The spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: A qualitative analysis

ABSTRACT

For Aotearoa New Zealand Māori, wairua (spirit) is an integral aspect of existence and important source of well-being. In this qualitative study, 15 Māori participants discuss their personal experiences of wairua. Inductive thematic analysis revealed a diverse range of highly meaningful spiritual experiences occur for Māori, and align with historical accounts about wairua and existing academic research on anomalous experiences. Within Māori culture socially accepted structures exist to reference anomalous experiences against, which facilitate acceptance and normalcy to such occurrences. Valuing and acknowledging Māori spirituality has tremendous therapeutic potential for addressing issues of mental well-being within Aotearoa New Zealand.

KEYWORDS:

• Wairua
• wairuatanga
• spiritual experiences
• spirituality
• exceptional human experiences
• anomalous experiences
• mental well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We use the term anomalous/spiritual to illustrate that phenomenologically similar experiences can be defined and interpreted in different ways, depending on personal and culture determinants.