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Episode 136: Hawaiian Deities
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Welcome back, witches! In this episode, we're diving into the fascinating realms of Hawaiian Deities, focusing on Lono, the god of peace and fertility, and Pele, the powerful goddess of fire and volcanoes. This episode is for educational purposes only, as Hawaiian spirituality is a closed practice. We are also going to touch on the effects of tourism and highlight a few Hawaiian content creators we came across! So, get in loser; we're exploring the sacred energies of the islands!
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at [email protected]. You can support our show through our links below.
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- McShane, Elijah Kala. Awakened Olaha (whole site). https://www.awakenedaloha.org/about-1
- Patterson, Rev. Kaleo. Tourism’s Negative Impact on Native Hawaiians. (1992)https://mphawaii.tripod.com/Tourism/TourismsNegativeImpact.htm#:~:text=Tourism%20development%20in%20Hawaii%20most,historic%20sites%20and%20sacred%20places.
- Hughes, Claire Ku’uleilani. The Many Blessings of Lono. (2019) https://kawaiola.news/moomeheu/the-many-blessings-of-lono/
- Nair, Nitten. Lono: The God of Agriculture. https://mythlok.com/lono/
- Katie Pallett-Wiesel (2022). Over Tourism: Native Hawaiians Pay the Price. Catalyst. https://catalystmcgill.com/over-tourism-native-hawaiians-pay-the-price/
- Sara Barnes (2022). Native Hawaiian is Urging People to Vacation Elsewhere and Explains Why. My Modern Met. https://mymodernmet.com/lily-hiilani-okimura-hawaii-tourism/
- Scottie Andrew (2022). Tourism Takes a Toll on Native Hawaiians, But Here’s How You Can Help. Outtraveler. https://www.outtraveler.com/destination-guide/2022/8/18/tourism-takes-toll-native-hawaiians-heres-how-you-can-help
- Williams, L. K., & Gonzalez, V. V. (2016). Indigeneity, sovereignty, sustainability and cultural tourism: hosts and hostages at ʻIolani Palace, Hawai’i. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(5), 668–683. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2016.1226850
- Sarah Miller-Davenport (2017). A ‘Montage of Minorities’: Hawai’i Tourism and the Commodification of Racial Tolerance, 1959-1978. The Historical Journal. Cambridge University Press. 2017;60(3):817-842. doi:10.1017/S0018246X16000364
- Roberts Hawaii (n.d.). The Legend Behind Hawaii’s Goddess of Fire. Roberts Hawaii. https://www.robertshawaii.com/blog/legend-behind-hawaiis-goddess-fire/
- Patti Wigington (2018). The Story of Pele, Hawaiian Volcano Goddess. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/pele-hawaiian-volcano-goddess-4165798
For a list of the TikTok content creators we discussed, feel free to email us. We ran out of characters and could not list them in our show notes.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Wizardry During Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft.
Respectful Exploration of Hawaiian Deities
00:00:16
Speaker
So get in witches as we take a respectful look at a few native Hawaiian deities.
Off-topic Chat on Pop Culture
00:00:44
Speaker
So sad week to be a One Direction fan, I will say. Oh. And that's sad. Well, on the stuff that's like keeps coming out about like from the autopsy and stuff is just making it sadder and sadder. Yeah. I saw something this morning while I was waiting for my coffee to brew because we have the slowest fucking coffee pot on the planet.
00:01:06
Speaker
Like our regular drip coffee pot takes so fucking long but it makes delicious coffee so I guess I can't complain. But I was watching this TikTok and they were talking about some news has just like come out from his autopsy that he was completely like he would have been completely unconscious when he fell. Yeah.
00:01:22
Speaker
I was like, that is heartbreaking. It is. And also, like, I mean, I know here here's the thing. We may never know exactly what. Yeah. Yeah. But it's so weird because I've seen some videos that were kind of concerning to me, like when it was called in like the 911 recording, like I thought it was kind of weird that the guy on the phone mentioned, like, I'm afraid he might fall off of the balcony.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm like, why would you immediately go to that just because you heard him breaking things in his room? Like that doesn't make sense. And then also like they said that I guess and one of the people who was staying at the hotel said something about that he was like convulsing or something downstairs. And instead of like calling the ambulance, they just carried him to his room. And I'm just like, why, why did no one call the ambulance then?
00:02:19
Speaker
And then when the ambulance was called, like there's a video of the ambulance coming to the scene and there's already paparazzi outside with video cameras. so how were they there? There was also like someone at the like an employee of the hotel apparently called somebody either somebody that also worked at the hotel or just a friend and this person turned the like I don't know why it was recorded but the phone call was recorded and they turned it over to the police and it the employee was talking about how like
00:02:53
Speaker
he apparently went to this hotel a lot and he was always kind of an asshole when he was there and he was always like looking for drugs so the employee said he gave him like just a bunch of random drugs like go to your like leave us alone kind of thing but he like openly admitted it to somebody else who turned to that call into the police being like, yeah, I just gave him a bunch of drugs to make him like, leave us alone. Yeah, that's really the whole thing. It's just, it's so sad. Yeah. ah yes And then of course, like I'm on complete like conspiracy theory, TikTok. And apparently Beyonce has a photo in the hotel like, happy that day. Oh man. Also thank you Beyonce. Also thank you Beyonce. Yeah.
00:03:42
Speaker
But yeah, like, there's like, oh, Beyonce killed him and his girlfriend was like good friends with P Diddy, apparently, according to conspiracy TikTok. I'm like, oh my gosh, who knows what happened, but it's wild. It is wild. I haven't come across those. But yeah, it is very sad. Look, everything on conspiracy TikTok cracks me up.
