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THREADS IN THE WEAVE BLESSINGS FROM GATHERING AT THE GATE EDiTED BY SYLViE MCCREANOR 2

CONTENTS Acknowledgements…..………………………………………………………………………..…………………5 Introduction…..………………………………………………………………………………………….…..…….7 PART ONE: OPENING Untitled………………………………………………………………………………………………….………..….10 Acknowledgement as Tauiwi…………………………………………….……………………..…………..11 An invitation to gather in collective care………………………………………..…………………….12 A one-minute blessing………………………………………………………………….……………..….……13 Elli’s mihi……………………………………………..……………………………………….………………….…14 Acknowledgement of Country and opening dedication……………………..…………..….…15 Untitled……………………………………………………………………………………………….………..….…17 to open space…………………………………………………………………………..………….………..….…18 Chloe’s opening for hui………………………………….……………………………….……………..….…19 Brosnachadh (inspiration)………………….……..…………………………………….……………..……20 To open a space…………………………….…….………………………………………….……………..……21 To Open A Space…………………………….…………………………………………….……………..….…22 A blessing for a fine arts class I teach at massey ………………………………….………..….…23 PART TWO: INCANTATION An incantatory opening for mahi by Pākehā committed to decolonisation…………...25 blessed: to consecrate in blood, hallow with blood, mark with blood……..………….…26 A contemplation on non-violence……………………..…………………………….……………..….…27 May we be like trees………………………………………………..……………………….……………….…29 Prayer for Tangata Tiriti……………………………………….……………………….……………..….…30 A tangata tiriti remembrance spell for the earth, the past, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….31 May we all find more Patience………………………………………………………………………….…33 An incantation for ancestral reconnection and belonging…………..….……………….……34 unsettling ourselves…………..………………………..……………………………………………….………35 Saining…………..…………..………..………………………………..……………………………………..……36 prayer for the hearth………………..……………………………………..………..…………………………39 3

August-baum…………..……………………..……………………………………………………………………40 Lied/song/waiata…………..………………..………………………………..…………..……….…………..42 Patience…………..…………………………..…………………………………..….……………..………………43 Lillian’s blessing for kai…………..………………………..…………………………………………………45 A blessing for food…………..…………..…………………………………………………………………..…46 A short, rhythmic blessing (in English) to use before eating/sharing Boil Up, while (literally/figuratively) voyaging…………..…….…………………………..……………………………..47 Six Kai Blessings…………..…………..…………………………………….…………………....……………48 Wren's food blessing…………..………………………..……………………………………..……..……….51 A Toast to Nourishment…………..………………………..……………………………….….…………..52 And an invocation for kai, written at/for Samhain…………..……………….……………….…53 To share food…………..…………………………..………………………………..……………………………54 PART FOUR: CLOSING To close space…………..…………………………..……………………………………..……………..………56 Leasanan na Tìre (lessons of the land)…………..…………..………………….………………….…57 To close a space…………..………………………………..………………….……………..…………….……58 Wren's two-minute poem for opening or closing a space……….…..…………………………594

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank tangata whenua across Aotearoa, and especially the tīpuna who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi generously giving us Pākehā a place to belong. We thank the many Māori leaders, teachers, comrades, whānau and friends who have encouraged us to know our ancestry in order to know our place within the relational world of Aotearoa. Thank you Marie-Anne Selkirk for your foundational support for Gathering at the Gate. A big mihi to the Tīpuna Project as collaborators and role models. And thanks to Turtle Island-based White Awake’s course “Before We Were White” and their director Eleanor Hancock. Big ups to Bop Murdoch, Ash Holwell and the Coliberate team for their ongoing support of our team, processes, strategy and direction. Thanks to our mates at Resourceful Cra whose amazing skills and energy have helped us refine our offering and given us much confidence. E mihi ana ki ngā kaiako o Te Ahu o te Reo ki NMIT, ko Teatapō rāua ko Tuiana, for their manaakitanga and for helping us develop specialised resources that serve the conscientization of Pākehā learning te reo Māori. Thanks to the 115+ participants of Gathering at the Gate so far! Thanks to all our buddy group facilitators and guest speakers - special mentions to Kay Bensemen, Beau Child, and Helen Lyttleton. Thanks to Sylvan Spring for zine edits, support and advice. Thanks again to Helen Lyttleton for sharing your art magic on the cover and in kōrero. And thanks to those who pre-ordered the zine. Thanks to Áine Kelly-Costello for leading and collaborating on the audiozine. Thanks to Loo Connor and The Good Energy Podcast for platforming the audio recording of this zine. Thanks to Jonny Marks and Wellington Access Radio 106.1 FM for the recording space. The audiozine can be found on Good Energy podcast, which you can subscribe to in your podcast app of choice. It is also available via the Gathering at the Gate website. 5

