Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Glympse into Deeper Hawaiian Wisdom

A  L  O  H  A !


Pele by Arthur Lyman on Grooveshark


My brain, my thinking,
ideas
always dominated
 my life.

Symbols, 
and wisdom traditions,
tantalized me
with information
on how to think of life,
and perhaps 
how to live it.








I gave lip service to the importance of
my body,
but it was still mostly
a transport
for the Brain;
a pack animal,
a maintenance issue.
I wore my body,
more than WAS
my body.


Becoming involved in REIKI
which is all about the flow of
ENERGY,
helped me to FEEL
and experience information
and healing
throughout my being,
and not just to
 think about it.

Be-ing in wellness
is better
than describing it!


Who needs to figure it all out
(I wondered)
if intuition in the present
timely reveals
just what one needs
to know












Recently, I had the privilege
of listening to
3 generations of a local family
known as preservers of 
Hawaii's ancient wisdom:
Pualani Kanaka`ole Kanahele,

Kekuhi Kanahele,

& Kaumaka`iwa Kanaka`ole.

[ Part I Here ]











My ears perked up when they began discussing
what it is like to live 
with the ancient chants
in day to day life.


Hawaiians did not write things down.
They saw deeply into the essence
of the information
that they wanted to preserve,
and created a chant
which was passed down
throughout their long history
as a people.



Pualani said that Big Island chants
contain the geological history
of that island.

This confirmed what I had noticed:
The Kumulipo,
the Hawaiian Creation Chant
 of the Very Beginnings,
resonates deeply
with modern science's
Big Bang version.


The chants tell in detail
the geological history of this specific place,
the island of their creation.

Chants describe the pouring of the lava,
what first grew here,
and describe in deep detail
the weather patterns that arise
from these conditions.

"This is the same space we live in,
today
just in a different 
time frame."
Pualani told us.
"These chants are still applicable."

The information of the chants
still applies.

And as new land is poured,
this is all made obvious
to observation. 

It is indeed awesome
to see first the land's
cooling, the first ferns,
lichen, and small creatures
that set up house-keeping
just as chanted
for thousands
of years


I would say that
Hawaiian geological understanding,
and astronomical observation,
not to mention navigation
and psychology
are now understood to be
far superior
to the western versions
that claimed superiority
over them
after 'contact.'



" To chant
is not just about
words.


One's feet must be flat
to the `Aina (Earth).

The tone and pitch
and reverberation
are all key parts of the chant, "

Like a Gregorian Choir,
Buddhist chants,
the Muezzin's call to prayer,
the throb in a Rabbi's throat,
or the frequency
 of a medical laser
rightly tuned-
changes will occur,
results will come.


"Natural phenomena
reply and respond
when we chant,"
Pualani shared.

" Words combined with
certain rhythm
and melody 
open a portal,
a channel.

Hawaiians of old
were sensitive to the
information and energies
that emerged.

Each phase of the moon,
every night,
teases and stimulates
different plants,
animals,
and energies 
down here.

This information
remains valid today,
and still guides the activities
of many farmers,
gatherers, fishers.

Some nights
are pointless for fishing,
some are not to be missed!
"Different moons
'titillate'
different responses."

Under the 'Hua' Moon
it is easy to get pregnant,
lava too is effected
by the same 'pulling'
forces
of this moon's energy.

The moon
at the time of your birth
is a key part of 
Hawaiian astrology,
determining much
about your health,
aptitudes,
and character.

Wonder what the moon looked like
on the night of my birth?


" On a deep level
all life responds
to salt, water
& movement."
 Kaumaka`iwa
told us. 

"The 'Wai-Principle'
is in all life.

Wai (fresh water)
and Kai (salt water)
are interdependent aspects
of one truth.

Wai could not exist
without Kai;
Kai could not be
without Wai
also being.

And we creatures
could not exist
without the relationship
between both of them." 


"Hawaiian philosophy
must be practical,
& applicable.

