Mana is a concept that is vital to the understanding of Hawaiian religious beliefs and the structure and functioning of Hawaiian society. Mana is inextricably tied to the concept of kapu. Mana has been defined by Western and Hawaiian scholars as supernatural power, divine power, miraculous power, spiritual power, but for our purposes, we will […]
Millions of years ago, volcanic eruptions gave birth to the island of O‘ahu. A “hot spot” through the earth’s mantle deep in the Pacific vented molten lava creating each of the islands as the mantle (the tectonic plate) moved steadily to the northwest. The Waiʻanae volcano was the first part of O‘ahu to emerge. Close […]
It is unfortunate that there is no documentation on the rituals that were conducted on agricultural heiau or who may have conducted them. Westerners who first came to Hawai‘i wrote much about the luakini heiau, being fascinated by the sensationalism of its rituals even though agricultural heiau were said to have been more numerous. Hawaiian […]
The gods had kinolau (many bodies) and something of their essence existed in plants, animals and many natural phenomena. Many of the gods overlap in their kinolau. The following are a tiny representation of the many kinolau of the gods. Lono was seen in thunder and in the rain clouds, in the ipu and ‘uala, […]
A Legend of the Valley of the Rainbow as told by HRH David Kalākaua (The Legends and Myths of Hawaii, 1888) Manoa is the most beautiful of all the little valleys leaping abruptly from the mountains back of Honolulu and cooling the streets and byways of the city with their sweet waters. And it is […]
In the traditional Hawaiian worldview, the psychic and spiritual realms are embodied in the physical realm, and the spirits may inhabit animate and inanimate objects. Mary Kawena Pukui, the pre-eminent Hawaiian scholar of the 20th century, wrote eloquently on the relationship Hawaiians, and in particular, the mahiʻai, the farmer, had with their environment. It is […]
Hawaiians conducted many rituals to their gods at sites called heiau. A cultural definition of heiau is a place of worship where mana (divine energy) is transferred and concentrated through ritual and prayer. Simple rituals could take place at any suitable location. A shrine, consisting of a single stone or small altar might also serve […]
In an article entitled “Mānoa Valley” from the 1892 Hawaiian Annual, Thomas Thrum refers to the Oʻahu chief Kūaliʻi, in connection with Kūkaʻōʻō Heiau: This old heathen temple dates back many hundred years. Its erection is credited to the Menehune-or class of pigmies-but was rebuilt during the reign of Kualii, who wrested it from them […]
Mānoa Valley has a long history as a place of agriculture. It is only in the last fifty years and in particular the two decades following World War II that agriculture vanished from the valley. Increased population and Mānoa’s proximity to the growing city of Honolulu transformed the valley into one of the most desirable […]
Hawaiians named the rains and the winds in different locales. The Kākea wind of Mānoa is a stormy wind, the strongest wind in the valley. The Alaʻeli wind of Mānoa is a cooling breeze. Kahaukani is another Mānoa wind that is said to moan when royalty dies. Tuahine is the name of the misty Mānoa […]