the keen lover
Puanga (Rigel) is Taranaki’s tohu of the new year. In our rohe, it is said to be the oldest star in the sky which is why she leads these celestial bodies into te tau hou. The traditions surrounding her are almost as abundant as the stars themselves, each celebrating her relationship to the world as we know it.
Some have her as the wife of Rehua (Antares), the tohu of summer, and claim puawānanga (White clematis) as the child of these two lovers, the flower blooming in the months between their rising and setting. Others have her as the wife of another star, Takurua (Sirius), and claim them to have begotten the second brightest star in the night sky, Atutahi (Canopus). Together they are said to signal the time of cultivating kūmara while providing at the same time tohu of what the weather will do in the coming months.
Link to article: Puanga the keen lover | The Spinoff
