{"id":117269,"date":"2021-12-31T05:07:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T15:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiicompro.wpengine.com\/?p=117269"},"modified":"2023-07-20T16:35:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T02:35:28","slug":"the-perpetuation-of-the-goddess-pele-and-the-land-she-creates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.com\/the-perpetuation-of-the-goddess-pele-and-the-land-she-creates\/","title":{"rendered":"The Perpetuation of the Goddess Pele and the Land She Creates"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

By Karyl Garland<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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2018 May 19 CTY – HSA photo by Jamm Aquino\/jaquino@staradvertiser.com\r\n\r\nAn Albizia tree is seen in the foreground as lava erupts inside Leilani Estates on Saturday, May 18, 2018 in Pahoa on Hawaii Island. Lava has now reached the ocean, crossing Highway 132 late Saturday evening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Myths surrounding the goddess Pele are intricate and intriguing. Tales tell of her birthplace and lineage, her migration from Tahiti to Hawai\u02bbi, her quest for a suitable home, her altercations and love a\ufb00airs, and her hand in shaping the Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The word pele also means volcano, lava \ufb02ow, and eruption; through volcanic activity, she destroys everything in her path. As such, Pele is known as Ka wahine \u02bbai honua (the earth-eating woman), Ka wahine \u02bbai la\u2018au o Puna (the tree-eating woman), and Ka wahine \u02bbai pohaku (the stone-eating woman). However, through the same volcanic activity, Pele expands this island chain. She destroys, but she creates.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Some say Pele was born as a \ufb02ame from the mouth of Haumea, the earth mother and goddess of fertility. She had many brothers and sisters, each of whom was a guardian of some element of nature. All of her siblings were devoted to her except for her elder sister Namakaokaha\u02bbi. One story follows that it was Namaka who propelled Pele toward her destiny.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Exasperated because Pele had been a precocious, \ufb01re-making younger sister and later outraged because Pele had seduced her husband, Namaka drove her from the ancient Polynesian homeland Tahiti.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As Pele set forth, she was accompanied by her most respected brother Kamohoali\u02bbi\u2014custodian of the waters (possibly in his shark form)\u2014as guide. Her favorite younger sister Hi\u02bbiaka also joined Pele, perhaps inside an egg under Pele\u2019s arm to stay warm.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The islands and atolls of the South Paci\ufb01c had become tranquil over the centuries. But the new islands Pele came upon were dynamic with rivers of molten lava and the potential to provide her with an ideal \ufb01ery home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

First landfall happened in the northern islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Starting on Ni\u02bbihau and moving to Kaua\u02bbi, Pele used her digging stick to strike the land looking for a molten pit to create residence. However, a relentless Namaka had pursued Pele. So, every time she excavated a crater, Namaka \ufb02ooded it\u2014an eternal opposition between the elements of \ufb01re and water.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So Pele traveled down the island chain followed by her enraged sister extinguished every pit Pele dug. It is said that the pursuit ended in a battle near Hana on the island of Maui where Pele was torn apart. A hill named Ka Iwi o Pele (the bones of Pele) stands where the battle was held and where Pele\u2019s bones are said to remain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

With the death of her human self, Pele\u2019s spirit was free, and she became elevated to godly status. Her spirit then \ufb02ew to the island of Hawai\u2018i where she \ufb01nally found a permanent home in Halema\u2018uma\u2018u crater within the active volcano Kilauea on the \ufb02ank of Mauna Loa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Pele\u2019s travels parallel the movement of the earth\u2019s crust over the \ufb01xed volcanic hotspot where lava pushes up from under the mantle and creates a volcano, thus providing a mythological explanation for the creation of the Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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2018 May 21 CTY – HSA photo by Jamm Aquino\/jaquino@staradvertiser.com\r\n\r\nLava enters the Pacific Ocean on Monday, May 21, 2018 in lower Puna on Hawaii Island. Lava has finally reached the ocean, but experts advise exercising caution near plumes of “laze,” as they contain particles of glass as well as toxic hydrochloric acid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Image<\/a>
20180528-7765 CTY POHOIKI RD LAVA\r\nPHOTO BY DENNIS ODA\r\nThis is the glow of lava from fissure 8 slowing advancing through the forest. This is the view from the side of Pohoiki Road between the Leilani Estates and the Geothermal Plant. The lava is slowly advancing over the road and this picture was made just in front of the advancing lava (like 2 feet away from the lava edge). The red glow is in stark contrast to the blue night sky. PHOTO BY DENNIS ODA. MAY 28, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Traditional Polynesian thought suggests that the universe is one in which all things, including the gods, are part of nature. Creating and sustaining a productive society meant living harmoniously with this natural world. Correspondingly, failing to do so meant retribution from the gods.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The goddess Pele is featured throughout the traditional Polynesian narrative with most tales involving seduction, jealousy and revenge. But these tales also, more signi\ufb01cantly, bridge the natural with the supernatural in a way that explains the science of the islands. Important to understand, however, is that the people of Hawai\u02bbi did not consider the concept of the supernatural in the sense of contemporary usage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The goddess Pele is featured throughout the traditional Polynesian narrative with most tales involving seduction, jealousy and revenge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

True stories exist about her destruction and creation of land, about her devastation of entire villages. The most recent activity\u2014the opening up of new \ufb01ssures in Lower Puna \u2014 has indeed overrun several subdivisions with lava. The \ufb02ow to the sea has even changed the coastline, inundating Kapoho and its famous tidepools.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But other stories exist as recounted by real people who swear to have seen Pele in one of her many forms\u2014in either \ufb02esh or spirit. She sometimes immerges with a white dog on moonless nights to alert human beings when an eruption is imminent. Other times, she appears to unsuspecting souls as a lady in a crimson dress or an old woman in \ufb02owing white.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On the island of O\u02bbahu, on the Old Pali Road of Nu\u02bbuanu Valley, stories are told of a woman with long, black hair by the side of the road. Drivers who o\ufb00er her a ride are blessed with good fortune; those who do not are said to \ufb01nd a di\ufb00erent sort of response.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Another belief is that one must not take pork over any pali (hill or cli\ufb00) separating two sections of an island. Legends tell us that the Pele and the demigod Kamapua\u2018a, the hog-man, had a turbulent relationship and agreed not to see each other. If one takes pork over the pali, one is symbolically taking a piece of Kamapua\u2018a toward Pele. Pele would cause a car\u2019s engine to fail to keep that from happening.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n