Mauri is what embeds a person within their whānau, their hapū, in their iwi, in society, in nature, Te Taiao, and in the broader Universe, Te Ao. When thinking about mauri from a human perspective, it is useful to think about internal and external cohesion. So, our internal cohesion relates to the psyche, having an integrated sense of self. That internal cohesion that comes with health and well-being, and our external cohesion is all about your social cohesion. So, how you fit in and are accepted and belong within a community or society, and your cohesion also with nature and with the broader universe. This nicely aligns with Pae Ora, the government vision for Māori health, and Pae Ora has been

incorporated, for a long time now, into He Korowai Oranga, and that's a Māori health strategy. So, you can see how it aligns there. Mauri Ora is about the health of individuals, so that's that internal cohesion level. Whānau order is about healthy families and social cohesion, and Wai Ora is at the level of Te Taiao, of nature, and that is about that external cohesion and health of our environments, and that in turn improves our own health because we're all embedded into this ecosystem or ecology. Like the ties, mauri waxes and wanes, and it can be enhanced or diminished. And when your mauri is low or quiescent, we call that mauri noho. When it is awakening, we call that mauri oho, and when it is vital and optimal, we call that mauri ora. We also have the term mauri tau, which means that your mauri is settled, and mauri mate,

which is like your departing mauri. That is what happens when you die. It's kind of like that decoherence process or entropy. So, here's how mauri can be a useful target for healing interventions, Kia Piki Ake Te Mauri (To Uplift the Mauri). If your mauri levels are high, we call that mauri ora, then you have great vitality and health, and that's because you have high levels of internal and external cohesion. If a person is marginalized or they are alienated from social groups for whatever reason; you will notice that they will have a depleted or diminished mauri, and it makes it really difficult to have a healthy psyche and cohesive sense of self, that internal cohesion if your external cohesion is lacking. So, you can see the utility of mauri as a focus of health interventions. So, interventions that can piki ake te mauri, that lift up the mauri, will improve internal

and external cohesion, health, and vitality. If you connect with nature, that will have a positive impact on your mauri. If you are supported to develop social networks and meaningful relationships where you feel like you belong and you are included, and you are valued, that will uplift your mauri. So, so, let's think about what we can do at the level of Te Ao, the universe. How do we kia piki ake te mauri at that level? Well, usually that's where wairuatanga and spirituality comes into play. So, you are looking to find or achieve that kotahitanga, that unity or oneness with the greater universe. So, that is very much about transcendence, and people's path to that unity, oneness, and wairuatanga is very personal. So, there are many different paths to achieving that kotahitanga. What about at the level of Te Taiao or when we're thinking about the Pae Ora framework,

that is at the level of Wai Ora, healthy environments. So, there's actually lots of healing activities that you can do. Thinking about spending time in nature. Working to sync your rhythms with nature’s rhythms. Sorting out your sleep and having a great sleep-wake cycle. Living by the maramataka. You can think about working in the garden. Getting your hands in the dirt and modulating your senses so, sensory modulation using nature to do that. Growing your own food is wonderful, and if you have the opportunity to act as a kaitiaki for Te Taiao so, a guardian of nature, that in itself can enhance your health and well-being. What about at the level of whanau, hapū and iwi or society? What can be done to support people to be included into society, to feel connected and accepted so that they truly belong? They really need to have a voice. We need to think about how people can have access to equal human rights, citizenship.

and have equal opportunities. So, this is where all that work of inclusivity and diversity and decolonisation comes into play, at the level of social cohesion. But the smallest working unit that we usually start on is the whānau unit. What about at the level of a person at the tangata? This is when we are thinking about the psyche and your internal cohesion. Integrating yourself. Different types of therapy will be helpful there. Compassion work, so thinking about that aroha, remember that's kind of transcendent attention to the essence of a person, either yourself or others. Trying to integrate the person and addressing issues like dissociation or dissonance. You’re trying to combat the denial, rejection, and suppression of different parts of yourself by using aroha and by using different types of skills. So, this is all about those unseen parts of yourself. So, let's talk about Hau.

