THE WOVEN UNIVERSE #907 - NON-LOCAL CONNECTION: WHANAUNGATANGA AS THE LAW OF ENTANGLEMENT

A Single Weave

In the traditions of Te Whare Wānanga o Tai Tokerau, Rev. Māori Marsden was trained to see the world differently than the way we are taught in modern schools. Through the lineage of the great navigator Nukutawhiti, who brought the Ngātokimatawhaorua waka to our shores, Marsden learned that the universe is not just a bunch of separate pieces. Instead, he saw a singular, dynamic weave. He described this as the Woven Universe, where every strand is connected to every other strand. In our research, we recognise this sacred law of connection as Whanaungatanga.

More Than Family

Many people think of Whanaungatanga as just "family relations" or getting together for a hui. But for a navigator, it is a physical law. It is the truth that nothing exists by itself. Your whakapapa is not just a list of names on a piece of paper, it is a map of how you are tangled up with the stars, the land, the water, and every other living thing. When we understand this, we realise that we are never truly alone and that our actions here in the North have an impact across the entire world.