New moon, low energy, good for rest, reflection, eeling; not good for planting or fishing.
Small crescent, good for shellfish, eeling, gentle planting; not ideal for high-pressure decisions or big pushes.
Pleasing early moon, good for eeling, crayfishing, kūmara, seed crops; not ideal for laziness.
Get-to-work phase, good for planting, fishing, tuber beds; not ideal for procrastination or drifting.
Good afternoon energy and night eeling, useful for planting; not ideal for expecting calm fish behaviour.
Unsettled phase, good for planting with caution; not ideal for sea travel, fishing, or risky plans.
Eels feed strongly, good for planting and fishing; not ideal when fog, rough sea, or uncertainty rises.
Productive but cautionary, good for shellfish and small kai; not ideal for careless fishing or assumptions.
Weather improves, good for morning planting and measured mahi; not very good for fishing.
Difficult energy, good for pausing and observing; not good for planting, fishing, eeling, or crayfishing.
Favourable for eeling and some planting, good morning energy; not ideal for fishing later without care.
Rougher energy, good for water clean-up and reflection; not ideal for fishing, planting, or sea activity.
Good planting phase, linked with crayfish gathering; not ideal for wasteful harvesting or ignoring local limits.
Mixed phase, good for quiet spiritual reflection; not ideal for risky food-gathering or forcing heavy mahi.
Good working and planting phase, useful for fishing later; not ideal for wasting the day's momentum.
High-energy near-full moon, good for planting, kai planning, activity; not ideal for hiding, resting, or eeling.
High-energy full moon, good for visibility, kai planning, gathering; not ideal for eeling or quiet rest.
Good for fishing, seed growth, and active mahi; not ideal for slow reflection or low-energy recovery.
Good for morning mahi, soil care, weeding, preparation; not ideal for leaving important work until afternoon.
Better later in the day, good for gentle progress; not ideal for forcing outcomes early or rushing.
Low-energy phase, good for cleaning, resetting, giving back; not good for planting or fishing.
Good for clearing, pausing, restoring spaces; not ideal for harvesting, fishing, or launching big mahi.
Turning toward productivity, good for preparation and patience; not ideal for wasteful harvesting or overexertion.
Strong fishing phase, good for kai gathering and planting; not ideal for staying disconnected from te taiao.
Productive phase, good for fishing, planting, and eeling; not ideal for careless gathering or ignoring conditions.
Excellent for fishing and kai gathering, good outdoor energy; not ideal for indoor stagnation or inactivity.
Good for fishing, eeling, forest walks, learning rākau; not ideal for wasteful taking or rushing nature.
Productive and desirable, good for planting, fishing, eeling; not ideal for ignoring seasonal signs and movement.
Energy begins dropping, good for gentle planting and reflection; not ideal for heavy demands or overcommitting.
Dark, low-energy ending phase, good for rest and closure; not good for major starts or harvesting.
Maramataka is often described as the Māori lunar calendar, but that description only tells part of the story. The word itself comes from marama (moon, and also understanding) and taka (to turn, to shift). At its heart, Maramataka is about the turning of the moon and everything that turning touches.
For centuries, Māori used Maramataka as a living guide to the natural world. It tracked the phases of the moon, the movement of stars, the patterns of tides and winds and seasons, and wove them together into a framework for decision-making. When to plant. When to fish. When to harvest. When to rest. When to gather as a community. These were not arbitrary choices. They were informed by deep, accumulated observation of how the natural world behaves and what it asks of us in return.
Maramataka is both a calendar and a philosophy. It is a way of understanding that humans are not separate from nature, managing it from the outside. We are part of it. When we pay attention to its rhythms, we live better, grow better, and care better for the land and for each other.
The moon governs more than the tides. Māori observed over generations that lunar cycles influence soil moisture, plant growth, animal behaviour, and the energy of the natural environment. Different phases of the moon carry different qualities. Some are better for planting root vegetables, others for leafy crops, others for fishing or resting.
Each phase has a name and a character. Whiro, the new moon, is a time of low energy, better for rest and reflection. As the moon grows toward Rākaunui (the full moon), energy and vitality build, making it a time for action, planting, and bringing people together. As it wanes again, the focus shifts to harvesting, preserving, and consolidating.
These aren’t superstitions. They are the result of hundreds of years of careful watching and listening to the land.
One of the most important things to understand about Maramataka is that it is not a single, universal system. Different iwi developed their own Maramataka, shaped by the particular environment, coastline, climate, and resources of their rohe (region). TheMaramataka of Northland looks different from that of the South Island high country. This reflects a core principle of Māori knowledge: place matters, and wisdom is local.
This is why, in our work at WithIN NATURE, we work alongside Māori from this rohe. The knowledge that guides us here belongs here. It cannot simply be imported or standardised.
Maramataka extends beyond the garden and the sea. It also offers guidance for personal and communal wellbeing, recognising that the rhythms governing the natural world also move through us. Rest is honoured as much as productivity. Community gathering has its season. Reflection has its place alongside action.
For rangatahi especially, this is a powerful thing to encounter. In a world that demands constant output and constant connectivity, Maramataka offers a different kind of time, one that is cyclical, patient, and rooted in something much older than any screen.
For much of the 20th century, Maramataka knowledge was suppressed, marginalised, or simply lost as communities were disconnected from their land and their language. Its revival today is part of the broader resurgence of mātauranga Māori and it is being reclaimed by communities, researchers, and educators across Aotearoa.
At WithIN NATURE, Maramataka is not a token acknowledgement. It is a working framework. It shapes how we plan our planting, how we structure our programmes, and how we think about our relationship with the whenua we are helping to regenerate.
When we honour Maramataka, we honour the generations who built that knowledge and we pass something real on to the generations who come after us.
He kura kaupapa no ngā tūpuna. A treasured tradition from our ancestors.