Hau is the principle of reciprocity. This is a little whakatauki, aroha mai, aroha atu, love received, love returned. This is speaking to this principle of reciprocity. Reciprocity is inevitable in an ecosystem or an ecology. It means that every action will cause some kind of response or change because everything is in some kind of symbiotic relationship. So, here's an example. The hau of a ngahere (the forest), when it is healthy and all of the things within the ecosystem are working together in symbiosis, it thrives. If a new species is introduced like the Painted Apple Moth, well that can really disrupt the balance of the ecosystem. But if you spray the ngahere with an insecticide that targets all moths and butterflies indiscriminately, it will kill many different species. So, that insecticide will have an impact on the hau of a species but that will also affect

the hau of the ngahere of the wider ecosystem. The birds won't have as much moths or butterflies to eat, so then numbers will decline, and then if there are fewer birds, then seeds won't be propagated or distributed in the bird droppings as much as they should do, and that will limit the growth of plant life. So, you'll see the entire ecosystem, the hau of the ecosystem, be affected and diminished. And if it’s not restored by the actions maybe of a kaitiaki, so somebody that really understands the hau of the ngahere, it risks not only the bird species perishing but also the ngahere itself. A kaitiaki or steward or guardian is very much an expert that understands this principle of reciprocity, the hau. We have this idea of utu, and we also have the idea of Hohourongo. So, these are actions. If hau is a metaphysical principle and a process that makes sense of existence, utu is what

people do in response to a transgression or something happening, and they do that with the intention to restore that balance and to avoid things getting worse or amplifying over time because it hasn't been addressed, like a butterfly effect. You're trying to stop the butterfly effect. Utu has often been oversimplified to mean revenge. It's actually about your reciprocal obligations. It is part of tikanga. So, it's about our actions and our responses, and it is a legal principle. It is what people have to do in order to rectify a wrong that has affected the hau. In the old days, if you stole something, then a family might seek utu by taking something of equal value in return. That type of utu is called muru when you plunder or confiscate things. If you purchase some snazzy new sneakers from a shop and you want to unbox them at home, and then you'll find there's a big hole in the sole because they’re just somebody's

dingy used shoes. That shop attendant that sold you the shoes was not upholding the hau of the interaction, that reciprocity and their understanding. So, that relationship of the seller and the purchaser needs some kind of utu, restoration, or response. You can always go back and get the shoes replaced, or you can take legal action. If you try to take utu but it's way in excess of the original hara, of the original wrong, like if you go out to destroy somebody's reputation on social media and you slash their tires, or stalk them, or do something nasty, then they would have recourse to rectify that with their own utu. But when things get really nasty and messy like that, and people are really hurt, then that is usually when there is a need for Hohourongo. Hohourongo is the process of peacemaking and reconciliation and restoration.

It is the opportunity for you to say your piece in front of other impartial people in a controlled way because it is bound by rules and regulations and tikanga so that it is safe. You will be validated with your concerns and through a process, work to find a resolution and achieve ea. Ea means to be settled, satisfied, or avenged. Now tapu is the principle of sanctification. Its common meaning is about those things which are sacred and restricted. You may have heard about wāhi tapu, that is a sacred space. Tapu is also a ubiquitous thing. So, a mountain, a stone, or a person, they all had their own tapu. One story about the origin of tapu takes us back to the story of Ranginui and Papatūānuku when they held each other in a tight embrace in a state which is called noho tatapu. A state of restriction.