00:04:04
Speaker
like But also, I want to speak with these people because the way their mind works, how do you connect so many things to get to that point? My little brain could never. Yeah, like, in saford but also I find it just so interesting when people are like, this happened, and then this happened. And then this person knew that person. And that person is tied to that person. And so this is probably what happened. And I'm like, me you got there was beautiful. ah Right? Like, but how did like, I need you to run down? Why thought you would get that point? Like, i'm also so where did you get this information? Yeah, I need to know. Um,
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not I haven't seen the conspiracy ones yet. Oh, man. but It is. It is interesting. Like it reminds me, too, of like any time I watch any because I'm also a big Taylor Swift fan. Anytime I watch any of the like there's all this lore surrounding like when she'll drop like Reputation Taylor's. Oh, yeah. Debut album Taylor's version. And so you have people that will watch like all of the concert videos or just watch like a hawk for anything that's ever released in any of the music videos and they are like okay these are the Easter eggs and this applies to this and like literally on one of the songs that she released last year it was a vault track and there was like hash marks like on like in the video she's
00:05:22
Speaker
in a vault, right? And like on the blocks, there's hash marks. If you were in prison, you know what I mean? You're counting the days. Someone literally counted every single hash mark off of one wall and then was able to estimate how many bricks were in the room to figure out how many days it was and connected it to another Easter egg. And I'm just like,
00:05:43
Speaker
I love this. I love this for them. And sometimes I wish my brain was a little bit better, but I forget what I just read five minutes ago. I finish a book, put it back on the shelf and go, I could not tell you anything about that book unless it's thrown a glass because that is my Roman empire now. But like, I read a book and just immediately forget it the second I finish it. I'm like, this was an amazing book.
00:06:08
Speaker
brain dumps, you know, like, ah there's no way my brain can make these connections that conspiracy theory people make. And I love it. I love like yes watching it because I find it interesting. Yeah. And even like with the book talk theories too, I'm oh god, watch something and I'm like,
00:06:25
Speaker
Really? I didn't. Oh, wow. I never even would have put those together. I know. Not even at all. So I'm like, okay. It's like, especially with the like the Sarah J Maas ones, you know I send you every one I come across because I'm like, what? Yeah. I'm like, Sam, what do you think of this one? Exactly. It's so interesting. I know.
00:06:45
Speaker
yeah it is like just wild the way people's brains work and how everybody like, obviously we're all individuals, but like how everybody can think so differently to get to so many different conclusions. Yeah, it is very interesting. but We're not talking about that though. We are not. What are we talking about today?
Respecting Closed Hawaiian Practices
00:07:08
Speaker
As much as that would be a great podcast episode, um we are going to take a really respectful look at some Hawaiian deities and there's the Hawaiian pantheon in itself.
00:07:22
Speaker
I also want to preface this episode with I will probably butcher a lot of these pronunciations because I went and I looked them up, and different different people say them different ways. So I just kind of went with a lot of a lot of the ones that I will be doing later. I went with what I thought was the correct one, and I'm probably still not going to say it right, so 100% apologizing for that in advance.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yes. Also same because there were some where um I couldn't even find the correct pronunciation at all. And I'm just like, I'm not sure. and it would And then there were some where it was like, you could tell this was absolutely a white like English version of this. And I know that that's not correct. um But I couldn't find a native speaker to pronounce it for me. So I don't know. So if we mess up how we say it, please forgive us. um We're really trying our best with this one. We really are. So um so I guess just let's begin.
00:08:31
Speaker
um Before we begin this episode though, it's essential that we emphasize that Hawaiian religious practices are considered closed practices. So this means that they are deeply rooted in the native Hawaiian culture and spiritual traditions, and they are not intended for outsiders to appropriate or participate in without proper initiation and and understanding.
00:08:56
Speaker
This episode is strictly educational. Both Tiffany and I want to be clear, we are not native Hawaiian, nor are we part of the Hawaiian culture. We are not implying that it's OK for non-Hawaiians to engage with Hawaiian religious or cultural practices. And our goal with this episode is to share knowledge and provide a respectful overview of the Hawaiian pantheon, while highlighting the importance of understanding and honoring cultural boundaries.
00:09:24
Speaker
In past episodes we've explored various deity pantheons from around the world and as always we take an approach of curiosity seeking to understand both the similarities and the differences between them.
00:09:36
Speaker
However, we cannot stress enough that this particular episode is for educational purposes only. If you are not part of the Hawaiian culture or have not been initiated into their spiritual practices, it is inappropriate to work with or invoke the deities that we discuss. And you will also notice that we did not include a section on how to practice or worship these deities in this episode, and that is intentional.
00:10:00
Speaker
It is not our place, nor is it appropriate for us to give guidance on Hawaiian spiritual practices. And we encourage you to learn directly from native Hawaiian voices and experts. So please make sure you refer to our show notes where you will find resources and creators from within the Hawaiian community. um And we are also going to highlight a few of those within the episode as well.
00:10:21
Speaker
But ultimately, we hope that this episode serves as a respectful exploration of the rich and unique Hawaiian pantheon and as a reminder of the importance of cultural respect when studying sacred traditions. Also, this episode is going to be kind of heavy. It is. Because it's just There's a lot that I feel like i both of us feel like because we've talked about this prior to like even researching this episode. There's a lot that you have to understand about what goes on on the islands like in Hawaii in general to understand their culture and like the pantheon in itself like how how we've gotten to this point I guess.
Impact of Tourism on Hawaiian Culture
00:11:09
Speaker
So, unfortunately, I'm going to talk about a not-so-fun topic of tourism and the negative impact that it has had on Hawaiian natives and their culture and the islands themselves. So, we really just can't begin an episode discussing Hawaiian deities without first and foremost addressing the other elephant in the room, and that's the effect that tourism has had on Hawaii.
