is war inevitable?
It’s part of our whakapapa (ancestry, genealogy), our tupuna engaged in warfare, it’s part of our very creation story… we love to claim all the aspirational traits, ancestral excellence and limitless potential available to us because our tupuna (ancestors) live on through us; we are whakapapa in action… does the same go for the undesirable traits, or in this case conflict, dispute and war?
Yes.
But there’s more to it below the surface, let’s dive.
First let’s break down technical aspects of Te Pakanga Atua, the war between the elements/gods. The catalyst came after the separation of the parents, Papatuanuku and Ranginui (heaven and earth) where some of the atua were for it, some were against.
Tāwhirimātea (the winds) attacked his siblings, everyone fled except for Tūmātauenga (atua of war, man) who stood up to him. It wasn’t clear who won this battle, which is probably why it continues on in us today; one form being the build up of lactic acid in our muscles (associated with Tū) due to lack of oxygen (Tāwhiri) getting to them during physical activity.
The last notable mention of this war is probably how Tū felt betrayed by his siblings for not having his back vs Tāwhiri, so he avenged himself and attacked everyone.
The war (this one anyway) came to an end, the atua explored their new world and found home in the domains we know them as today in our natural environment.
all of this lives on within us — whakapapa in action, baby!
War is not only inevitable, it’s absolute.
I bet you’re feeling super inspired haha kinda feels like a down-buzz.. all roads lead to conflict.. but what if that’s not a bad thing? What if we embraced this and learned how to navigate the thoughts and feel of conflict, dispute and war etc., more effectively by how we interpret this pūrākau?
Could we redefine what it means to engage in conflict? Dissolve wars before they ever get to that point? Could we have systems in place to acknowledge and celebrate differences and grow together?
Could we do conflict better?
I used to think I was pretty neat because I never got angry. It was like an avoid-at-all-costs zone for me and I thought that meant I was mature and good at conflict. Until I couldn’t take it anymore and explode or lash out and say things I didn’t mean, “in the heat of the moment.”
Our anger, frustration, sadness, getting hōhā or upset are normal feels to have and they serve a purpose. But because they’re often described as ‘negative’ we might refrain from engaging with them and utilising them to navigate conflicts that inevitably arise in our lives.
By understanding this internal battle and struggle for power between atua, the conflicting elements within us and our role its continuation, this can be a source of empathy that allows us to show compassion towards others; since we can identify the war that rages in us also lives in them.
It might take a different form, people might express it in different ways, but we’re all whakapapa in action.
War is not only inevitable, it’s absolute. But if we’re having the same wars our tupuna had at the beginning of time, or between each other hundreds of years ago (or not even that long ago…) we haven’t evolved that much.. which goes against the very catalyst for that war in the first place! Don’t you think?
On a personal, professional, collective, micro and macro level — how can we better engage in conflict and the mechanics of war?
Tēnā tātou,
Hana.