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Spirits Bay is considered a sacred place in Māori belief. Spirits Bay, believed to be one of the most haunted spots in New Zealand and a famous spot for supernatural beings, [5] is considered a sacred place in Māori culture because according to legend, spirits of the dead depart to their ancestral home () [6] from a pōhutukawa tree at the tip of Cape Reinga.
Botanical illustration of a pōhutukawa sprig by Ellen Cheeseman. Pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), [2] also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, [3] [4] or iron tree, [5] is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red (or occasionally orange, yellow [6] or white [7]) flowers, each consisting of a mass of stamens.
The spirit stands by the upper end of these roots, awaiting an opening in the seaweed floating on the water. The moment an opening is seen, it flies down to the Reinga. Reaching the Reinga, there is a river and a sandy beach.
Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town of Kaitaia.State Highway 1 extends all the way to the cape, but until 2010 was unsealed gravel road for the last 19 km. [6] Suitable vehicles can also travel much of the way via Ninety Mile Beach and Kauaeparaoa Stream (Te Paki Stream) stream bed.
Metrosideros / ˌ m ɛ t r ə ˈ s ɪ d ər ə s,-t r oʊ-/ [3] is a genus of approximately 60 trees, shrubs, and vines in the family Myrtaceae, mostly found in the Pacific region.Most of the tree forms are small, but some are exceptionally large, the New Zealand species in particular.
Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars known to Western astronomers as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus. Matariki is a shortened version of Ngā mata o te ariki o Tāwhirimātea, "the eyes of the god Tāwhirimātea". [1]
Various folk cultures and traditions assign symbolic meanings to plants. Although these are no longer commonly understood by populations that are increasingly divorced from their rural traditions, some meanings survive. In addition, these meanings are alluded to in older pictures, songs and writings.
This page was last edited on 16 December 2024, at 01:27 (UTC).; Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply.