HINA

Moon Goddess

Throughout the South Pacific the moon Goddess, or personification of the moon, is known as Hina - the ruler of tidal waters and the time keeper of the seasons. Hina has many faces which she likes to transition between from time to time. Some of these shifts are called Te Hina-te-ao (female light); Hina-te-po (female dark); Hina-keha (pale moon); Hina-uri (dark moon); Hine-korako (lunar halo).

Hina’s lunar phases also refer to a sacred portal in which Wairua (Spirits) can return to their origin of life. She is seen as a constant rhythm of life and death - creation and destruction.

Hine-te-iwaiwa (or Hina-te-iwaiwa) is an important Maori moon Atua (Goddess). It could be argued that Hina and Hine-te-iwaiwa are actually one in the same Atua. Maori know her as the heavenly principal that governs over childbirth and the art of weaving. Acknowledged as the embodiment of wife and mother, she provides the precedence for all human women to follow. All female children were dedicated to her at birth.