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~ Pele ~

Pele is perhaps the most famous of the Hawaiian Goddesses. Her sacred stories number many and the continuing ritual recognition of her divine powers proves that traditional Hawaiian spirituality has persisted in spite of more than 170 years of Christian attempts at suppression and influence.

She was the daughter of Haumea, and the sister off many divine siblings whose story is intertwined with the development of the Hawaiians when they ventured forth from Tahiti. It seems that there were family troubles, due to her sister, Na-maka-o-ka-hai , a Goddess with power over the seas. Pele was a being of volcanic activity and fires, who was constantly being stifled by her sister who sent the ocean waters to roll over her efforts to built herself a home, snuffing out her flames and arresting her lava flow. Pele carved herself a canoe and along with 40,000 kindred deities, set forth to make a new homeland. Guided by her shark-embodied brothers, the party made it's way across the Pacific, enduring the consistent efforts of her sister's wrath against their canoe.

Eventually they landed on the small island of Ni'ihau and Pele immediately began to dig a new home for her extended volcanic family, using a magickal digging stick. But before she could settle in, Na-maka-o-ka-hai sent water into the whole, quenching the flames.

Undaunted, Pele moved on to Kauai, where she dug even deeper this time. And yet again, her sister sent the ground water up to destroy her flames, creating only steam instead. These holes are believed to be the two caves near Ke'e beach on Kauai.

Frustrated, Pele and her kin moved on to Oahu. There she dug potential homes at Koko, Leahi (Diamond Head), Pu'uowaina (Punchbowl), Salt Lake, Moanalua, and elsewhere. Every time her sister's waters boiled up from the earth, making it impossible for Pele to settle in.

And so, on to Maui, where at the great crater Haleakala, Pele was again thwarted. It some legends, it is believed that Na-maka-o-ka-hai finally succeeded in killing Pele. Thus there remains huge masses of broken lava at Ka Iwi o Pele, or Pele's bones.

However, in other stories, it is told that Pele finally made it to the island of Hawaii, and there at Kilauea, dug a fire pit deep enough to call home because it was miles from the coast and far enough out of her sister's reach. Pele and her tribe call this home.

Pele was a shape-shifter, able to transform herself into flame, a human form of any age , and even a little white dog. Her favorite incarnation is said to be a young chiefess of "surpassing beauty". She was an excellent sledder and surfer. When a white dog was sighted on the island it was believed to be a sign that the volcano was about to erupt.

Pele is often thought of as a cruel goddess, yet this is untrue. She has a temper, no doubt, and possesses the awesome power to vent her anger in a most spectacular, and sometimes life threatening fashion. However her worshippers accept this as a part of her nature, just a family might tolerate the outbursts of a child, or even an adult. But her displays of anger create new landmass with each violent outpouring of lava. Even now, she appears to be working on the seamount Loihi, which is slowing growing from the ocean floor upwards, and quite possibly will be the newest Hawaiian island.

Her worshippers included both priests and priestesses who presided over rituals dedicated to Pele. These included transformational ceremonies involving remains of the deceased so that their spirit might then reside with her, by being admitted to her realm. The genealogy of the deceased was chanted to prove her or his ancestral relationships with the Goddess, before offering and the body were thrown into the molten lava.

Hair seems to have quite significance to Pele. Her priest/esses weren't allowed to cut their hair except at the crater's edge, where the remains must be thrown. Women with brown hair were thought to be especially sacred to Pele, and were sometimes believed to be the goddess herself as she appeared in human form. It may be that this association is due to the fact that during a volcanic eruption, wind catches the molten lava as it blasts up into the air. This stretches the hot lava into individual, extremely fin threads of glass. This is known as "Pele's hair" which is often found in abundance after an eruption, shimmering like shining brown hair on a black expanse of lava. Since Pele sent her hair to her worshippers, it seemed fitting that they, in fair turn, give theirs as offerings.

Pele had many lovers, and much of her stories are about their passionate love and her reactions to their lack of commitment or faithlessness. She also serves as an inducer of compassion and selfless giving. One story tells, when she walked the island as a woman, she approached two young women who were roasting breadfruit. Feigning hunger, she asked for food and drink. The first woman, as glad to share what she had, but the other refused, claiming that the food was for another, Laka, also a deity. A flood of lava soon destroyed the stingy woman's home, and the generous woman was spared. Thus in Hawaiian tradition, it is unthinkable to refuse food to anyone who asks, even if you are starving. As is the reverse, it is very bad behavior to regularly visit others at mealtime so that you may eat what they can provide. Protectress of the Hawaiian people, Pele is still exerting her destructive influence on those who do not treat the land or their kin with respect.