Thanks to Dani Pickering, Elli Yates, Erin Thomas, and Wren Mabin - the OG GatGs who’ve led the way on their own ancestral recovery journeys and provided space and ground for everyone else’s learning to emerge. Thanks Dani for lending your Gàidhlig speaking to the audiozine, and Tess Dalgety-Evans for lending your German. Thanks Wren for the many supportive voice notes and messages to get this project off the ground. Thanks to all the authors and artists named and unnamed in this zine. Your words, images, melodies, and actions are rich threads in the weave of healing. - With love, Sylvie McCreanor, February 2025 6

INTRODUCTION This zine is a collection of poems, prayers, incantations, and blessings written by participants of Gathering at the Gate - a twelve-week online course in ancestral recovery and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi for tauiwi - especially Pākehā, white, and white-assimilated tauiwi. One of the main premises of Gathering at the Gate is that the process of becoming Pākehā turned our ancestors, on the whole, into a different kind of human. Cut off from their roots and traditional lifeways, these diverse European and British-isles peoples found new meaning as footsoldiers of a colonial project that delivered them extraordinary material wealth - at great cost to the Indigenous people of these islands. As Catherine Delahunty says; “The Pākehā contradiction comes from our origins, so many of us being the descendants of families starved out of Ireland, burnt out of the highlands of Scotland and made surplus people in the English class system. We, the children of cannon fodder and global capitalism, can barely acknowledge the loss of bones and sacred places le on the other side of the world…The severing from ancestors and from the land has brought us material advantage and spiritual emptiness. The denial of this condition assists us in our denial of the tangata whenua indigenous reality and justifies our control of resources. But it has required a weird forgetfulness.” [Catherine Delahunty, quoted via Rebecca Kiddle "why colonisation is bad for everyone", Imagining Decolonisation] Now we, their descendents, are unsettled by these legacies of displacement and injustice. We do not believe that ‘moving on’ or ‘becoming one people’ is a proper route to healing. We wish to show up for a braver conversation with our defenses down and our hearts and minds listening for liberatory vision. We wish to cease appropriating spirituality from Indigenous peoples and instead resource ourselves from within. Where there is longing, what is its shape? Where there is loss - of words, of rites, of ritual speech - what is that whisper on your shoulder? Here, we offer some of the words that came to us. Some of them are inspired by times when we find ourselves inappropriately using karakia, for example, at the opening of a meeting or event, or before eating a shared meal. What is it that we 7

actually want to say? Some of them speak to a broader vision and capture our deepest wishes for change. All of them are here for you to use at your dinner tables, at the beginnings and endings of your gatherings for shared purpose, and indeed at the altars of your own hearts, in times when you really need them. - Wren Mabin 8

PART ONE: OPENING The blessings in this section offer ways to collectively begin. Speaking these openings aloud we mark the start of our gatherings with pause, acknowledgement, contemplation and evocative language that shis us from one state to another. We oen need encouragement to open up to the task in front of us. These blessings let us begin from a more open, aware and settled space. 9

Untitled Here I am - gently carrying the hopes of my ancestors. Here I am - distilling an awareness of their history, their intentions, their relationships with this land. Here I am - trying to be a beacon and seeking to both shine and reflect all I am learning. Here - on this land, Aotearoa, land embraced by cloud; this land - a fish, a waka, an anchor. Here - on this land that has been renamed, rezoned, removed and reclaimed. Here we are - weaving a future together. Here we are - blessed by the grace of the people of this land. Here we are - gently carrying the hopes of our ancestors. - Anonymous 10

Acknowledgement as Tauiwi From many hills long forgotten, Muddy lanes and windswept cliffs Over roaring waves and dark clouds I am here, so far from ancestral bones From belonging severed for survival, Connection to earth and ancient ways Through much adaptation and suppression I listen still, reaching for ancestral strands From under these bright Southern skies, Lush river valleys and black sand beaches Generations of stories and all I’ve known I honour the whenua that is not my inheritance - Kay Benseman 11

An invitation to gather in collective care Can we find steadiness down the pull of gravity Connect to our core of breath Ground to thank the whenua and kaitiaki Ground to open space Can we know ourselves more Can we help each other belong Without twisting into masks that don't fit Find the bounty of each of our gis Can we remember to dream Can we remember we are the fruit of dreams Can we acknowledge the soul wounds of distrust Of hurt and harm and shame and grief Can we trust a time will come to tend them gently Can we query our unreliable good intentions Curiously Offer each other generous assumptions Can we remember to pause To mind each other and mind our hearts - Áine Kelly-Costello, disabled Pākehā based in Tāmaki Makaurau I thought of this as an opening. You are welcome to use it and adapt it for your context. If you are not based in Aotearoa, consider swapping the third line to: "ground to thank the land that holds us" or "ground to thank our Earth Mother" or something else that feels appropriately grounded in the land you are on. 12

A one-minute blessing May the love that binds us in solidarity be the guide in all we do. May the threads of humanity continue to weave through us in all that we do, Lest we forget the honour it is to be here. As guests on these lands. For now, for tomorrow, forevermore. <3 - Beau Child 13

