The islands of the Pacific are teeming with magic.
Hidden from explorers, it was less than two hundred years ago that
the first white man brought his influence to a world ruled by gods,
demi-gods, kapu, and sacrifice. Kahuna (priest) could pray a person
to death or heal broken bones; Menehune (magical dwarf sized people)
built walls and buildings from stone when no one was around; and
Night Walkers (spirit warriors) marched the sacred lands during
the hours of darkness.
Hawaiians held the belief that all knowledge was contained in the bones. So,
when an ali’i, (a chief, chiefess or other high ranking person) died, it
was the custom of their people to remove the flesh from the bones and then ceremonially
wrap and hide these bones in caves at sacred areas. Kealakekua Bay, on the Big
Island of Hawai’i, is one of these places.
An ali’i was a great warrior, fisherman, and navigator or could control
natural forces. This person was believed to be filled with great knowledge as
well as great mana (spiritual energy). The Hawaiian understanding of mana is
best described in the book, Exploring Lost Hawaii. To the Hawaiians mana
was power, a force found in all substances. With the possession of great mana
came great knowledge, precognition, and control over matter. Mana came from the
gods and those closest to the gods had the most mana. The ali’i were born
with it; they wore it like a cloak of power and traced their genealogies to the
gods.
You can see that it would be most desirable for an enemy to use these bones to
form a weapon, canoe piece or navigation tool to use the mana against the people
of your island. Your enemy would have the wisdom and strength of your leaders
to help them. Rather than lose the advantage of this great mana, the bones would
be hidden in a cave by only one or two people and often protected by ki’i,
(totem gods or guardians) stationed around these sacred places.
The Kealakekua Bay area held its own special mana. It was the site of a powerful
heiau, a Hawaiian temple; a place of worship and sometimes sacrifice. The Hawaiian
word “hei” means capture or summon and “au” implies an
invisible current of energy or power. The name of this heiau is Hikiau. “Hiki” names
a cardinal direction, star or portion of the sky, while “au” is a
period of time, era or cycle. So, possibly the kahuna were directed by the gods
to have this temple built overlooking the bay. It may have been that this particular
heiau was built in preparation of the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. It
had long been foretold of the god Lono, coming to that bay in human form and
arriving on his “floating island”.
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Lono, the god of farming and fertility
returned ritually each year to bring the Kona rains, so essential
for the growth of crops. He was celebrated for a period of months
every year during the makahiki, or harvest season. This was
exactly the time and place that Captain James Cook landed his ship,
the H.M.S. Resolution, in 1779. The Hawaiians saw Cook’s
arrival as fulfillment of the prophesy of Lono, so they welcomed
him as a god.
For the weeks that Cooks ships were anchored in the bay, the British
were treated as gods. But the appetite of the crew members for
the young Hawaiian girls and the food they consumed seemed suspiciously
UN-god like. Cook finally left the island with his ships loaded
with supplies. Unfortunately, a storm at sea cracked his ships
mast forcing him to return to Kealakekua Bay. This time he was
greeted with suspicion, It was not the custom of the god Lono to
return a second time.
The Hawaiians stole one of the ships rowboats and Captain Cook
resolved the problem by holding Chief Kalani’opu’u
hostage. Three-thousand Hawaiians gathered to defend their chief,
Cook was killed. His body was sacrificed to the war god Ku. It
was de-fleshed, and the bones carefully wrapped in the manner accorded
to a chief and were returned to his remaining crew who buried him
on the shore of Kealakekua Bay. If you ever visit Kealakekua Bay,
you’ll see a white obelisk across the bay from the Heiau,
which marks the place where Captain Cook fell.
In the years that have passed, much has changed; Cook’s bones
were returned to England, the guardian ki’i have been
moved south to the City of Refuge, and the village has grown over
by trees and undergrowth. Yet there is still much that has not
changed. Portions of Hikiau Heiau are still used by traditional
kupuna for ceremony and ritual. In the caves above the bay, the
bones of ali’i lay hidden still offering their mana to the
island, and amongst all of this, the spirits of the ancients still
watch over Kealakekua Bay.
Marte “Malana” Kliesh, PhD is a Naturopath and Holistic
Intuitive who lives on the big island of Hawaii. She is the author
of Pathways to Inner Peace. She currently leads socio-eco tours for
enlightenment, holds consultations and teaches classes on holistic
healing/ spiritual awareness. You may visit her at www.wisdompathway.com |