00:11:34
Speaker
something that I think many people might not realize. And I feel like myself included, the development of tourism in Hawaii most often takes place at the expense of Hawaiian culture. And this is, ah and I was explaining this episode to Anthony, my husband, and we were talking about it and I was like, you know, I knew, I knew that there was some kind of negative impact, but I had never like looked into it to understand it. So this was like eye opening doing this.
00:12:04
Speaker
So yeah, like that like it takes place at the expense of Hawaiian culture, their historical symbols, and native land-based resources to include the just the destruction of ancient Hawaiian burial grounds, significant archaeological um historical sites, and spaces that are sacred to the Hawaiian peoples.
00:12:25
Speaker
So in doing this research, I came across this article, and I don't know if you saw this when you were kind of like starting out your research, because you started a little bit before I did, before I was like, I think I'm just going to take on tourism. This article is like old. It's from the 90s. But I was like, you know, let me just kind of see what was going on then. And I started reading it. And this article is still like very, very relevant to the issues discussed.
00:12:51
Speaker
and because it's like it's only gotten worse, right? So it was written by a reverend of a church on the island of Kauai and it discusses how tourism negatively impacts Native Hawaiians and how this reverend has like counseled many of the natives on the island in their day-to-day struggle. That's become like inescapable due to what was deemed the like quote-unquote greed driven industry back in 1992. And as many of us know, like, consumerism is at an all-time high today, meaning that this impact has only gotten worse. So Reverend Patterson discussed the fact that they had been involved in hundreds of reburials of ancient Hawaiian grave sites because of new resort developments or existing resort renovations. They had witnessed the desecration of native sacred places.
00:13:43
Speaker
yeah um They said they cried over like senseless pollution of local reefs and rivers. and They have held picket signs and protests, given testimony at public hearings. in He says that he even chased an obstinate tourist into a say the sanctuary of a restaurant in an attempt to vent their anger and comfort like in confrontation.
00:14:06
Speaker
and They've seen the oppression and exploitation of an out-of-control global industry that has no understanding of limits or concerns for the host people of the land. and I think like what kind of blew me away is that this article was written so long ago, but we've only seen this continue like the tourism aspect of Hawaii continue to boom and get bigger and bigger and bigger.
00:14:29
Speaker
So while the article is from 1992 and I wouldn't typically like include something that old in my own research, I just, I felt that it was like dated and probably even more relevant today. So people care less about others. They care less about environments that aren't their own personal space. And really, they only care about having a great time and experiencing good vibes. And honestly, it's like really sad.
00:14:54
Speaker
A development site in Kauai excavated a well-known ancient Hawaiian burial ground to build a condominium and resort project. The burial ground sat on 22 acres, and after mitigations, the ah like quote unquote agreement was reached that a one acre plot would be set aside to relocate all excavated burials, which is fucking awful, like just fucking terrible. It was so the resort and condominium was built and they took this one acre plot and built it into the planned resort. And it's been used as a marketing feature for tourists to make the resort money. So they take them on a tour of this one acre plot because it's considered sacred land, which I hate.
00:15:40
Speaker
Like everything about this article is making me so mad. that like This is something that's happened time and time again in Hawaii in the name of tourism. And to keep putting this into perspective, hotel rooms on the island continue to increase drastically year by year. So in 1985, there were 65,000 hotel rooms that you could you know book a vacation and stay in. In 1990, that went up to 76,500. In 2010,
00:16:08
Speaker
it went to 132,000 rooms. And while I couldn't find like complete numbers past 2010, I did find that in 2020 during the height of COVID there was just under 3 million tourists to the island over the year. And like now there are hundreds of hotels, resorts, and condos on Hawaii. So tourism growth has also almost doubled from 2010 to 2019 where it reached just under 50 million and like You would think that more money into the economy means to stability for the locals, but know that like the majority of Hawaiian natives are living below the poverty line, so like really just think about that. like If there's so much money into the economy, you would think that the natives are the ones like benefiting from this, but it's it's really not.
00:16:59
Speaker
Reverend Patterson wrote that tourism is a plague that an already oppressed group of people has to endure with very few other economic options or alternatives in life in which many actually end up choosing the lesser option even if it means that they go unemployed or have to resort to criminal activity And because of this, it would also be no surprise that Hawaiians are among the poorest of peoples living in Hawaii, their own native land, capturing the highest percentage of unemployment and state funded aid. And as a population group, Native Hawaiians also dominate the prison populations, at least at this time in 1992. So in today's numbers, Native Hawaiians still have substantially higher poverty rates
00:17:48
Speaker
than other inhabitants on the island. And as recent as May of 2023, they are still also the highest population in jails and prisons on the island. While traveling to Hawaii to be on a tropical island and experiencing the island vibe is appealing, something to understand when we're looking at tourism as an issue is that tourism is wholly concerned with self-preservation as an industry and not with the well-being of the community.
00:18:16
Speaker
So going back to that 1992 article, Hawaii saw a drastic decline of tourism in 1991 due to the Gulf War. And instead of making sure that the natives that lost their jobs within the tourism tourism trades, like the hotels and restaurants that, you know, had to lay off their employees, six million dollars was used by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau for television commercials on mainland USA.
00:18:41
Speaker
to entice a tourism boom. There were literally zero measures to assist the unemployed during this time. Instead, they put it into trying to advertise tourism to Hawaii. So on top of this, a higher traffic of people on the island means higher rates of pollution. While a day to remember saying disrespect your surroundings, they didn't mean the environment. And if you don't know that reference, I don't know if we can even be friends. So maybe just, you know.