Elli’s mihi I acknowledge the ancestors of this place. I call on my own ancestors to make peace with this place and its kin. I ask forgiveness for my complicity in the plunder of this place. I give thanks to the mana whenua of this place, by whose good grace I am here. I recognise the giants on whose shoulders I stand. I recognise histories of oppression. I recognise histories of self determination. I seek to align myself with movements that honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga. I dedicate my life energies to restoring balance. - Elli Yates 14

Acknowledgement of Country and opening dedication With respect I name The rightful land owners here in – place name - eg. The Bunurong-Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation. I acknowledge the ancestors, elders, law-keepers And all peoples holding unceded sovereignty, Continuous custodianship And deep, loving care for these Lands, skies and waters. Gathering here As respectful guests, Forgive us our trespasses – Forgive us our ancestors. Reckoning with harm caused. Healing harm received. Choosing remembering over forgetting. Giving before taking. Heartened by truth-telling. Requesting permission and protection, In learning to rightly walk upon these lands. Calling forth, as much as we can, Of love, of respect and of faith. - Gambhīrachittā / Lisa Kelly. 15

Acknowledgement and dedication to open a period of group practice, learning, or sharing for white/settler/non-First Peoples. Please use freely and adjust to name mana whenua in your place, if it feels right. Line 11 from the Our Father and lines 20 & 21 from the The Ratnaguna-Samcayagatha Verses on the Perfection of Wisdom. 29th April 2024, day of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan’s appearance at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first leader of an Australian government to give evidence at an Indigenous-led truth-telling inquiry. 16

Untitled Can we listen to the hum beneath us Can we feel her breath and let it fill our lungs Can we fall to earth in our humility And grow up again in rooted wisdom - With love from Bec (Rebecca Pearson) 17

to open space As we enter this space, let us remember the power it held before we placed our feet on its surface. Let us momentarily cross boundaries, let our minds float to other places. Other realms. To broaden our gaze to all that is simultaneously existing at this same time. Let us take our minds past what our eyes perceive, to the trees outside, to the waters that flow under and under more, to the air that blows above, and to the safe keepers of this land; past, present and future. Let us be guided by those safe keepers, who hold intimacy with the earth. Let us follow in their footsteps that tread only in reciprocity and love. Allow us to feel support as it rises from this ground, surrounds and seeps through our skin, connecting us to our deepest nature, to others and to the boundless love of the universe. - Milly Taylor 18

Chloe’s opening for hui Welcome to this shared time together With all you are who come before you who will come aer May our intentions be met And we be nurtured feeling the earth, solid beneath us water balancing and restoring us wind cleansing us and fire in our hearts to align . . . our carelines, relational lines and action lines May we consider how we can contribute to a peaceful future Welcome, welcome, welcome all. - Chloe Bisley-Wright 19

Brosnachadh (inspiration) Ann am beatha 's bas san t-àm a dh'albh 's an-diugh air fearann no aig muir air làithean ciùin no garbh tha sinne ann Cuimhnichibh air a th' annainn cuimhnichibh air na daoine bhon tàinig sinn 's thoiribh iad dhan obair againn an-diugh gu bhiodh ar sinnsearan moiteil àsainn San teanga 's aithne do'n tìr seo as eàrr: tīhei mauri ora. - Dani Pickering This blessing is a Pākehā original written in Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic). A not-insignificant number of Pākehā who came to Aotearoa in the nineteenth century spoke Gàidhlig, though most families who did lost it within a single generation as they/we assimilated into Pākehā whiteness. “Brosnachadh” calls on us to remember the peoples from which we come and bring them into our work on the kaupapa. Listen to the audiozine to hear pronunciation. 20

To open a space Paths and threads meet here today: the years we've walked, over sand and gravel, loam and water; the threads spun by our parents and our parents' parents We balance old loads on our shoulders: failures and flinches, ghosts and silences, shame's fist in the gut. Hope. Perhaps we don't know much. Perhaps we are not wise, or even good, but we are here. Here, now, together, may we feed each other courage. May we help each other carry what must be carried, to let fall what can be le behind, to listen together, work together, fail together, learn together. Help us remember that we have never been alone, that the earth cradles our weight, that we are threads in the weave stretching on and back forever. - Zoe Higgins 21

To Open A Space From the busyness of our day and the busyness of our minds We come to a space of stillness and pause Pause to show ourselves kindness To reconnect with all that we hold dear - From the tension in our shoulders and the tiredness of our eyes We relax and fill our lungs with a considered breath Breathing deeply to remind ourselves that we are safe To honour our need to slow down - From the expectations of others and the rush of timeliness We give ourselves a moment to sit and rest Resting and remembering that we are more than what we do To be fully human, flawed and brilliant - We come with honesty and humility about our needs We reach for hope to create change together - Kay Benseman 22

