Giving breath and life to the atua
a poem
TIHEI
He uri ahau nō ngā atua
I am descended from the gods.
Tihei, Papatūānuku e!
E karapotinga ahau e te aroha,[1] I am enfolded by her unconditional love
Tihei, Ranginui e!
Cleansed by his tears, his love, the potential and space he holds
Tihei, Tāne Māhuta e!
Here’s to planning and strategy, setting a goal and getting shit done and knowing when to call on others to help
Tihei, Tangaroa e!
Te rere mai, te rere atu, ebb and flow of emotions, surf the urge (of addiction), it will pass
Tihei, Whiro e!
Here’s to all of your obstacles that ultimately lead me to being clearer and stronger and more connected to the Universe and learning the lessons (even if it feels like I am in the Ground Hog Day movie)
Tihei, Tūmatauenga e!
Here’s to your discipline and consistency (the early bird really does catch the worm ne?) and your ihi and wehi
Tihei, Tāwhirimātea e!
Te hā, the breath. Bringing me back to me. Holding me.
And yet I love your noise, your excitement, your bubbliness, your exuberance. I am you!
Tihei, Rongomātāne e!
Here’s to healing and listening and mauri enhancing actions (and mauri enhancing food) and creative pursuits
Tihei, Haumietiketike e!
Hiding away from the world and conflict: Kia kaha, Kia māia, Kia manawanui (Be strong, be brave, be steadfast)
Tihei, Rūaumoko e!
For energy and explosiveness and anger management failures and forgetting to just breathe and let it go, just like Elsa
Tihei, Hineahuone e!
Formed from clay at Kurawaka, each atua gifting to her parts of the body – I don’t think Hineahuone ever berated her thighs, her belly, her rolls: be grateful for this body
Tihei, HInetītama e!
Here’s to your strength, your beauty and your sacrifices
Tihei, Hinenuitepō e!
Here’s to connections and dark nights of the soul and spirit and looking after your essence and the daily deaths of old ways of being,
Tihei, Māui tiki tiki a Taranga e!
The Heroes journey. The dreamer. Believer. Shapeshifter. Mischief. For loss. For searching for identity. For your place in the world. Making the impossible, possible
Tihei, Mahuika e!
Here’s to patience and warmth and ‘fire in the belly’ for my dreams
Tihei, ngā atua katoa
Bring forth, all of the gods
Tihei, Mauriora e!
Bring forth vitality, essence, spark, creativity: The breath of life.
[1] From ‘Ira Atua’ affirmation by Katrina Howell-Bowden
Over the last few years, I have been developing a hauora (wellbeing) course titled T.I.H.E.I that is about bringing forth into daily practise the gifts offered by our atua. I ‘trialed’ a small version of TIHEI with a group of rangatahi in Youth Justice Residential service in conjunction with them training for a Iron Maori event. Because of Covid disruptions, they were only able to do the triathlon in house. But they did it, alongside learning about a range of different atua and how that atua pertained to triathlon AND their own hauora.
One of the first exercises in the T.I.H.E.I course is writing your own ‘kei te mihi’ poem to any of the atua that resound within you, and what it is that you are appreciative of. This is my own personal example.
If you would like to have a go yourself and share it on here, that would be amazing.
Arohanui
Lisa
This is awesome 👏🏾