Today the winter solstice - in Rapa Nui language Ta'u Ho'ou - is celebrated on the Ahu Huri a Ureŋa on Rapa Nui. This festivity, also known as Aringa Ora o Korois the celebration equivalent to the Rapa Nui New Year.
The cosmos has been revered by all ancient civilizations since the beginning of time. Rapa Nui was no exception, here they have always observed the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars, the constellations and their position in the firmament throughout the year.
In the past, it was the Maori u'i hetu'u or stargazing experts who realized that the appearance in the sky of this or that star or its change of position coincided with certain natural phenomena occurring on land and in the sea.
The position of the stars in the sky determined the right time to plant or harvest, the arrival of migratory birds, turtles, the spawning of certain fish and other aspects linked to nature. Each special occasion implied the performance of ceremonies in sacred places, ahu or altars, where homage was paid to the ancestors and, according to tradition, they prayed for the fertility and productivity of their families and natural resources.
Among the most important constellations is the Pleiades, known as Matariki in Rapa Nui. The 7 stars that form it appear with the first light of dawn, at the end of May and June, and indicate the beginning of the winter solstice and the beginning of the year.
The celebration for the appearance of the Pleiades took place at the altar of the Ahu Huri a Ureŋa, a solar-oriented altar, which was built perpendicular to the azimuthal line, the imaginary line that joins sunrise and sunset on these dates and marked the longest night of the year.
The ancient Rapa Nui learned to differentiate the solstices and equinoxes by looking at the stars, and thus to identify the different seasons of the year. For each season there were specific ceremonies and rituals to give thanks and attract good omens.
In recent years, the Rapa Nui community has revitalized this ancestral celebration, once again organizing commemorative ceremonies on this significant date. The return of these astronomical traditions represents a beautiful reunion with the ancestral knowledge and wisdom of the ancestors, keeping alive the spiritual connection between the Rapa Nui people and the cosmos that for millennia has guided their existence on this remote Pacific island.
Mōai Huri to Ureŋa
