Today we here in Aotearoa/ New Zealand celebrate the holiday of Matariki – the customary event to mark the beginning of new growing season.
Marariki (Pleiades star cluster)
Image by pbkwee – https://www.flickr.com/photos/rimuhosting/8311767303/, CC BY 2.0, obtained via https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107406838
Te Ara/ The Encyclopedia of New Zealand tell the story of Matariki:
Twinkling in the winter sky just before dawn, Matariki (the Pleiades) signals the Māori New Year. For Māori, the appearance of Matariki heralds a time of remembrance, joy and peace. … From 2022, a public holiday marking Matariki will be held in June or July each year.
Story: Matariki – Te Tau Hou Māori (https://teara.govt.nz/en/matariki-maori-new-year; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand licence (CC BY-NC 3.0 NZ))
Notice anything different in the photos of Matariki there?