00:19:11
Speaker
don't talk to me i'm kidding So, crowded beaches, boat tours, and the likes have like long threatened both the shoreline and coastal fishing throughout both noise and chemical pollution. And this form of tourism is also taking land away from local Hawaiians that are tied to the land by culture, tradition, and lifestyle to accommodate hotels, resorts, spas, tourist attractions, and more, making it a struggle for Native Hawaiians to keep a hold of what is theirs by right.
00:19:43
Speaker
A content creator um that I'll be highlighting in this episode also has a website called Awakened Aloha. And I got a lot of information from this website. It's so well put together and so well thought out and just so educational. So like definitely check it out. and like It has a ton of information on the land, culture, the spirits. And his name, I don't know if I'm going to say this right, so I'm sorry. But it's Elijah Kala McShane.
00:20:12
Speaker
And he says that before going to Hawaii, you should do some research to educate yourself on how not to add to the problem that tourism brings to the island prior to visiting. um There's also an etiquette guide available at AwakenedAloha.org that is educational and informative on the tourist problem in Hawaii, as well as how to avoid adding to those issues at hand. And if you plan on visiting Hawaii, please do some research Check out Awakened Aloha along with any you know native Hawaiian content creators and make sure that like you're not adding to the tourism problem.
00:20:49
Speaker
to the pollution and just like blatant disrespect that Hawaiian natives have experienced in their homeland. Elijah refers to himself as the son of Oahu and the ambassador of Aloha. And the entire account is dedicated to educating viewers on Hawaiian culture, on the land, the people, and the history, as well as educating people on how to like ethically and responsibly visit Hawaii and how to be an ally to the Hawaiian natives.
00:21:16
Speaker
um And the website that he has put together is amazing too. I wish like, you know, I went to Hawaii and I wish I would have like found this prior too because there was there was just like amazing information on this website. um And then another content creator that I came across. Her name is and again, I'm probably gonna butcher the last name here, but her name is Shay Kowie,
00:21:40
Speaker
called kawi maybe? I'm not sure. Yeah. She never said her last name in any of the videos. So I was like, I don't know. But, um, her account bio is well read Hawaiian, which I thought was so cute. And she does a lot of like book, um, content and a ton of other stuff. So while her account has a ton of cute videos on like upcycling clothes and book related things, she also has a ton of videos that are educational on Hawaii and Hawaiian culture overall.
00:22:10
Speaker
um I came across a lot where people were just like asking her questions and her comments and so she would go and like do this whole educational piece and she does it so well and she does it so it was like I didn't feel like I was being talked down to I felt like I was being explained to like such a great way because I feel like there's a fine line when you're trying to like educate on a specific topic like why don't you know this kind of thing where you're like well I'm trying to learn that's why I'm asking like the way she just like answers the questions is in a way that makes me feel like, Oh, I'm like, I'm actually learning something and not just being like told something. I don't know. Yeah. That's the feeling I got like watching her videos. I was like, Oh, a couple of other content creators that I came across as well that I wanted to highlight. Um, so one, her name is Tita Rilla.
00:22:59
Speaker
And she's a native Hawaiian content creator and teacher who brings awareness to issues within with especially tourism in Hawaii. And she talks about and educates others on Hawaiian traditions. And another one is Aina Momona. I could be saying that incorrectly, but this is a native Hawaiian advocacy group and their account focuses on Hawaiian activism, decolonialization and education.
00:23:27
Speaker
Kapulei Fulores. And she is a Native Hawaiian activist who uses her platform to educate others on Hawaiian traditions, historical events from the Native Hawaiian perspective. And she talks about Hawaiian history and language. And then lastly, the count name is Hai'ilani. And she is a Native Hawaiian. And her name is Lily Hai'ilani Okimura.
00:23:56
Speaker
And she has a platform on TikTok and Instagram, and she educates others on Hawaiian culture and and advocates for demilitarization and decolonization decolonization. And she was also featured in one of the articles that I also have linked in our show notes as well. So real fast before we dig into the deities that we are going to focus on, I wanted to also highlight the problem, like to go along with the tourism aspect.
00:24:25
Speaker
white spiritual tourism. um I feel like we definitely should highlight that just a little bit. And when we talk about white spiritual tourism, this is white tourism under the guise of earthbound spirituality, and that is harmful to Hawaii in very significant ways. So the first of which is through cultural appropriation.
00:24:48
Speaker
Many people romanticize native Hawaiian spirituality with without proper cultural or historical context, and there are many sacred Hawaiian traditions and rituals that are treated as exotic or commodities for tourists and outsiders to consume regardless of the deeply meaningful impacts to Native Hawaiian identity. and so An example of this would be the hula or the hoʻapono pono, which is a spiritual healing practice, and they are repackaged for Western audiences stripping away their cultural context.
00:25:24
Speaker
um Another one that Tiffany touched on a lot um was the environmental exploitation. And you see this a lot with white tourism and white spiritual tourism. In Hawaiian, spiritual beliefs, mountains, oceans and forests are all seen as living entities that are massively important to spiritual practices. But spiritual tourism encourages visitors to come to Hawaii to connect with nature without understanding the importance of these sacred spaces. And a lot of sacred sites have been used for commercial purposes. And because of that, sacred land is disturbed, leading to overpopulation and pollution and creating a strain on Hawaii's natural resources and damaging the ecosystem that is within Hawaii.
00:26:11
Speaker
And there's also an influx of spiritual retreats, wellness festivals, yoga gatherings, et cetera, et cetera, held by white people on sacred land. And oftentimes the greed of these spiritual retreats overlooks the environmental consequences of the large number of tourists that are coming for that spiritual retreat.