A blessing for a fine arts class I teach at massey To the whenua holding us, providing life for us to dream and become. We send gratitude to Papatūānuku and Ranginui and honour our responsibility to caring for them through nurturing our gis. We recognise mana whenua of Te Whanganui-a-Tara from this Maunga Pukeahu. [Insert mountain here] Ngāti Toa, Te Ātiawa and Taranaki Whānui. [Insert mana whenua of where you are working here] We lovingly hold space for the present and historical trauma of the whenua and tangata whenua, sacred and with tenderness. We now recognise and smile to our own ancestors, welcoming them to be with us and share in our learning, growth and joy, As we navigate these fast flowing streams and turbulent white rapids of our ako and growth, may we remember to trust in this awa, carrying us through. Remembering this journey as we arrive to a vast moana of potential imaginings and abundance. May we be in love with all that allows us to become, reciprocating the gis we receive from the earth and community. In radical and intentional compassion, let us begin our shared learning and growing. - Holly Walker 23

PART TWO: INCANTATIONS The following section contains incantations, spells, prayers, songs, blessings, musings, and practises with more amorphous applications. They call in spirit and ancestors to aid whatever task they are applied to. You may find a particular piece has a specific purpose for the moment you are in. 24

An incantatory opening for mahi by Pākehā committed to decolonisation Darkness, {we?] call on you To help us move into the cracks To seek entanglement Not Enlightenment Mystery Not mastery To help us to see the stars Our shimmering otherworldly guides In breaching the aggressive legacy of our Mancestors The fence-makers In breathing the transgressive legacy of our trancestors The fence-breakers Darkness, we call on your protection, your magic, your kin Witches, worms, whales… We welcome you Darkness We welcome you - Rachel Jane Liebert Inspired by work with folx in The Tīpuna Project. 25

blessed: to consecrate in blood, hallow with blood, mark with blood we open with blood we mark the blood of this whenua the blood which has been spilled in the the of this whenua, the blood of the oppressed and the shuhada the blood of those engaged in revolution for their people, the blood of those killed at the border of empire the blood which stains our homes, our wallets, our comfort the blood of our dead, moving through our bodies as we gather, the blood of the womb, cycling through pain and creation, we mark the blood so we might notice when our kin bleed we mark the blood so we might remember the blessing of this moment together - Helena Leon Mayer Inspired by a prelude: “blessed,” meaning washed with blood by Ismatu Gwendolyn, published on their substack 5 November 2023. Use with your own judgement, and please be wary about using it in a context with food present. 26

A contemplation on non-violence May all gun emplacements become safe haven for kaimoana. May we all heal from our inherited trauma of both harm inflicted and harm received. May we all be courageous in unearthing and telling our uncomfortable histories, learning everything we can to prevent repeating the past. May we all be vulnerable in our humanity, admitting our mistakes with grace towards ourselves and others. May we remember the haunting pain of our grandparents, and our grandparents’ grandparents. Who saw and endured and did unthinkable things to survive. May all these memories embolden us to be the change that is needed for our mokopuna’s mokopuna to one day recite our names with gratitude. May our indifference, insecurities and individualism be unravelled as we restore our relationships with each other and our environment. May all the rough edges of our old and violent ways be adorned with living creatures until they better reflect the balance of te taiao. May our bunkers built for war be redeemed by baby kūtai nestled together. Trusting their growth in the tides and the safety of a concrete home that prepares for violence no more. - Kay Benseman 27

+++ Image description: cliffs at Kai Iwi Beach. In the background a tall exposed cliff juts into the sea. A bar of grey sand lies between the background cliffs and a large cement structure in the foreground. It is covered in small black shellfish, clinging to its surface. The blue sky is reflected in the calm water. [Ko Ngā Rauru Kītahi te iwi, ko Tamareheroto, Ngāti Iti, Ngāti Pūkeko ngā hapū o tēnei wāhi, these are mana whenua of Kai Iwi.] 28

May we be like trees To the earth beneath us To the bright air that holds us To the ever generous sun To the billions of creatures that accompany us To the trees that hold the earth and pour their blessings out We bow and give thanks. May we be like the trees Ever receptive, ever willing to give from our ground of being. Bless this land Bless the people of this land May all creatures find belonging and peace And know that they are loved May we find and follow our own pathways to healing And open to each other. May justice and generosity be restored to this land. May it be so. - Loo Connor 29

Prayer for Tangata Tiriti May this work bring healing to the ancestors we carry within. May we carry their dreams for us and our descendents in the palms of our hands Remembering the land they stole Remembering the land they once belonged to May we unlearn the instinct for domination, and unfurl into a differently shaped future. May we dissolve the myth of separation while acknowledging our racial privileges, and become wellsprings of joy in the movement for an antiracist world. Let us always seek alignment as Tāngata Tiriti with movements for tino rangatiratanga, understanding our personal stake in its benefit for all And let us walk gently on the shoulders of Papatūānuku as we go about this work of restoration. - Elli Yates 30