Noho means seated or dwelling. Tata means close, and pū means to heap or bundle. That was the sacred state of union of the primal parents, and the kids couldn't have their own tapu on mana because they were shmushed in between their parents and not their own separate identities. To have your own tapu, you need to be separate with your own purpose and intent. This is why maintaining a person's tapu requires the respect of boundaries. So, tapu is important for actual entities to become differentiated and individuated within this universe of relationships. That is what is needed to avoid us all being the same homogeneous blob. More than that, the process of tapu or sanctification establishes the conditions for our empowerment with mana. So, let me give you a few examples. A tohunga, a priestly expert, was considered very tapu and maintained this by staying physically separated from others and by taking care of what he eats so that he would maintain

his tapu. Now, a tohunga could make themselves even more tapu for a certain purpose. So, if a tohunga was going to conduct ceremonies to prepare warriors for war, then they would first prepare themselves. They might fast. They might go to a maunga (a mountain) or a sacred place. They would avoid women because women can whakanoa, they can remove tapu, and they would do karakia (prayers) and takutaku (chants). And all this was to prepare a clear purpose in their mind and make a commitment or a sacrifice to Tūmatauenga, in this case, the God of War, and that way this sanctification, this process of making tapu means that Tūmatauenga could empower them with mana. So, a tohunga that had great mana through his empowerment through the intervention of Tūmatauenga, his actions would become way more powerful and effective, and not just

some nice ritual that he would do to encourage warriors into battle. So, tapu is about your distinctness, your intent. It's about kind of consecrating or sanctifying something in order to set aside for a purpose and thus creating the conditions that something can be empowered. People have their own innate tapu, and your tapu can be further enhanced and affected by the actions of others. To maintain your own tapu, your own sanctity and readiness for empowerment, you must have your own boundaries. You need self-respect and a clear purpose and intent and be committed to living your life, not anybody else's. If you are in an enmeshed relationship, you know when you’re codependent, you've kind of forsaken your own personal identity and sanctity, and you will lose your ability to be empowered with mana. So, what does this all mean? It means you’ve gotta do you. You have to live your own life and be true to yourself, and that dedication to living your

own life, maintaining your own boundaries, and that sanctification of the self through your own purpose, and living your own life, and you achieve that by following your own heart's desire. It's pretty cool. Maintaining your tapu is really important to being a well, healthy, individuated person who is capable of being empowered with mana. There are many ways that the person's tapu can be affected or transgressed, which can cause trauma or mamae. It can direct harm so through abuse and disrespect and violations of boundaries. It is also difficult to maintain your own tapu if you are absent the experiences of those values, those values that I spoke about like aroha, and manākitanga, and kotahitanga. So, let me explain that cos Māori values in action and tikanga in action, is what helps society around you, maintain each individual's tapu and sanctity. If you have never experienced manākitanga, people intentionally trying to uplift your

mana and be kind, or the unity of kotahitanga, belonging to a group, a community, or kaitiakitanga. I'm having somebody mentor you or be a role model or a guide. If you have never had your pūmanawa, your unique values and talents, recognised by other people, and if you have been taught to suppress your whatu manawa, your emotions and your heart’s desire; then it will be very difficult for you to know your own tapu, to be able to maintain your own sanctity because you haven't had your tapu reflected back to you by the actions of other people around you. So, remember all of these metaphysical principles that are processes, mauri and tapu and whakapapa; these principles are all interrelated. So, if your tapu is violated, your mana will be lower and your mauri will be affected, so it will be diminished. That will mean that if you experience trauma, it is very difficult to feel empowered to

change your situation, and you will very likely feel fragmented because you will have low mauri and a lower internal cohesion. So, with this lack of integration and cohesion, it just amplifies your struggles because it's really hard to separate and individuate and maintain your sanctification if you're really fragmented and struggling to know who you are and hold yourself together. So, this is a big reason why Tikanga-Informed Care is really important. Tikanga are the protocols and guidelines that ensure that our behaviour and our conduct uphold these values, and they uphold those metaphysical principles because we know that ultimately that is for the best of everybody. If we can maintain these healthy reciprocal relationships and respect and protect each other's mana, tapu, mauri, and wairua, then that is most likely to be of benefit to us as individuals and to society and the rest of the entire universe. I won’t spend too long on noa.

