Hawaiian Life

Ancient Hawaiians believed in the sacred power of words and the sacred energy in all life. Out of the 40,000 words in the spoken language, a profusion of them describe the ancient Hawaiian’s close harmony with nature. In old Hawaii, man believed that his spiritual inheritance was to be guardian or kahu of the ‘aina or the living earth.

Thus, there are several words for all aspects of nature. There are words for every plant or animal species that are endemic to the islands, words to describe different kinds of rocks, minerals and the types of soil and the different types of lava.

The household gecko brings good luck to a home and killing a gecko is to invoke bad luck. Hawaiians have much respect for the gecko not only because it eats its weight in insects, it bears a great resemblance to the powerful aumakua, the mo’o.

However, the Hawaiian guardian spirit, mo’o, refers to a much larger gleaming black dragon-like reptile found in ponds, especially fishponds, and sometimes in caves. Mentioned in Hawaii’s creation legends, this ancient animal ranks second to the shark or mano in importance as an aumakua.

Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona the Founder of Modern Ho’oponopono

Restoring the light within ourselves and to the world at large was the mission of Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona (1913-1992).  A gifted Hawaiian healer, Morrnah presented the world with an updated version of the ancient Hawaiian practice of conflict resolution. Known as Ho’oponopono, and championed by self-help guru, Joe Vitale, Morrnah’s version of the Hawaiian tradition has been increasingly embraced by contemporary society which has been won over by its simplicity and elegance.

     Aloha is the most widely used, the most sacred and the most powerful word in the Hawaiian language. While most first-timers to Hawaii think it is a word used in greeting, meaning hello, goodbye or love but its true usage means volumes more. It is one of the two words that most represent the values that are cherished and treasured in the Hawaiian culture, the other being Mahalo.

     If you have ever been to the Hawaiian Islands, then you have probably had a chance to eat some of the best pineapple in the world.  It is so good, that you can actually eat it till your teeth hurt, and your mouth is sore from the juice. What a truly great treat. 

     If you really want to be able to get in touch with a piece of ancient Hawaii, then the sport of surfing is a good place to start.  It is an ancient Hawaiian traditional, that was the sport of the kings.  It could also be your sport.  If you want to start learning how to surf, we recommend that you get a good teacher. However, we did want to cover some of the basics with you.

     Let’s start by talking about surfboards.  You want to make sure you buy your first board very long.  The longer length will help you stay up easier.  Once you become more experienced, you can get yourself a shorter board.

     In ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs, a basic triangle symbolizes a shark’s tooth which was an instrument of great power. Shark’s teeth or niho mano were seen as protectors because some sharks or mano are guardian spirits or ancestor gods while others can be kapua which are part god part human.

     Those who are fortunate enough to have a shark aumakua depend on the guardian animal for assistance in fishing, protection from dangers posed by other lesser sharks, rescue from drowning and safety from sorcery.

     The Eye of Kanaloa is an ancient Hawaiian symbol which you see when you gaze into the eye of the God of the Ocean, Kanaloa. It is a powerful healing symbol as Kalanoa, whose name means “great peace” or “great stillness” is also a god of healing as he channels the energy “mana” from Io, the Source, to healing disease.

     Imagine a round spiderweb with four concentric circles ringing outwards and 8 spokes of a wheel radiating from the center circle. In the smallest circle in the center is a 7 armed star with a dot in the middle.  The overall pattern depicts the web of life, or the Aka Web, representing the interconnectedness of life. In the center of this web is the shaman or the conscious individual who knows that he or she weaves the pattern of the life lived or to be experienced. The conscious person is the dreamweaver.

Mission Houses Museum, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.; FREE.

Location

Dining choices in Hawaii range from fast food places that seem to be ubiquitous world wide, to wonderful little “mom and pop shops”, to fine dining-reservation only establishments. The cuisine is just as varied. Noodles, rice, steak, fish, fried, baked, and raw, you name it, you can find it here in Hawaii.

When you think of dining in Hawaii you first thought is probably of going to a luau. That is for good reason, luaus are so much fun.  When you first arrive at the luau, you usually get a nice cool beverage to drink and have some sort of entertainment until the crowd all gathers. Then the opening of the imu, or pit in which the kalua pig has been cooked, occurs. Boy does it smell great!

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