A tangata Tiriti remembrance spell for the earth, the past, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi We love you, Divine Mother Known in these lands as, Papatūānuku Known in my ancestral homeland as Danú We are your grateful children, you give us life Here among the steep hills and lush valleys Te Āti Awa & Taranaki Whānui love and care for you We honour their dead and yet to be born It is with their generosity that we rest upon these lands We do not forget the tīpuna of this place Those who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi With peace and friendship in their hearts They gave us a place to belong Our ancestors came with severed roots The machine men told us to leave your ways behind Oh Great Mother, we were unseeing, unfeeling As we cleared forests and drained swamps With our saws we broke you With our muskets we ravaged your children Taking with them any hope We would keep the promise of peace and friendship While we built our New Zealand Upon the bones of their tīpuna We fed our own rootless sickness with gold Torn from your breast With this gold, this wool and milk and timber We grew ripe, proud and yet more hungry Our parents telling us “you can be whoever you want to be” While we forbade the children of this land to speak their mother tongue 31

Today, and everyday we remember these wrongs We remember the bloodshed upon your soil We remember to listen to voices on the wind Crying out: hold hands and face the truth In this truth telling, we give thanks; It is our Mother’s enduring love and forgiveness It is the steadfast leadership of ngā iwi Māori It is the pathway to peace and friendship Toitū te mana o te whenua! Toitū te mana motuhake Māori! Toitū Te Tiriti! - Sylvie McCreanor I am pākehā with Irish, English and Scottish ancestry. This spell reflects my identity as tangata Tiriti pākehā and our legacy of British colonisation in Aotearoa. The words “peace and friendship” are quoted from Professor Margaret Mutu in reference to the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I heard them in an interview on Te Ao with Moana Maniapoto, which premiered 19 March 2024. Line 3, “Danú” is the Irish Mother of Gods and representation of the earth. Who is the representation of the earth in your ancestral homeland? Change accordingly. Line 4, descriptors “steep hills and lush valleys” to be changed to reflect the landscape of the place you find yourself in. Line 5, “Te Āti Awa & Taranaki Whānui” to be changed to name and honour the mana whenua of the place you find yourself in. Line 9, did the tīpuna of the place you are in sign Te Tiriti? Alter line accordingly. If they didn’t, you could say “We do not forget the tīpuna of Aotearoa/these islands” The final three lines of the spell can be spoken by the whole group. 32

May we all find more Patience Gratitude to those who listen Those who take the time To understand all beings May we all gain more patience for listening Gratitude to the stargazers Who recognise the ancient threads And experience the fabric of the universe May we all gain more patience for stargazing Gratitude to those in relationship With the ones who feed, clothe, and shelter us Those who live and breathe reciprocity May we all learn relationship and leave behind power-over But most of all, gratitude to the water, earth Fire and wind that gives life to all bodies In a seemingly unconditional way May they have patience with us While we learn to come home. - Miriam Sherratt 33

An incantation for ancestral reconnection and belonging Deer, If you are here to stay, let us pray That you will share your wisdom our way Our way is not clear there is fear That hides the parts of our hearts that hold you dear Balance Regeneration Grace Wisdom As we are gied we are lied so That we can live in reciprocity - Claire Gibb of Jura A reflection on what we bring as Pākehā to contribute to the Te Tiriti relationship. Deer are sacred beings and important symbols where they originate, including in my ancestral land of Jura (a Norse word for deer). By viewing them only as pests in the context of Aotearoa, what are we denying of ourselves, what parts of our empathy are we shutting off and what teachings are we missing that we could offer in manaakitanga? 34

unsettling ourselves (a blessing for doing the work of decolonisation within) i hope we uncover i hope we laugh i hope we rage i hope we learn to honour the tree before we think to pick its fruit i hope we honour it together with our own hands in the soil and a quiet joy i hope that when the he of discomfort settles on our backs and wraps itself around our bellies that we lie back into it, and stroke its furry arms i hope we tend to our wounds the gulping grief of branches cut and painted over on trees we may never see i hope we press gently against the bruises of our ancestors i hope we let it all flow over us as water, so and yielding to humbly dissolve what is hard in us i hope we remember that we are always in sacred space dancing the precious deliverance of this earth to her birthright i hope we become death doulas for empire the old ways live in our bones let them feed on the compost of this world - Sylvan Spring 35

Saining Image description: a white-skinned arm holds four bundles of dried herbs wrapped in twine. The sky is bright blue. i made these saining bundles recently, sitting on my front porch in the sun. i was about to move out of a whare that had been very dear to me, and wanted to collect some of the herbs that had grown there, and use them to bless mine and friends' future spaces. it was beautiful to get to sit quietly in the sun, doing something my ancestors might have done, while trying to honour this place and the plants i've grown in partnership with it. there are a number of indigenous traditions that involve the ceremonial burning of herbs, and particularly known and appropriated is the burning of white sage in 36