Noa is the principal of liberation. It is the opposite of tapu, and we need that because we are constantly changing our kind of boundaries and how we separate and individuate and set our intentions. We have this process of whakanoa; that is when you remove or liberate somebody from their sacred restrictions. One of the ways that we can do that is by eating cooked food, particularly kumara; that was a common way. But there are other methods as well, such as pure. A pure is an old water purification rite. And remember I mentioned that tohunga need to stay away from women? That is because women have this ability to whakanoa, and they can remove the tapu of a situation. Here's an example. In a hui, when a man is doing a whaikōrero, a formal speech, he's bringing light to a situation or a topic, and that is analogous to the role of the Light Bringer, Tāne Māhuta.

He brought the light when you separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku. So, he's actually in a tapu state when he's giving his formal speech, and a woman can cut that tapu and whakanoa by standing up and singing a waiata, which will whakanoa and remove or release that tapu. All of these metaphysical principles are interrelated, and you can't understand mana on its own. It is very closely related to tapu and mauri, which have already spoken about. So, mana is not just about some kind of magic power, it is not just about your authority and status, and you don't just pick up extra mana by doing lots of good deeds and receiving some kind of endorsement from the community. It's a bit more than that. So, you'll need this process of setting your intention, having a boundary and kind of sanctified by tapu.

If you are dedicated to a purpose, like maybe you are a rangatira, a leader, and you put in a whole lot of work and dedication, and you set yourself apart to do that, and you make a whole lot of sacrifices and commitments, you are creating a tapu, the right conditions that you can and be empowered. It’s not just through the atua, the different gods, that you can receive this empowerment. So, you can be empowered by your people, your community, who endorse you as their leader. An individual might have their mana enhanced through the manākitanga. So, it's not just about authority and status. What you might notice about mana is, if somebody has a whole lot of mana, they are different from other people. They will start to attract ideas and people to themselves like gravity, and they will be able to achieve tasks and things that other people can't do, because they hold this mana, they are empowered to achieve the task.

Other people might try, but if they don't have the mana to pull it off, the project won't go anywhere. So, mana and tapu are very much about this process of individuation and being your own separate entity but still part of a collective. For you to be able to achieve your self-determination, your mana motuhake, while also being completely connected in this universe of whanaungatanga, you need to understand this principle of empowerment, of Mana. My final comments on mana. It’s useful to know these terms. Mana is the core word of manawa, which can mean your heart. Pūmanawa is your talents or attributes that can be inherited, that can be part of your whakapapa, and another word that I mentioned earlier was whatu manawa. That can mean emotions, and that can also mean your heart’s eye. Finally, there's wairua. This is getting into the realms of the transcendent.

Wairua is non-physical, so by nature, it is very difficult to define because it is not bound by physical dimensions. Wairua can mean time in two, wa-i-rua. It can also mean two waters, wai and rua, and usually when people divide it into that, they're referring to the sacred waters of the masculine and feminine. Wairua is like your spirit, but it's more than that. Wairua is something that persists beyond death and exists before birth. It extends beyond the physical. It's the past, the present, and the future because it is transcendent. People often talked about being in the flow of things when they're being moved by wairua. So, one of the tricky things when talking about wairua is it often gets conflated with Christian or other religious views, and it makes it really difficult to have a clear understanding of wairua. And then Māori go and complicate that because we've amalgamated kind of Christianity with

our own belief system to have these faiths like Ratana, and Ringatū, and the Iharaira. This is also usually the domain of our kaumātua, kuia, our tohunga, our experts. And you’ll often find that rather than trying to find a definition for wairua, people will prefer to explain it with their own experiences. So, this invites you to have emotions and experiences yourself and to draw your own analogies and to intuit into this understanding of what wairua is. I'll keep it simple and say that it is a principle of transcendence. It is about spirituality and therefore is very personal, and because it is not bound by physical dimensions, you're not going to get a very clear definition of wairua, and you'll probably do better if you try to learn about it through narratives and experience. So, there you have it. We’ve covered all the metaphysical principles of Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe.