00:26:31
Speaker
And then when we talk about the economic disparities and gent gentrification that Tiffany also discussed in detail when you know discussing the negative effects of tourism. But one of the things I wanted to mention here is the fact that Native Hawaiians are often displaced from their own ancestral lands and sacred spaces to make room for the wealthy, which only adds to the economic inequality. So outside of even just like the making you know displacing them for building hotels and building resorts. like You see billionaires from America and other Western countries buying up huge swaths of land just so they can build their vacation homes. um This is something that, and I didn't even think to include this in mine, but like
00:27:16
Speaker
When we were there, we have you know a bunch of friends that live on the island. And one of our friends came in, he picked us up and took us on like a tour of the entire island and like took us to places that like tourists don't really go, like more local spots that they go to. And you know we got to learn a lot about the island and a lot about what was going on there while we were there.
00:27:40
Speaker
from this aspect, you know, from a a person who has lived on the island for yeah ah his wife is native Hawaiian. And I think he moved there either. It's either like 10 or 15 years ago. So he's like, you know, he's been there for a very long time. And he's seen like the impact over this overtime. But everywhere we went, there were like native Hawaiian people, homeless, living under tarps on the beach with all of their belongings.
00:28:10
Speaker
And like he was explaining that, you know, if you've ever looked at like houses out in Hawaii, you would know how like exorbitantly expensive they are. Like they're unattainable for even just like the average person. But like when we talk about like native Hawaiians who are already living below poverty line, how can they afford a home in their own place? And it's just like, it's very visible when you go there. Like you see the amount of people that are just homeless living in the parks and in the beach that are native Hawaiian. And it's terrible. Like it's fucking awful. and yeah and Like homelessness is a problem, right? Like across everywhere. But like to just know that these people, this is their land. This is where they come from. And they can't even afford to live there because of what tourism has done to their own land. It's wild.
00:29:08
Speaker
and white colonialization. and It is so wild. yeah um yeah And speaking to the homelessness aspect, 51% of those experiencing homelessness on the islands are native Hawaiians, yeah which is so incredibly heartbreaking.
00:29:24
Speaker
yeah um gizma isn very upset about it And then also lastly, when we talk about white spirituality, um tourism, and how it affects native Hawaiians, we also see this as a razor of native Hawaiian spirituality. And so Spiritual tourism in Hawaii typically provides a very generalized and very whitewashed new age interpretation of Native Hawaiian beliefs. And this mixes elements of many different traditions, which in turn erases the Native Hawaiian spirituality.
00:30:03
Speaker
So, this also glosses over the spiritual colonialism that took place. There was years, like hundreds of years of missionaries and um there was resistance of Native Hawaiians. I mean, we we see this and I feel like we understand it and talk about it more in America as it relates to Native, like indigenous Americans. But the same thing happened in Hawaii as well where missionaries came and they, you know, forced Native Hawaiians, oh, they had to go to school, they had to dress a certain way, they had to believe a specific way, they had to be baptized, they had to have white sounding names. And so for years and years, there's been this
00:30:41
Speaker
I mean, ever since the missionaries first came, ever since the first white person came to to the Hawaiian Islands, there's been this resistance um and a struggle for cultural survival and sovereignty. And by having white tourism come in and ah shape this framework of, okay, we're going to learn this, we're going to blend these native Hawaiian practices with reiki and tarot and all of these other things that you would see in different beliefs, it waters down and erases the spirituality that is already there. And along the same vein, people come to Hawaii because they have this idea that Hawaii is a paradise and where they can seek personal healing, guidance, enlightenment, you know, whatever it is that they are wanting that they feel like they're missing out of than in their life. But doing so ignores the ongoing political and cultural struggles that Native Hawaiians face and the active movements in place to reclaim Native Hawaiian lands. And so really just,
00:31:40
Speaker
If you are enticed to go to a wellness retreat on the islands of Hawaii, I would encourage you not to fucking do it. Please don't do it. Yeah. Well, and not only that, I feel like Hawaii is beautiful no matter where you are on the island, right? But I feel like when we're thinking about this, like this paradise and this you know what the picture that's painted of Hawaii,
00:32:07
Speaker
you see that at the resort, like the spaces that these resorts are in and all of the tourist spots. But when you leave those spaces, it's a very different look. Hawaii looks completely different outside of like Hawaiian Hilton you know Village or whatever. the I forget what it's called. It's like Waikiki Village or something like that. But like it's Those areas are built to look like a paradise for tourists, but going outside of it, it's it's not like that everywhere on Hawaii. It's not like that where like the locals live on Hawaii. And Hawaii, again, it's beautiful everywhere, but they build it up to look like this just like complete tropical paradise here without like showing
00:32:49
Speaker
what's going on in different aspects of Hawaii like the homelessness or you know like it's it's paint this picture is painted for anyone that doesn't live there. like If you're not there to see that every day, like you you have no idea what's going on on the rest of the island. you know The white colonizers came in and they grabbed the most scenic spots, kicked everybody off of that land to be able to paint those pictures. Dug up ancestral grave sites.
00:33:15
Speaker
Yeah. And so, I mean, you can see why Native Hawaiians don't want tourism there. they You can see you know why there is this huge movement right now to end the tourism and they you have Hawaiians on social media and and talking to news agencies and and they're pleading, stop coming here, stop coming here. They're making things worse.
History of Hawaii's Annexation by the U.S.