native american culture. demand in relation to white sage and palo santo has caused both to be in severe decline, so for my own practice i don't buy or use palo santo, and only use white sage if it's been gied to me by a friend who has grown it. white sage is indigenous to turtle island, so our european ancestors would never have used it in their own practice. the burning of herbs to cleanse and purify, particularly in relation to cattle, was recorded by pliny the elder sometime between 23 and 79 ce, as being done by druids in gaul (france). the practice was referred to as saining in ireland and scotland, linked to the scottish gaelic word seun, which means to protect by enchantment. it could also come from the old norse seinn, meaning to make holy or to bless. saining was used to cure physical or spiritual ailments in people and animals, and purify spaces weighed down by negative energetic influences that were believed to cause illness. the tradition of passing cattles through and jumping over a fire at beltane is connected with this. midwives used to sain newborn babies and their mothers. saining was also likely done to indicate sacred space during a ritual, clear old energy, and as an accompaniment to meditation and journeying. the main herbs used by northern europeans for this purpose would have been mugwort, yarrow, and some variety of sage. vervain would have been used for particularly sacred occasions. rosemary, thyme, sage and lavender were used in mediterranean regions. when i sain, i like to use herbs that i grow in my garden, like kitchen sage, rosemary, lavender, mint, juniper, vervain, rose, thyme and mānuka, as well as herbs you can easily forage in aotearoa, like yarrow, lemon balm and pine. you can use heaps of different kinds of herbs for saining, but i like to research the properties of each herb and what purpose our ancestors might have used them for to figure out what's best for what i'm doing. if you want to leave an offering for plants that you have collected from, leaving a strand of hair was common in celtic tradition. there's an animist spirit to the practice of saining, in the acknowledgment that all living things hold their own essence and energy, and these energies can linger and become difficult or stagnant. i find saining really helpful when i'm feeling stuck, or when the energy in the house feels particularly stuffy or grimy. recently, i've found it great for honouring transitional times, and saying goodbye to people, things and places. the bundles pictured are for clearing stagnant energy and blessing a space, and i made them out of mānuka, rosemary, lavender, mint, and kitchen sage. once i collect my herbs, i wind string or twine around them diagonally upwards and downwards to keep them together, then tie them off and hang them up to dry for at least a few days before i use them. i like to say some sort of blessing, light the bundle - making 37

sure to carry a shell or dish under it to pick up the burnt bits that come off - wa it around my own body and then move sunwise (anti-clockwise in aotearoa) around my space, moving in whatever way feels intuitive. at the end, i give thanks and open a window to let the energy escape. apparently, old folklore records scottish families burning herbs until they could barely stand it inside, and then opening windows to release the energy. but you can use saining to bless and cleanse people, animals and objects as well, or to meditate or create the space for doing sacred or spiritual work. and there you have it, a folk magic practice for blessing and cleansing a space from our own pākehā ancestry, and using some of the same herbs our ancestors might have! i like to use mānuka that i've grown as well, to acknowledge the grounding on this whenua. i wrote this prayer down in one of my notebooks a couple of years ago, and it's a great one to use before saining a home space. it feels like it connects to decolonisation in the way it asks to 'restore us to memory', and keep us from ignorance and heartlessness, while being held in the hands of celtic pagan goddess brighid (pronounced like 'breed' in old irish). and it's very topical in terms of kindling the hearth of hope and reminding us to keep putting one foot in front of the other, walking in the direction of a future we believe in, and doing the little bits we can to bring that future into being, when all the violence and disconnection of late-stage capitalism nearly smothers us. i really connect with brighid - she's known for being a nurturing figure in pre-christian ireland, all about healing, poetry, smithing and agriculture. she was christianised into saint brigid in ireland, i assume sometime between the 5th and 10th centuries. i've tried looking this blessing up and it seems like one of those 'author unknown' ones that just pops up round the place. it feels at once both modern and age-old, so it's hard to tell whether it's something that has been passed down the centuries and reinterpreted, or something by a modern writer that's circulated around so much we've lost the author's name. it seems to connect to the tradition of prayers that women would say over their hearth once it started dying down and their children had gone to bed, to ask for protection for another night. - Sylvan Spring 38

prayer for the hearth brighid, lady of the mantle, encompass us, lady of the lambs, protect us, keeper of the hearth, kindle us, beneath your mantle, gather us and restore us to memory. mothers of our mother, foremothers strong, guide our hands in yours, remind us how to kindle the hearth. to keep it bright, to preserve the flame, your hands upon ours, our hands within yours, to kindle the light, both day and night. the mantle of brighid about us, the memory of brighid within us, the protection of brighid keeping us from harm, from ignorance, from heartlessness, this day and night, from dawn til dark, from dark til dawn. - Author Unknown 39

August-baum Last time I did Gathering at the Gate I was drawn to exploring the idea of a Maibaum (or maypole) which is a tall wooden pole decorated with garlands. Maibaum’s are generally erected communally on the 30th of April or 1st of May in villages and towns across central Europe but especially southern Germany (where my mother's ancestors are from). I found this information in a google rabbit hole: Die Herkun des Maibaums und dessen Brauch-tum ist umstritten. Ver-mutlich liegt sein Ur-sprung bereits bei den alten Germanen und deren Ver-ehrung diver-ser Wald-gott-heiten. In vor-christlicher Zeit wurden Bäume ausgesucht, um die die Menschen dann tanzten und Feiern veranstalteten. Sie dienten als Zeichen des wiederaufkeimendens Frühlings, waren aber auch Symbol für Fruchtbarkeit. Als heid-nischer Kult wurde dies dann im Christen-tum verboten. My clumsy translation: The origin of the Maypole and their usage is controversial. Presumably, they originate from the ancient Germanic people and their worship of diverse forest deities. Before Christianity the trees were chosen for people to dance around and hold festivities. They were a sign of the reappearance of spring, but were also a symbol of fertility. They were banned as a pagan practice under Christianity. I do have to say, I have seen the festivities around a Maibaum in the village where my grandparents live and it revolves a lot more around alchoholism and misogyny nowadays. Anyway, I decided to adapt this earth-honoring ritual to fit in Aotearoa and made a tiny August-baum to welcome in our spring. With kōwhai blossoms, oak twigs and 40

