Could following the Māori lunar calendar help combat your winter woes?

There’s a best time of day, month and year to conduct any activity according to the Māori lunar calendar, and if everyone got in sync with it, winter wouldn’t feel as gloomy says maramataka expert Heeni Hotorene.

“We're not living within the actual reality of our natural world here in Aotearoa.”

The maramataka is enriched by mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and is based on the moon and the stars. It consists of 12 lunar months that begin with the new moon, Whiro, for some iwi and Rakaunui, for others.

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Hotorene’s journey with the maramataka began in 2004 when she met her partner, Reuben Taipari, a well-known community leader in Te Tai Tokerau and moved to his hometown of Ahipara.

“I married into a family that had never left the land and never left the sea and so therefore never left the maramataka.

“Reuben would say to me ‘It's a new moon, it's Whiro. There's not much energy. You should just stay home today and don’t travel.’ And I would do what any new bride would do. I'd say, ‘don't order me around’ and off I'd drive. Next minute I'd have a flat tyre or a flat battery.”

The maramataka began to make sense to Hotorene through practical experience. Both whānau and tohunga (experts) noticed her interest in the subject and began to teach her the mātauranga Māori surrounding the calendar through wānanga, archives and manuscripts.

She has spent the last 22 years sharing this knowledge through her business Maramataka Māori that produces wall planners and conducts workshops to teach practitioners and iwi how to apply the maramataka in a modern-day context.

While the core beliefs of the maramataka are similar across iwi, there are regional variations and differing perspectives.

Matariki signals the end of the last lunar year and the start of a new one.

Hotorene, 50, says that from a te ao Māori worldview, the changing moon phases and seasons have a "massive influence” on people.

“We are a part of nature...The moon, the seasons, have a major influence on us as people.

“I think we really need to get back to aligning with that.”

Hotorene, 50, lives and breathes the maramataka. The varying moon stages determine how she plans significant annual events such as Waitangi Day and when she ticks off certain tasks, such as paying bills.

It guided the build of her house, from project-planning to construction, and Hotorene even arranged the conception of her children to occur on certain moons.

“Wintertime is a time to actually embrace taking things back a bit, chilling back a bit. And as a society that's the actual battle that we have. It's saying to ourselves, ‘it’s okay to descend’.”

Hotorene believes we could benefit by reconsidering the way we operate to be more in line with the maramataka, accepting that different times of the year call for different ways of living.

“Because we are following our colonisers' northern hemisphere time system, we are so out of wack,” she says.

“The schools all shut down about the 14th of December, the district councils all shut down, the social services shut down, and this is when we're most productive; more light, more energy. It doesn't make sense. How can we as a nation even get ahead when we're on holiday, when we should be working?”

The long school holidays were traditionally required in an era when many people were farmers, and families relied on children to help out in the field during the laborious summer months. But that is no longer the case for most people, Hotorene says.

She suggests extending the winter school holidays and shortening the summer school holidays as a positive start, with the expectation that more people would arrange their time off in the same way.

The maramataka recognises the period of Matariki - the Māori New Year, around late June to early July - as the best time for a breather. It's a chance to reflect on the year that has passed, celebrate the present and prepare for the future.

“That's how my family does winter, we celebrate coming together. Matariki, The Māori New Year, Te Tau Hou Māori, Puanga; It's a very special time for us,” Hotorene says.

For Taranaki-based gardener Pounamu Skelton, winter is the “golden jewel” at the end of a busy growing season.

The warmer months, typically between September and May, are filled with hard work in the yard - planting, harvesting, preserving and teaching.

When winter arrives, which she marks by the star Puanga rising in the east around late June, it’s Skelton’s time to rest, reflect and re-energise. For Māori the rising of Matariki and Puanga in the sky signals the end of the last lunar year and the start of a new one.

“I love this dark time of year. It's dark for a reason, and that's usually to encourage you to get back to bed early and rest,” she says.

“The northern hemisphere has their long break in winter, and so for me, I take a month off during this winter period to recharge.”

It has been over 20 years since the gardener moved back to her hometown of Waitara, after spending her younger years travelling the world. Her return rekindled a passion for the māra (garden) and revived memories of her childhood when her family were relatively self-sufficient and eating kai directly from the backyard was normal.

As she delved into holistic, sustainable gardening practices, she discovered the maramataka which guided her on the best times to sow and grow. It’s been eight years since Skelton began following the Māori lunar calendar and she now adheres to it beyond the garden too.

“I take my cues from the māra and from nature,” she says.

She relies on sunlight to determine her daily movements.

“At this time of year when there is less light it's telling my body rhythm ‘hey, time to go inside, be by the fire, read a book, do those things that you've put off because you've been busy for seven months’.”

During winter, she goes for a walk in the early morning every day, her best chance at dodging drizzly weather.

She keeps her agenda light, taking a few weeks off from her business, Living Essentials with Pounamu, where she delivers courses about organic, maramataka-led gardening.

She gains clarity under the clouds, saying her best ideas and creativity transpire during this time that she gives herself permission to rest.

After years of working with people across all sectors, from finance professionals to academics to healthcare workers, Hotorene is assured this knowledge is “good for everyone, not just Māori”.

“It's a matter of people having respect for the traditions, being taught the framework and how to adapt it to a modern-day environment.”

There are different activities which should or shouldn’t be done depending on the different phases of the moon. For example, meetings should be scheduled on high-energy moons such as Rākau-a-Tohi or Oturu when people are communicative, collaborative, and engaged.

These high-energy phases are also prime time for socialising. Organising a gathering during this time means you may actually want to go.

Minimising activity on low-energy moons such as Whiro is advised. Time to have the movie marathon you’ve been longing for.

In terms of the lunar year, we can continue to carry on the “right moment to get the best results” notion.

Even though having a long winter break is not a realistic prospect for most in this modern world, Hotorene says we can still use Matariki as a time for rest, self-development, and strategically planning the year ahead.

“We should be focusing on our home relationships. It’s a time of coming together, a celebration.

“Whether it's sharing a meal, eating something that has meaning to people in Aotearoa; Kūmara, smoked fish, tītī. Those things create something of meaning for us that applies to us uniquely here in Aotearoa.”

Skelton emphasises the need to ‘declutter’ during Matariki.

“Physically declutter. Get rid of stuff that you don't like in your wardrobe or in your bedroom, so you're literally creating more space.

"And the same with your mind. Declutter what old stories you've been telling yourself,” Skelton says.

Resetting and creating space allows us to ask, “a better question".

“Ask yourself ‘how do I want to feel?’. Make a plan and then set goals. So, by the time winter is finished, you can put these things into play and become a person of congruency with your values.”

Hotorene also mentions that we tend to be less physically active around this period, but it’s a great time to train the mind.

“That's the time to learn more. And when we hit spring and winter, we're applying that knowledge.

“It's the science of waiting for the right moment to get the best results, not just this modern-day society of just hurry up and do it.”