This weekend is the last weekend of classes for myself and my students. It's certainly been a tough year with two lockdowns and uncertainty about travelling overseas in the near future but time has continued and now we find ourselves at the end of another year.
One of the activities we had this weekend was to show a sobering NZ movie called "Maui's hook" (2018). It's a documentary with some traditional Maori motifs and beliefs weaved into the story about 5 grieving families' healing and spiritual journey from Whanganui to Cape Reinga.
I couldn't quite figure out the 'hook's' symbolism until I read an article about the movie and it discussed the hook representing the route of the families' bus ride to the traditional spiritual place of Cape Reinga where Maori spiritual beliefs of the dead would return to.
Much like the Samoan beliefs of old in Falealupo on the northwesternmost coast of where the souls of chiefs would ascend to upon their death. This was the belief that their souls would then descent to Pulotu to the afterworld.
In fact, as I've blogged about a couple of times before, this was an interesting belief that is shared throughout the Pacific eg. Hawaii, Rarotonga, etc. where areas geographical areas were designated usually towards a Northwesternly point where spirits of the dearly departed would ascent to.
The movie itself included some touching stories of 5 families who had lost loved ones to suicide and the guilt, anger, questions and learnings that they had together in learning to deal with that grief. The journey they make is spiritual, physical and emotional.
A movie definitely worth watching if your family has dealt with grief relating to suicide and the healing journey of releasing or letting go of some of the debilitating emotions that families have had to deal with at Cape Reinga and learning to live beyond the grief...
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