Ku, Kane,
and the other Hawaiian gods
are primary phenomena,
not mere teaching stories 
or magical beings
from a time of myths."


" Our way of knowing 
evolves
with generations
of hearing oral chants,
of creating new ones,
and we do this all the time
around home. "




The word 'Orality'
was used, as were
other scholarly terms
and concepts
by these veteran scholars,
 respected educators,
and noted Kumu 
('sources')
of Hawaiian wisdom,
demonstrating their great
ability to live, move,
and act
in multiple realms.

"Voyaging
must remain
part of our experience
as a people,"
Explained Kaumaka`iwa,
who had just arrived from
the airport.
" Canoe? Airplane?
no matter.
We must put the 'New'
in 'Canoe'."


" There is much residual 
new chants are being
created."

Rarely do I speak of this
(this is me, Cloudia)

BUT-

The venerable Hawaiian
who taught me
some of the old ways
many years ago
ended the time
of instruction
with a session
in which each of us
students
was expected to affect
natural phenomena,
simply, observably. 
And so we each did.

I did.


The Hawaiians of old
recognized the familiar energy
of Jesus
when taught the gospels.

Aloha 
[Agape]
they well understood. 

What they didn't understand
was the emotional ignorance
of those strangers
from across the seas
who did not LIVE
this love,
but instead made of it
a magic formula of belief
and a rationale
of disrespect
and thievery.






                                            Thanks for looking in!
Any comment 
you care to leave will be valued-

                                                                                                                          Warmly, cloudia

21 comments:

  1. What lovely floral images you've included here, Cloudia!

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  2. There is much to recommend oral traditions, tales and history of a sentient peoples. But on the mainland the only ones who appear to be able to recall the entirety of their coming to be are the mystical tribes of the Hopi.

    The European conquistadors, followed by the dutch, French, and English pretty much decimated the other nations of the aboriginals oral traditions. And of course the Europeans have this nasty ass habit of re-writing history as they see fit.

    It would be wonderful to live near the trade winds in a near equatorial climate but *shrug* there is room for only about a total of 2 million on your beloved islands and Aloha could easily get someone dead on the mainland, it by necessity must be a common understanding.

    Manipulating the energies one is surrounded by is no mean feat yet at the same time the same *vibrations* radiate throughout the cosmos one must simply touch them.

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  3. wow.....amazing thanks I never knew!!

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  4. If planes are the new canoes, then proper and correct education via your blog is the new Hawaiian chant! Congrats, Teacher! DrumMajor

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  5. I'm reading a book now that talks about the 'practice' of life as opposed to the thinking of life. It's pretty interesting and at some point I'll do a blog post about it. The chanting makes me think of it.

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  6. Thank you for teaching me Cloudia. These are beautiful lessons. I know what you mean about Reiki, and how important it is to be aware of the energies that are within us and around us. Wonderful post.

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  7. This Hawaiian Chant is interesting! : )

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  8. I always learn something new when I visit you!

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  9. A fascinating post. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Super interesting and very helpful!! Thanks a million!

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  11. Thank YOU each
    for sharing your valuable Mana`o (mah-nah-OH = 'Thoughts')

    ReplyDelete
  12. ¸.•°`♥✿⊱╮

    Passei para uma visitinha!!!
    Amei a luminosidade da segunda e da terceira fotos... magníficas.
    Gostei das informações dessa postagem sobre a música e as tradições antigas do povo havaiano.
    Beijinhos do Brasil.

    ¸.•°`♥✿⊱╮

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  13. positive vibes from mumbai on the way!

    namaste /\ from mumbai
    aloha!!

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  14. Interesting lessons in history, you have done a good study. Great pics too.

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  15. Well said, also, the video is forever beautiful and the photos.

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  16. Your second picture is just fantastic. Love these type of flowers.

    Greetings,
    Filip

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you more than I can say. This has been a difficult day inhabiting a recalcitrant body and I needed the grounding I gained from this post.

    ReplyDelete

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