► The Kahuna and Spiritual Mediums

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Friday,June 12, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     "Did the Hawaiian know the secret of the medium - could he serve as an instrument for the manifestation of a supernatural agency? Could he materialize the dead?"

     This is one of the many questions asked of Daddy (David K.) Bray by haole "seekers of the truth" who want to know how the Hawaiian Kahuna unlocked the powers of the spiritual world.

     "Oh, yes," says Daddy Bray, they knew the powers of the medium and they knew the dangers of such powers.

     "Those who knew how to materialize the spirit were too often the Kahuna anaana, the sorceror. Too often he called upon the lower forces to bring back the material. Too often his actions camouflaged the God of Light."

SELECTED PERSON
     Daddy Bray then explains to the "seeker of the truth" that the gods of old Hawaii often selected particular persons to "possess" and speak through them.

     But, he says, it was often difficult to decide whether the "possessed" person was a rel medium of a true god or a charlaton.

     There are cases on record of good women honestly "possessed by one of the Hiiakas." These women were famous healers. They were told how to cure a patient during one of the seizures.

     There are other cases of a male Kahuna sitting beside his wife or sister who became possessed at a specific time each day.

     The possessed one would speak in a language not understood by other listeners. Only the Kahuna knew how to interpret the language.

TESTED
     "You can see," says Daddy Bray, "how easy it was to be a fraudulent medium. So the old Hawaiians devised many schemes to test the truth of such persons."

     "That is the chief trouble in dealing with mediums today. The good medium must be careful not to bring back some evil force. He must strive to manifest only the higher powers."

NEXT: The Hypnotist