Matariki Men's Gathering 2024 - Kai, Fire and Kōrero

Ngakau pono. The heart is full after a weekend reconnecting in with my brothers on our Matariki Men’s Gathering.

A few months ago, I put the call out to the growing community of men who have been through the first level of our Men’s Wellbeing Retreat. The plan was to meet in Ohope in the first weekend of July, coindicing with the new moon, and celebrate our successes for the last 12 months, and set our intentions for the 12 months ahead.

I was humbled that a very strong group of heart centred men with mana, I’ve come to call brothers, heard the call and turned up. Everyone went on their own journey of harvest and gathering leading in to this event, and the mauri kai from the moana, maara and ngahere filled the tables many times over.

Basing ourselves on a north facing beach, on a weekend of beautiful weather, we spent the weekend tapping into the path of Ra the sun, rising from one headland, through the northern sky, to set on another. Our northern marker was Whakaari, White Island, anchor point on the horizon to look at and a reminder for us all to let off some steam from time to time.

Our kaupapa for the weekend was paying respects to Ngā Mata o te Arikiri Tawhirimatea, - the 9 stars of Matariki and honouring each of them in our korero and actions over the weekend, and the intentions set for the next 12 months. Focusing not only on our own wellbeing, but our interconnected wellbeing with fresh water, the sea, the land and our whanau and community.

Co-creation was a theme of the weekend. While I called the gathering, this was a weekend where every man stepped up and sharing the gifts he’s born with, or has remembered / learnt on this journey, with the group - breathwork, karakia, numerology, meditation, cold water immersion, regeneration, leadership, BBQ, storytelling. So many nice suprises came from this weekend of being in the flow.

Ahi - the fire , and its alchemical powers was one of the foundations of the weekend. We were up at dawn each day to light a fire and connect in to the journey of our ancestors, paying respects to their resilience and inteliigence passed down to us. We sat and stood around the fire many times over the weekend, letting some stuff go, and also tapping into its power to create, just like our ancestors used to do. Standing around the fire telling stories based on the stars above, and eating a hearty lamb chop, pumpkin and kumara boil up, I won’t forget these two beautiful mornings!

After a weekend of setting intentions to be the best versions of ourselves in the year ahead I can’t wait to reconnect in, the same time in 2025 and see where the path of wairua has led these men of mana.

At the end of the weekend we plated a karamu , a seed sewn with the intent to gather , replenish , regenerate each year from here. Mihi Mai I toku ngakau, Carl.