|
Pele
Searches for Home © 2004 by Angela Treat Lyon
|
Pele the Fire Goddess Pronounced peh-leh or pel-l?
is one of the most well known and revered in Hawaiian mythology.
As a sign of respect you may hear her referred to as Madame Pele
or Tutu Pele.
She is a goddess of fire, lightning, dance, wind, volcanoes
and violence. Her poetic name is Ka wahine `ai honua or the woman
who devours the land. She is both a creator and destroyer. She throws
molten fountains into the air and governs the great flows of lava.
With her power over the volcanoes, she created the Hawaiian Islands
and to this day, she has been known to reveal herself throughout
the beautiful islands she crafted herself.
No Kahiki mai ka wahine `o Pele,
Mai ka `aina mai o Polapola,
Mai ka punohu a Kane,
Mai ke ao lapa i ka lani.
Translation:
The woman Pele comes from Kahiki,
From the land of Polapola,
From the rising mist of Kane,
From the clouds that move in the sky.
According to legend, Pele lives in one of the most active volcanoes
in the world. She calls the summit of Kilauea volcano, in Halema?uma?u
crater home. Although, her reach is throughout Hawaii nei.
Goddess Pele Origins
The Hawaiian (Polynesian) goddess of the volcano, she was born
in Honua-Mea, part of Tahiti. One of a family of six daughters and
seven sons born to Haumea (a very ancient Earth goddess) and Kane
Milohai (creator of the sky, earth and upper heavens).
There are a number of variations in the legends that tell of
how Pele first came to the Hawaiian Islands. One of the most common
relates that she was exiled by her father because of her temper.
The final straw being a fighting with her elder water-goddess sister
Na-maka-o-Kahai, whose husband Pele had seduced.
Peles oldest brother, the king of the sharks, Kamohoalii,
gave her a great canoe, upon which she and her brothers traveled
far from home, over the wide expanse of the seas, sailing on this
great canoe eventually to find Hawaii.
All the while, Pele battles with her sister Namakaokahai who
is a Sea Goddess. During this perilous journey she carried her favorite
little sister, Hiiaka (or Hiiaka i ka poli o Pele
Hiiaka in the bosom of Pele) in egg-form all the way to the
Hawaiian islands. That makes Hiiaka the first God of the Pele
family to be born in Hawaii.
|
Elements
by Cathrine Langwagen
|
The Creation of Hawaii
When Pele got to Hawaii, she first used her Paoa, or oo
stick on Kauai striking deep into the earth but she was attacked
by her older sister and left for dead. She was able to recover and
flee to Oahu, where she dug several fire pits, including
the crater we now called Diamond Head, in Honolulu. After that,
she left her mark on the island of Molokai before traveling further
southeast to Maui and creating the Haleakala Volcano.
By then her older sister Namakaokahai, realized Pele was still
alive and she went to Maui to do battle. Finally, the epic battle
ended near Hana, Maui, where Pele was torn apart by her sister.
Legend says her bones remain as a hill called Ka-iwi-o-Pele.
Upon death, she became a god and found a home on Mauna Loa,
on the Island of Hawaii. There she dug her final and eternal
fire pit, Halemaumau Crater, at the summit of Kilauea Volcano. Known
as the Navel of the World, Ka Piko o ka Honua were the gods
began creation. She is said to live there to this day and is thought
to be very happy there.
|