00:33:40
Speaker
So real quick too, this is a very, very, very, very short, very short little segment on Hawaii and becoming part of the United States because I think it's important to kind of address the fact that Hawaii is one of, or it is the 50th state. It is the newest state and the way that it was
00:34:02
Speaker
annexed to be a state is tragic and there's so much bad history and there's so much tragedy that goes with it and I implore you if you don't know the history of Hawaii and how it became a state um to go and do that research. There's so much out there. I didn't want this episode to be completely about the history of um the Hawaiian Islands, but I'm going to very briefly talk about that as it relates to, especially the goddess that I'm going to cover because I do think that it it does tie in there. um so As we know, Hawaii is part of the United States, but it hasn't always been that way. and For hundreds of years, the Hawaiian Islands faced conflict with European and American forces, and there was just this kind of like tug of war between Europe,
00:34:50
Speaker
and America trying to use their control and their influence to influence who would be the next like royal um what before Hawaii was annexed to be part of the United States. So the first documented European to enter Hawaii was Captain James Cook in 1793. And his arrival to Hawaii allowed for traders, merchants, and unfortunately,
00:35:18
Speaker
missionaries, as I mentioned earlier, to take advantage of the islands and their rich resources. And so they would take advantage of sugar crops and the native rulers in Hawaii to steal much of the land from native Hawaiians. And that just continued on throughout the years. But when Captain Cook first came to Hawaii, there were close to 300,000 native Hawaiians. However, like with all European explorers throughout history, they brought with them diseases. And Native Hawaiians didn't have any sort of immunity to um fight any of those diseases. So within 75 years,
00:35:58
Speaker
only 71,000 Native Hawaiians remained alive on the island, which is so sad. yeah and Those who came after Captain Cook opposed Hawaii's traditional monarchy and they consistently pushed them to adopt a constitutional monarchy like what was the current norm in most European countries at the time. so On top of their land being um essentially taken from them, spreading disease, bringing all these missionaries,
00:36:26
Speaker
all of their people are dying. like it just i mean It's just awful. Just to briefly mention um the last queen or the last ruler on Hawaii, in 1893, Hawaii's queen, Liliu Kalani, was forced to abdicate her throne by sugar planters and other businessmen who organized a political coup on the island. and She was eventually arrested for treason.
00:36:53
Speaker
and Within five years after that, Hawaii was annexed by the United States to become the 50th state within the union. and it's really just it's so It's so sad. like yeah There's so much more history. There's so much more history um and it is such a rich history. um so I and beg you to go and research it yourself. yeah um we didn't i mean This episode is already like almost an hour long and we haven't even gotten to the deities yet. so i mean Well, and I think
Approaching Hawaiian Deities with Respect
00:37:23
Speaker
it's important too. I know like we highlighted, like Sam said this at the beginning, in a typical deity episode, we wouldn't give all of this information, right? We would be like, here's a little bit of brief and fruit like back story. And then here's all about these deities.
00:37:38
Speaker
And ah once we started researching it and realizing like really the background of the Hawaiian Pantheon, it was really, really important to us to keep it a deity episode, still highlight a couple of deities, but look more into the culture, the history, that what you know the negative impacts of tourism and white colonialism has done to this island and these people because ah It's just i don't like the average um um American, maybe even just like the average human in the world probably doesn't know all of this. and i like I know I didn't know half of the stuff that happens. like I knew there was like negative impacts, but I didn't know like to what extent.
00:38:27
Speaker
right so And I will say too as somebody who like my husband went for work and of course I was like you're not going to Hawaii without me and I went and spent you know a couple of weeks out there exploring and like trying to like really learn more about What you know what happens in Hawaii like what what is Hawaii all about and we did do like a couple of touristy things like we did um Go to the palace and I actually told Sam about this prior to us like even doing the research that like
00:39:01
Speaker
the way the tourism aspect of like going to see the palace where the you know the last Hawaiian queen was basically like barricaded and trying to like prevent this from happening, like the way they spend this tale is really gross. It's really sad that they're just like, and then we became an American state and we're happy about it. And it's like, no, they weren't happy about it.
00:39:27
Speaker
Native Hawaiians still aren't happy about it. you know it's I don't know, it's it's something. It's definitely something. But it was really important to like to share this history from like an educational standpoint as two people that also weren't like fully aware of everything, like doing this research and trying to really like share it from that aspect.
00:39:52
Speaker
without like, I don't know, that it was a hard topic. I think we we went through very different like, we started with one idea and then it changed to another idea. And then by the end of it, we were like, Oh my god, this is what we need to cover. So yeah, what I think it's to like, we don't we never want to um shy away from learning about different pantheons. And so, you know, we want to make sure that we are inclusive, yeah as inclusive as we can be, but as respectful as we can be when it comes to different practices, and how our even our ancestors
00:40:34
Speaker
could have had a role to play in this situation. And so trying to be as respectful as possible and understanding that this is a very sensitive topic. this is um There's a lot of terrible history that has influenced the culture and the identity and everything. So just making sure that we cover it and we are um doing so in a way that like we're not just, okay, here are some deities, here's that. yeah it yeah you know Also, there's so much more to it and understanding that.
00:41:10
Speaker
Well, and I think two part of it, because we we have in the past, we've covered a closed pantheon. And we again, we did it from an educational purpose. We did put a disclaimer at the beginning, this is educational. We're not encouraging anyone to work with these deities. So it's like it's important because we do have I am very much about our analytics. I like seeing where people are listening to us from. like listening to us from like It's so interesting to me to see like where like what country has you know how many listeners. um So we we have listeners from all over the world. like So I think it's important that they also, you know regardless of where they live, they have ah something that they can listen to that covers you know their pantheon or their culture or whatever.