embroidery thread I tried to cra something that wasn't appropriative, but was more than just the relocation of practice into a context that doesn't fit. - Helena Leon Mayer Image description: a thin and bare stick rooted in a pot of soil stands straight. Near the top of the stick, leaves are attached and above that, golden thread has been tied around it. Four kōwhai flowers are threaded from the top to half way down the stick, they dangle with grace. 41

Lied/song/waiata E taku tau, e taku tau, nō rā hea koe? Nō Aotearoa, te whenua nei Ko Rangi kei runga, ko Papa kei raro E taku tau, e taku tau, nau mai ki te ao My darling, my darling, where do you come from? From Mother Earth, our one true home Ko Rangi kei runga, Ko Papa kei raro E taku tau, e taku tau, ko tēnei te ao Es gab eine Mutter die hatte vier Kinder: den Frühling, den Sommer den Herbst und den Winter. Der Frühling bringt Blumen, der Sommer den Klee der Herbst bringt die Trauben der Winter den Schnee My darling, my darling where do you come from? From your grandmother's strength, her blood and her bone Kia kaha, kia ū, kia mau tonu Kia whakamana te whenua Kia whakamana te whenua - Nā Tess Dalgety-Evans Kia ora GatG kin and whānau! This Lied/song/waiata was written in 2022 for the birth of Fernie, the next generation on our mother's line. It weaves in ancestral languages with te reo taketake as a blessing for all tamariki birthed here. In this context for Fernie, I wrote it for tamariki Pākehā as blessing to know their place and how they belong through Te Tiriti in Aotearoa. I originally performed this as part of my final cello recital using voice, strings and loop pedal. Feel free to add any verses you like e hoa mā; let's grow and call in the next reanga of Pākehā restorers to heal, repair and sacredly care for our relationship to Tāngata Whenua and Aotearoa. 42

Patience I am the wave, breaking. I am the shore, bearing. I am the river, pebbled deep with time. I am the tree, abiding. I am the soil, sensing. I am the river, rippled cold, in flow. I am the sky, breathing. I am the star, teaching. I am the river, dappled through with light. I am the moment of unfolding folding into time. I am the movement of unfolding folding into flow. I am the morning of unfolding folding into light, into light, into light. - Helen Lyttelton 43

PART THREE: KAI Most of us in Aotearoa are lucky enough to eat three meals a day, and yet this fortune goes so easily unnoticed. These blessings give us pause to reconnect with the cycles of life inherent to what’s on our plate. They remind us to eat with gratitude and feed with generosity. 44

Lillian’s blessing for kai Who is the valley, who is the field in which this food grew? Here we are, here we are, together with the food that grew. How could it be, how could it be A world where everybody could eat such food too? Let it be. - Lillian Murray 45

A blessing for food (Linking hands) We give thanks for this food - Thanks to everyone that’s brought it to us The sun, the rain, the earth that nourished it The hands that harvested and carried and cooked it And that we are here, together, to share this meal. May the hungry be well fed, and the well-fed hunger for justice! (Squeeze and release hands) - Zoe Higgins From a blessing used by the Joychild family. 46

A short, rhythmic blessing (in English) to use before eating/sharing Boil Up, while (literally/figuratively) voyaging Boil up boil up, Goodness from the soil up. Boil up boil up, it will help us coil up Lines on the ship, Lines on the sea. Good health to you, Good health to me - Anonymous Feel free to remix for different meals/situations. 47

Six Kai Blessings 1. Let us look on this delicious food With gratitude That we are the lucky ones who get to nourish our bodies today. With gratitude For the earth in which these plants and animals grew. With gratitude For the hands who harvested, handled and prepared This feast with love, So that we may come together to eat. 2. Let this abundance of nutritious food Rouse within us the delicious moods That lead seeds of kindness to germinate Into acts of generosity that percolate Beyond this house, and our community. So that those hungrier than us Might have this same opportunity. 3. We are grateful to the plants Whose roots took up water and nutrients to keep them upright, Whose stems were determined to find sunlight, Whose leaves were fed by our exhalations Who stayed steady in their soil and patiently grew So that we could be nourished by this beautiful food. 48

