Aperahama

“I am a child of the universe.

I try to live my truth and I try to walk my truth. So that the universe is not confused and I’m not confused. So what I’m putting out there is pure intent, just like the universe.

When Tāne-mahuta breathed life into first woman, ‘tihei mauri ora’, all the atua, they all gave a part of themselves to first woman. From that creation-making, we all have a part of the atua in us.

Tāwhiri-mātea he belongs in our airways our chest, our throat.

Tangaroa he belongs in our puku, our waterways.

Our skin, our bones, our blood, belong to Tāne-mahuta.

Tūmatauenga – he’s like our action, our inspiration. He gives us passion.

In the plant life, there is the same thing; certain plants fit with certain parts of our tinana.

That’s why with Māori healing, spiritually is the most important, because we are divine. We have a bit of each atua in us. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

In this way of being, everything is sacred. We always have to ask before we gather and we ask by having the right intent. Our intent is just to collect what we need, to ask, to respect the mauri of the place and listen. When we can open up our senses, it is for me anyway – it will direct you where you need to go.

When we cook our rongoā we make sure there is nothing else around that is going to overtake the rongoā. Cause it can get tainted. And it’s also very powerful.

We are kaitiakitanga and we have a responsibility to take care of our environment. For me, we need to visit the elders, the old ngahere, that’s where all the knowledge is held. It’s held through all the elder trees. These elder ones, they transfer their knowledge onto the saplings. We need to go back and be a part of those places, and know how to connect. It’s magic when it happens.

The opening of our Rongoā clinic is to share our teachings that have been handed down to us, to carry it as a taonga, to nurture it and to help it grow.”

Aperahama