In Polynesian theology, the great god Ku created the forests and breathed his own spirit into each living tree.
The ohia tree was his own embodiment.
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| Hawaiian god, Ku |
So when the Molokai king prepared the fittings for Iliiliopae Heiau at Mapulehu Ridge, he went to Ku's forest for the timbers for Ku's temple.
The main god, the timbers for the oracle tower, the drum house, the lele and the Mana house must be of the ohia since the heiau was Ku's temple.
An important ceremony was held before going into the forest to get the timber.
TEMPLE CEREMONY
The priests and kings assembled in a chapel where they put the adzes to be used "to sleep" under a god.
The main idea was that the adzes would gain mana (spiritual force) to assist in cutting down the ohia tree.
On the morning of a propitious day, a great procession was formed of all the people (excluding the women), headed by the king and high priests.
They marched to the forests high in Mapulehu Reidge, singing and shouting on their way. When they reached a great ohia in perfect condition, the procession was stopped.
Tow priests holding the sacred adzes, stood on either side of the tree. When a prayer was said, each hit the tree with his axe.
MAKE OFFERING
The king made the offerings, a live pig which he killed by dashing against the ground, a human sacrifice killed in the same manner, red fish, bananas and coconuts.
Artisans then took over the felling of the tree. While they were working, others dug and underground oven, and baked the pig.
Everyone in the party shared in the eating of the pig after the tree was felled. All scraps of food and the human sacrifice were then buried at the foot of the tree.
While the tree was being felled, the people wandered through the forest gathering ferns and lehua blossoms with which they decked themselves.
CARRY LOG
On the march down the mountain, strong men carried the ohia log on their shoulders so that it would not touch the ground or its bark be injured.
The procession chanted as it ...... chanting and the people responded. Their voices rose and fell in a cadence from murmurs to shouts.
The ohia log was placed on the temple floor in silence and was covered with flowers and ferns.
Note: I regret to tell you that sequence no. 9 and no.10 was not part of grandma's collection. Therefore we will have to skip over this section and move forward to no. 11.
NEXT: Dedication (no.11)
He mana'o
Reference to human sacrifice, p. 26, "Hawaiian Mythology" by Martha Beckwith: "A human sacrifice was was offered as payment for the tree both a the spot where it was cut down and at the posthole where the image was set up."
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