This morning I want to talk about the Goddess Pele as she is currently in the news with the latest lava flow on the Big Island. When we visit the Big Island and in particular the areas around Kilauea, the transformational power of Pele is easy to see. She literally creates the newest land on the planet, extending and reforming the landscape. Its been this way for as long as the island existed and for most of those living on the island, they know they are there only with her grace. By this, I mean every single Hawaiian I spoke with, understood that She had right of way and that if you live on an island with an active volcano, then you knew the risks and also the advantages of this. To the Hawaiians, Pele isnt just a far away spirit or Goddess up in the heavens, she is a living breathing entity. Lava in flow is actually called Pele. To know of her mythos, rich and powerful, based in the very physics of the island, is to understand the somewhat philosophical view of the native Hawaiians about her and the chance of destruction. Now this is why I was happy to hear that there were some people booed loudly at a town meeting on the island on the weekend. Why? Well, whilst the June 27th flow has very much slowed, there is still a possibility of it flowing over some new houses rather than some trees and roads. Some of these land owners requested the mayor look into diversionary tactics eg: blowing up the lava flow. They were naturally, booed loudly. Besides the fact that diverting lava flow by explosive normally rather backfires badly on people, the cultural inappropriateness of this is incredible. It is just like saying: We will blow up your Goddess or See that Church? We are going to blow it up. There are some places that people shouldnt build if they know there is a good chance that nature will reclaim or they arent willing to take that risk. Surely you buy land not too far from a volcanic national park then you sort of have to know the day may come. The owner of the retreat we stay in whilst on the Big Island, Richard Koob, said to me: I have invested much of my life into this place and bringing the aloha spirit to people. I know that it may be destroyed as quickly as Pele decides. I can do nothing about it and that is part of the beauty. My Aunty Lynda Saffery, who is our Hawaiian elder on the island and someone who has actively fought for many years for the reintroduction of Hawaiian culture (yes, many native cultural activities such as language, names, holua, even hula was banned by missionaries and the US govt), had this to say on her page...Only She knows Her Path, da rest of us jus speculate! Perhaps instead of trying to blow Pele up, they might instead choose to honour her and to understand that they are part of nature, not above Her. Perhaps a big holua slide, Aunty?
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 22:33:49 +0000
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