Can you be connected to someone, or something you've never met?

I feel like the ropes Māui (tupuna, demigod) used to slow Tamanui (the sun) down have snapped, because the days are passing by like nobody's business!  We're a couple days out from Whiro (new moon phase) already, which means a new atua (deity, elemental force) to analyse and pull apart.. lovingly and respectfully of course. 

Last week I wrote about how my observations of Rūaumoko (atua of volcanoes, earthquakes) and his behaviours were actually a reflection of how I was feeling and thinking.. and since working through and clearing out a lot of that, I've been able to appreciate Rūaumoko in a different light and admit that

my problem was my perception of the situations I found myself in, not necessarily the situations themselves..

And I took that out on Rūaumoko.  Anyway, unless anyone's got some self-awareness brownie points for me, we'll continue.. Perhaps Rūaumoko wasn't upset and frustrated - but had been cooking in the oven (womb) long enough and was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get out and join his siblings and meet his father, our new atua in the series;

Ranginui. 

(Sky Father).  

One of my best friends is hapū (pregnant) at the moment and pēpi puts on a regular haka - unless it's just for me.... ohhhh favourite aunty.. haha bragging rights aside, our baby girl is actively kicking and wriggling around in there, just like Rūaumoko!  I try to imagine what it might be like for her and other pēpi who are just chilling in te whare tangata (the womb); hearing sounds, feeling touch, receiving information about what their world will be like and developing a connection with their māmā over several months, ultimately leading up to their birth.  The birth that never happened for Rūaumoko... no wonder he's erupting and quaking all over the place! He can hear and feel something's happening somewhere, beyond where he is, and he can't get amongst it.. 

If that's how Rūaumoko's expressing himself - it breaks my heart to empathise what it might be like for Ranginui.  To have a child he loves but has never met or known; to observe from afar and weep from time to time, hoping his tears (rain) will seep through the earth, down to his son... in addition to constantly looking down at his love, Papatuanuku, and know he's no longer able to reach or hold her.  

Which leads me to ask, what type of connection can Ranginui and Rūaumoko share? Can you be connected to someone, or something you've never met?  Obviously.  Like with our creation process;

Te Kore > Te Pō > Te Ao Mārama

potential, formless > chaos, unknown > physical manifestation, enlightenment,

the physical expressions of our connections manifest from spiritual, emotional and unseen origins.  I've never met my koroua (dad's dad), or any of my tupuna (ancestors) who were aboard the Te Arawa waka, or Paikea from the coast, or my tupuna from Scotland - but I feel connected to them because of my understanding of whakapapa; that I am them and they are me.  However, those connections remain in the Te Kore & Te Pō and haven't been reinforced in Te Ao Mārama, the physical world.

Does that make the connections of any less value? Are the connections false? He aha ō koutou whakaaro? What do you reckon?

Ngā mihi,

Hana.