00:42:00
Speaker
And. that saying like we aren't the experts in it and so we hope that like if we get things wrong we would want you to also like reach out and say hey this is something that you know thanks for covering it but you were wrong or hey don't don't do that because we are willing to also like share that information like hey you know back in this episode we said this and we actually you know had somebody native from that pantheon reach out and you know correct this so this is what it is so you know if we get anything wrong but don't don't hesitate to like reach out. we We don't have a problem being like, oh, our bad. Exactly. Absolutely. We aren't like experts, obviously, in Hawaiian deities or Hawaiian culture. um And we're trying to do it justice from an educational and like purely just research standpoint. So hopefully we got that right. but Yeah.
00:42:53
Speaker
And also with highlighting native voices. So now that we've kind of covered the more heavy portion, we're going to do a very brief rundown of a couple of deities. um And you know as Sam already mentioned, Hawaiian religious practices are completely closed practices.
00:43:14
Speaker
So everything discussed in today's episode is for educational purposes only. And if you're not part of this culture, working with this working with these deities or participating or recreating any of the religious ceremonies or festivals is not for you. So just don't do it. Our intention for this episode, again, is just strictly to educate on what we have come to understand through our own research.
00:43:39
Speaker
and not to encourage those outside of the culture to partake in a practice that is not their own. So again, while I'm going to share, because I'm going to be covering the deity Lono, like who this deity is, I will not be sharing how to work with Lono, how to practice any of their religious ceremonies and festivals or anything else that would be included in other deity episodes that are not part of closed practices.
00:44:07
Speaker
This is just to shed light on another pantheon from around the world. So please, for the love of all that is holy, do not participate or like participate in practices that are not open to you when they are part of a closed practice. Okay, thanks. Appreciate you.
00:44:26
Speaker
but so Lono, whose full name I'm going to completely butcher because there was zero pronunciation guides. Nobody ever said his full name in any of the videos. But I'm going to do my best, okay? His full name is Lono Nui Noho Ikawai, which translates to mean Great Lono Dwelling in the Water. And I'm going to tell you how I got that pronunciation if you go on YouTube.
00:44:50
Speaker
They have, like, how to pronounce certain blocks of, like, letters in the Hawaiian ah dialect. So I was like, okay, this is the best I'm gonna do for this pronunciation because no one says his full name. Yeah. So hopefully I was, like, kinda close. I think I came across the same video.
00:45:11
Speaker
Did you? I was like, well, at least there's this.
Introduction to Lono
00:45:16
Speaker
So, Lono is the Hawaiian god of agriculture, peace, and rain. He's associated with fertility as well as the heavenly manifestations of clouds, storms, rain, lightning and thunder, earthquakes, wind, rainbows, whirlwinds, water spouts, and gushing springs on the mountains.
00:45:36
Speaker
which I thought was kind of a, yeah, I was like gushing springs, huh? yeah
00:45:43
Speaker
He's also associated with redfish, whitefish, black coconuts, and Awa? I think is how you say it. Again, this is one that i like people said different ways. Like I went to one account and they were calling it away and then I like went to another account and they were calling it Awa. So I was like, I don't know, away seems weird.
00:46:03
Speaker
It doesn't look like it would ah sound like a way. um And this is apparently a sacred plant that's used for prayer. His parents are Rangi and Papa, and his siblings are Kane, Ku, and Kanaloa. His consorts were Kekalani and Laka.
00:46:26
Speaker
And in early mythology, Lono was said to have used a net to fish the sun and moon from the seas and set them into orbit. And in human creation, he was said to have supplied the fertile soil to create humans, where his brothers, Ku, sculpted the bodies, and then Kane breathed life into them. He said to have liked to descend from the heavens on a rainbow by surfing down it, which I thought was really cute. and in doing amazing right like you just see like I could just like picture like this like deity surfing down a ah rainbow evening um in doing so this is how he met and married a mortal woman um named Kekalani whose beauty was so intense that he was frequently jealous of her
00:47:17
Speaker
um On one occasion, apparently, his jealousy was said to have been so bad that he became convinced that she was unfaithful to him, so he struck her down with his godly powers. And then he wandered the island in mourning, and in her memory, he created the Makahiki festival that lasts the entire rainy season.
00:47:38
Speaker
um He's recognized for having powers over plentiful harvest and has been celebrated for bringing rains that watered farms on Hawaii. During the Makahiki festival, the kahuna or the priest prayed for rain, abundant crops, and to escape from sickness and trouble. The ceremony lasts four months and during this time offerings are collected at altars on the borders of each. I know I'm going to butcher this one. I think it's Ahupua, and this that that I guess is like the island districts. So there's obviously more to this ceremony, but like not only have I never seen this in person, I'm not part of this culture to really explain that in depth, but I thought it was worth mentioning
00:48:24
Speaker
in connection with Lono. So if you want to learn more about the ceremony, there's a link in our show notes on an article called The Many Blessings of Lono, and it's written by a Hawaiian native that's definitely worth checking out if it piques your interest. So just an additional note, during the Makahiki festival,
00:48:44
Speaker
um British explorer Captain James Cook apparently arrived on the shore of Hawaii and many of the natives believed him to be the god Lono returned to the island for a second time because it was part of this like bigger prophecy. And because of this, Cook was treated as a god for his stay. Cook returned to Hawaii again in 1779, but this wasn't part of the prophecy, meaning that the gig was up. So this caused tensions to rise between the Hawaiians and the British, and it resulted in Cook's death. So at least that came out of it. At least not, because of your thinking, oh my god, I bet he took advantage of so many natives there. So many of the native Hawaiians. like Could you imagine like being like, oh yeah, bring me that person, and I'm going to need ah that food. Oh yeah, and they were like, send.
