Love – Aroha: Ngā Hīhī o te Aroha

Aroha:

“to love. loving, affectionate, caring, compassionate, kindly, sympathetic, benevolent” [1]

Acrylic on canvas 1600 x 600mm

The name of this pattern is “Ngā Hīhī o te Aroha” or the sun’s rays. My inspiration for this pattern came from times of walking through bush in the crisp mornings and then walking into these rays that beamed through the trees. The effect is immediate. The coldness in my tinana (body) begins to defrost and warmth permeates into me. It is a moment like when a vampire shows his body in the sun (at least the modern Stephine Myer vampires), my body straightens, and strengthens and I am renewed.

Love does this.

The light permeates from one source, be it from the Lord, from your parents, your significant other and from yourself. Like the sun, love lasts forever. Now I don’t know scientifically if the sun will last forever, but for this point, it does. True love lasts forever. It does not mean that it will always feel like the light is permeating you. We are imperfect beings; the important thing is that we must continue to work at it. Look at the each of these tukutuku panels, we need to work at all of them for love to have the power to truly permeate into ourselves and to be a vessel to permeate into others. 

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[1] https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=aroha (accessed 25 April 2020)

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I created these, like tukutuku, as a reminder of what the ideal situation should be like. Our intentions is one of working towards these ideals and it works best when all are onboard trying to reach these. Our individuality remains important in being unified in this. Being an individual and unified is an important paradox. It requires all of the principles to reach it and to have happy and successful marriages and families:

Pūmau	Faith	Te Piki ā Rongo
Inoi	Prayer	E tō Mātou Matua Nui te Rangi
Rīpenetātanga	Repentance	Roimata Toroa
Muru	Forgiveness	Huka Korio
Kauanuanu	Respect	Hohou i te Rongo
Aroha	Love	Ngā Hīhī o te Aroha
Ngākau Aroha	Compassion	Pūpūharakeke
Whakamahi	Work	Whakakotahi
Pārekareka	Wholesome recreational activities	Te Whai Wawewawe a Maui

Te Whare Tukutuku explanations: