Kauri: Where Papatūānuku and Ranginui Meet Within Us

Reflections from In Communion with Rākau | 29 October 2026

Through the practice of In Communion with Rākau, an understanding began to emerge about the relationship between Papatūānuku, Ranginui and the living presence of Kauri within ourselves.

In an earlier meditation, we had brought our awareness into our waewae, imagining our feet becoming the roots of Kauri and extending into the whenua. This invited us to consider our relationship with Papatūānuku, not simply through the ground beneath us, but through the living connection we experience within our own bodies.

During a subsequent meditation with Kauri, this relationship expanded to include Ranginui. As we imagined ourselves becoming one with Kauri, our feet extended into the bosom of Papatūānuku while our upper body became the trunk and canopy, reaching towards the heavens. We began to experience the mauri of Papatūānuku rising through our roots and tinana, while the mauri of Ranginui descended through our canopy, flowing towards the whenua.

What emerged was an understanding of our bodies as a meeting place for these two great presences. Within our puku and manawa, we imagined their mauri coming together, intertwining and embracing. In this experience, Kauri became more than a rākau we were sitting beside. Through communion, we explored the possibility that the same relationship between whenua and sky could be experienced within ourselves.

There was also a sense of nourishment within this exchange. We contemplated the sustenance received from Papatūānuku and the spiritual nourishment received from Ranginui, both moving through the living form of Kauri and, in our meditation, through our own tinana. Rather than seeing ourselves as separate from these relationships, we were invited to experience our place within them.

Towards the end of our practice, the sounds around us offered another opportunity for reflection. Stillness did not require the world around us to become silent. Instead, we could practise remaining present while life continued to move around us, much as Kauri remains rooted in the whenua while its canopy moves with the wind.

Through these experiences, I am coming to understand more deeply that our relationship with Papatūānuku and Ranginui is not something that exists outside of us. Their mauri is present within the living world, and through our communion with Kauri, we are invited to recognise that same relationship within ourselves.

These reflections emerged through the practice of In Communion with Rākau, a daily meditation practice within the Rongoā Mauri Collective.