We’ve spoken about the ontology of whanaungatanga, that everything is connected through ties of kinship. We spoke about Māori epistemology and how it is structured with the flesh and bones analogy. I've gone through in quite a lot of detail, some of the metaphysical principles that form the structure that supports the central ontology of whanaungatanga; and that includes principles like mauri which is the principle of cohesion. I mentioned briefly Ngā Uara, some of the values, and what I haven't gone into detail about today was the ethics or methodology of Māori philosophy. That's it for today. I hope this has been helpful and understandable, and I appreciate your time and attention. If you like what you see, please like and share this video with people you know. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa.

Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe. A Māori Philosophy Framework

Māori Minds

Te Ao Raranga: The Weaving Universe is Kiri Prentice's framework of Māori philosophy, rooted in traditional Māori metaphysics and the teachings of Hine-te-iwaiwa.

The framework emphasizes the importance of whanaungatanga (relationships) and the ever-changing nature of existence.

It distinguishes between mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and tikanga (the right way of doing things), with shared values serving as a link between the two.

Māori metaphysics is guided by tikanga, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all things through whanaungatanga, or kinship ties.

The structure of Māori knowledge, mātauranga, is likened to flesh and bones, with whakapapa as the organizing principle.

Māori metaphysical concepts, such as mana and tapu, focus on processes and relationships rather than static substances, offering a unique perspective on existence and knowledge transmission.

The Significance of Whakapapa in Māori Culture

Whakapapa, often recited in the tararere format, traces a single descent line from an ancestor and is commonly used in formal gatherings.

The cosmic whakapapa, a condensed version of the universe's creation, uses metaphors of a growing tree and concludes with the birth of humanity.

Intertribal variations of whakapapa and pūrākau (stories) are common, with the separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku symbolizing the transition from darkness to light and representing the creative process and self-determination.

Māori values like manaakitanga, aroha, kaitiakitanga, and kotahitanga emphasize empowerment, love, guardianship, and unity.

Whakapapa, the principle of order and inheritance, is crucial for understanding identity and potential.

Mauri, the life force and vital essence, plays a binding and protective role in the universe, highlighting the interconnectedness of all elements.

The Concept of Mauri in Māori Philosophy

Mauri is a unique concept in Māori philosophy, acting as a cosmic glue that binds all entities together and is found in everything.

It plays a crucial role in creating and maintaining relationships, embedding individuals within ecosystems, and providing internal and external cohesion.

The concept of mauri is essential for understanding health and well-being, with interventions aimed at uplifting mauri being key to improving vitality and social cohesion.

Hau represents the principle of reciprocity, where every action causes a response in a symbiotic ecosystem.

The introduction of a new species can disrupt this balance, leading to a ripple effect that impacts the entire ecosystem.

Tapu, on the other hand, is the principle of sanctification, establishing boundaries and differentiation for empowerment and individual purpose.

Tapu refers to a state of sacredness and distinctness, often enhanced by a tohunga's actions to prepare for important ceremonies.

Maintaining one's tapu is crucial for personal empowerment and self-identity, requiring clear boundaries and a commitment to one's own purpose.

The interrelation of tapu, mana, and mauri highlights the importance of healthy relationships and community support in sustaining individual sanctity and empowerment.

The Interconnectedness of Mana, Tapu, and Wairua

Mana is closely related to tapu and mauri, and is not just about power or authority, but also about intention, dedication, and community endorsement.

Wairua, on the other hand, is a transcendent principle that extends beyond the physical, encompassing past, present, and future.

The metaphysical principles of Te Ao Raranga highlight the interconnectedness of all beings through kinship ties and the importance of personal experiences in understanding wairua.