09/07/2026
This Friday, 10 July, marks a uniquely Aotearoa New Zealand celebration - Matariki. It begins with the rising of the Pleiades star cluster in the Southern hemisphere and marks the start of the MÄori New Year.Â
Itâs a time built around three simple, beautiful ideas: remembering those whoâve passed, celebrating those still with us, and looking ahead with hope.
The remembrance part is the one that sits closest to my heart, and closest to why Vaso exists. During Matariki, whÄnau (family) speak the names of those theyâve lost aloud, under the stars, as an act of love and continuity. Thereâs something in that ritual, naming someone, out loud, on purpose, that feels exactly like what we try to hold space for here too. Not as an ending, but as a thread that keeps going eternally.
One of the nine stars in the Matariki cluster, PĆhutukawa, is specifically associated with those who have died â a quiet, built-in reminder that grief and joy arenât opposites at Matariki. They sit side by side, the way they so often do in real life.
However youâre marking Matariki this year, with kai, with whÄnau, with quiet reflection, or all three â we hope itâs a special one.
MÄnawatia a Matariki.
â Bridgit, Vaso founder