00:49:33
Speaker
feeding him like the whole story. I was like, oh, what a piece of trash. But he got his in the end. Yeah, he sure did. He should have kept sailing. How about that? He should have just kept sailing. Or if you are going to look at something, do it respectfully and keep your shit out of there. Right, and be like, also, I'm not your god. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Get back on my boat. This is the wrong place.
00:50:02
Speaker
This was not what I was hoping to sail to. I was hoping to go to somewhere else. I'll see you there. Enjoy your festival. I hope you get good frames. That's what should have happened. Yeah, but it said, you know, trash. Yeah, trash. So I'm going to very briefly cover Pele.
Exploring Pele's Significance
00:50:24
Speaker
Pele was also known as the woman who devours the land and the actual, so that's what it is translated as. The actual word, I don't know, because like I couldn't find ah a source that had a pronunciation of her name, so I'm not sure how I can say that.
00:50:43
Speaker
I don't even want to attempt it because I don't want to yeah yeah to say it wrong. So I'm just not going to say it because, and i sorry, Halle is known as the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, dance, and volcanoes. And when it comes to fire, she is considered ah Akua, or um she or which this translates to the sacred embodiment. um And so she's a sacred embodiment of the element of fire.
00:51:13
Speaker
Her home is said to be in the Halema'uma'u Crater at the summit of the very active volcano Kilauea. Because Pele is so ingrained with Hawaiian culture, all volcanic eruptions within Hawaii are attributed to Pele.
00:51:29
Speaker
Pele's power to create and destroy mirrors the Hawaiian understanding of nature as a force that is both nurturing and devastating at times. and Native Hawaiians believe that nature is not something to be controlled or dominated, but something that should be respected and lived in harmony with. so Pele is that reminder of that cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth.
00:51:52
Speaker
um Which is so interesting when we talk about these deities, because a lot of different pantheons have something similar. So Pele is a descendant of the Sky Father, Kane. Could be the same Kane that you're referring to, maybe. um and an ancient earth goddess. um There are different iterations of the legend of how Pele came to be on the Hawaiian Islands. One of the most common is that Pele was born in Tahiti, and because of her temper and an indiscretion with her sister's husband, she got into trouble and her father banished her from Tahiti. And Pele's brother, the king of the sharks, provided Pele with a canoe that she used to travel to the Hawaiian Islands and when she landed.
00:52:37
Speaker
Her sister attacked her, leaving her for dead. Pele survived and was able to recover from her injuries by fleeing to surrounding islands, digging several giant fire pits to include one that is now known as the Diamond Head Crater and the Holly Akala Volcano. And once her sister found out that she was still alive, she came back to the Hawaiian Islands and chased Pele to Maui where they battled to the death and Pele was turned was torn to pieces by her own sister and thus became a god.
00:53:07
Speaker
making her home on Mauna Kea. And there she dug her final fire pit, the Hala Ma'u Ma'u Crater. And another legend talks about how Pele was married for a short time to the god of water. um And this is Kamapua'a. And according to legend, Pele rerouted Kamapua'a from their home in the Halema'uma'u Crater and chased him with rivers of lava to the Pacific Ocean.
00:53:38
Speaker
but is funny and Volcanic eruptions just in general um are seen as reminders that Pele is still alive and at home in Hawaii. And there are sightings of Pele seen throughout the island chain for hundreds of years. And she's most often seen near volcanic craters or near her home of Kilauea. And when she's sighted, she is seen as either a very tall and beautiful young woman or an unattractive and frail elderly woman with a white dog. And when she's seen as a frail elderly woman, it is usually to test people.
00:54:14
Speaker
and she will ask them to share food or drink with her and those who are generous are rewarded by the goddess while those who are unkind to her are punished and their homes and valuables are destroyed. so Just putting that out there. um Be nice to everyone. And if you visit Hawaii, there is a particular myth regarding Pele that you should take heed of. It is believed that Pele curses those who remove lava rocks from her island home. And now this is just commonly referred to as a myth. However, there are lots of stories of people either removing lava rocks themselves or receiving them as a gift from someone who has traveled to Hawaii and then shortly after they're experiencing bad luck.
00:54:55
Speaker
um So, I mean, it's just there's a belief that disrespecting the land is disrespecting Pele herself. And it reinforces the belief that the land does not belong to humans, but to the gods. And lastly, just as like a closing note here on Pele, Pele represents the heart of the Hawaiian people and culture. And she's a symbol of creation, destruction and regeneration. And she has a deep connection to the land.
00:55:22
Speaker
So she's a reminder of resilience in the face of adversity and the ongoing struggle to protect Native Hawaiian lands and heritage. And so um she's very tied to you know the land and the people, which I think is beautiful. Hopefully we did this episode justice. If we didn't, we're really sorry.
Encouragement to Learn from Native Voices
00:55:41
Speaker
We did put a lot of thought and heart into this episode to try and make sure that we did do it correctly.
00:55:49
Speaker
ah Yes. and you know Please take a look at our show notes, take a look at some of the native Hawaiian voices that we have um listed in the episode and in the show notes because if you are interested in especially going to see Hawaii or if you live in Hawaii or say you're a military spouse and you guys are getting stationed in Hawaii, it's very important to do your own research. We always practice that.
00:56:14
Speaker
and you know make sure that you are hearing from Hawaiian voices and listening to them and listening to what they have to say, especially if it comes to a situation where you are traveling to the islands and you want to do so respectfully. Hopefully this was a good educational episode um and we'll see you guys next time.
00:56:39
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes, or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser We Are Doing Witchcraft. There you can purchase a membership to our podcasts and obtain exclusives, like getting episodes early, shadows on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything forum, our monthly newsletter, a promo code for merchandise, and more.
00:57:14
Speaker
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