4. Let us look on this food With gratitude For the hands that helped the earth to grow The plants (and animals) That provide for us today And for the magic woven by the earth herself Bringing sunlight, soil, air, nutrients and water Together to create All that we need to survive. 5. We are grateful to the brave seedlings Who set down only the roots they needed to co-exist in the soil that found them. Who emerged from the depths, Who stayed through the rains, the winds and the long nights, Who lied their leaves to the light of each new day, So that we can breathe, eat, and tend to them again. 6. As we gather around this abundant meal, We take a moment to thank the plants (that fed the animals who provide for us tonight, And the plants) Who were harvested to ease our hunger. We think of the tiny seeds Who stayed dormant until conditions were just right, Who felt the warmth of the soil, And opened their tiny coats To oxygen And moisture Whose cells swelled Expanded Divided, And therefore grew. We think of the radicles- The first roots That anchored the plants To their soil. We think of the first shoots 49

That sprouted above ground. The first leaves, That fed the seedlings while they learnt To interpret sunlight as energy. We think of the leaves of the established plants That lied to the sunlight. We think of what it took to withstand the weather And survive. We hope that in eating this food, we, too, can anchor deeper into our roots and grow together towards the light. - Anonymous These blessings were written as a gateway practice towards becoming confident to make them up on the spot, to encourage my family members that blessings don't have to be a beautiful insightful poem but can be a simple acknowledgement of what we know about how our kai got to us. 50

Wren's food blessing Blessings on the hungry, soon to be the fed Blessings on the living, some day to be the dead Blessings on the length of days, the starlight, and the rain The worms, becoming birds, becoming worms around again. - Wren Mabin 51

A Toast to Nourishment Thanks to the sun whose light fuels every cell Thanks to the earth and moon for their endless wondrous circling dance Thanks to the soil who shares riches freely and cycles in the waste Thanks to the rain, kissing the earth with rivers Thanks to all the living beings who give their lives and fill our bellies Thanks to the wise ancestors who dared to make the unknown known Thanks to the farmers who dedicate their lives to land and seasons Thanks to the hands who prepared the food with love and care And thanks to friends and family whose company nourishes the heart - Miriam Sherratt 52

And an invocation for kai, written at/for Samhain Mauri ora e kai Te hononga To Papatūānuku in all her forms To the hands of labour in all their forms To each other in all our forms Weave us through our bodies Make us into he whāriki Of colours and textures Of fires and feasts and flights As descendents of paganism As guests of Te Kawerau-A-Maki As workers of Matike Mai Entangled, entangled, entangled Mauri ora, e kai - Rachel Jane Liebert Inspired by work with folx in The Tīpuna Project. 53

To share food As we sit down to eat we honour the interconnected strands of our lives meeting in commune at the junction of this table. As we sit down to share this meal we honour the life that has evolved into the life it provides for us now. We remember the hearts and the hands that have enabled us to sit here. To taste the wisdom it whispers on our tongues, to hear its texture that takes us to a time before, to feel its life affirming energy as it alchemises with the cells of our bellies, as it flows in our blood. May this meal remind us of a time to come still, that this same food, in new form, will exist in our futures. May this meal remind us of the bodies that have composted into soil to nurture new life, and may we remember that ours will one day do the same. - Milly Taylor 54

PART FOUR: CLOSING And we come to the challenge of ending. How do we move forward while letting go for the moment? These words provide the safety of ritual thanks and release. They speak to the moments when we must part ways and carry what we have collectively created onwards. 55

To close space As we leave this space, let us take a moment to breathe. As we breathe in, we absorb the energy we have together cultivated, as we breathe out we share particles of our potential with the world around us. As we breathe in and out, in and out, we attend to nature’s constant cycles of ebb and flow, start and end. We acknowledge that those two phases are oen blurry and can coexist. We honour the sharing of space, of minds, bodies and souls that have taken place, the connections that will continue to evolve with us. As this space closes, we enter another, holding our hearts open to water the seeds we have planted here today. - Milly Taylor 56

Leasanan na Tìre (lessons of the land) Nach ionnsaich sinn leasanan na tìre còmhla riuth' a bh' ann an roimhe nach dìon sinn iad nach dìon sinn ri chèile ‘s a h-uile beath' air feadh an t-saoghail San teanga 's aithne do'n tìr seo as eàrr: haumi e, hui e, tāiki e. - Dani Pickering “Leasanan na Tìre” bids us learn what lessons the land can teach us and those who have come before us—it’s intentionally le ambiguous as to whether those who came before refers to our ancestors and/or Indigenous people, so it can be adapted to a range of kaupapa. Listen to the audiozine to hear pronunciation. 57

To close a space Thanks for everything shared and done, Everything said and unsaid. The stumbles, the plunges, the gaps, the leaps. Thank you for this breathing space between us, This space we've woven and tangled from ourselves. Now, we let it rest. We leave the threads until we pick them up once more. May we carry the courage to act Until we meet again. - Zoe Higgins 58

Wren's two-minute poem for opening or closing a space May we take heart. May we take one another's heart in our careful hands and cradle it like an egg inside a nest. May each day bring us closer May our roots meet under the soil to share sugars and stories of the rustling wind. May we rest together and dream as the world is made again. The sun is rising. It's time. - Wren Mabin 59