► The Sacred Name 'Pele'

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wednesday, November 25, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     Now that Pele has returned to her Kilauea home and is playfully kicking up her heels, it is time to tell you of her people, her migration to Hawaii and her love affairs.

     My Hawaiian friend says Pele is in a "playful mood" because she has sent her lava flow into Kilauea Iki pit and has not rampaged about the Ka-u or Puna districts. So far she has shown no anger.

     Pele's actions depend on the treatment she receives from mortals, particularly the people of the Ka-u district. The Ka-u people consider themselves the children of Pele and she is their special goddess.

     Pele is the only one of the ancient Hawaiian gods known to everyone in Hawaii-nei today.

REVERENCE
     Pele demands reverence. In olden days, no Hawaiian would dare speak of her as "Pele." Today almost everybody calls her Pele. The old folks would speak quietly and reverently about "Na Wahine."

     The name Pele was used in prayers and chants by priests and hula dancers. Ceremony surrounded the use of her name and even in the chants she was spoken of as "Pele-Honua-Mea," Pele, "the woman of the sacred earth."

     In chants she was spoken of as "Ku ula o ke-ahi a name which means "the redness of the fire."

     In ordinary conversation she was Na Wahine, "The wahine."  The plural Na was used to include her sisters, the Hiiakas.

     Or, she was called "the woman of the pit," "The woman in scarlet" or "Na wahinealii o Kalua," "The alii woman of the pit."  

SACRED NAME
     "Ka-ula-o-Keahi," the redness of the fire, is her most sacred name and is to be used only in prayers...so the modern should avoid the name unless the user is one of her descendants.

     No one among the old Hawaiians ever named a child for Pele unless the name was specifically given the child in a dream by the family aumakua (saint).

     Unless a child belonged to a Pele family  and had a right to the name, a person named Pele would be sure to have a bad personality. The child would be tempestuous, wilful and a terrible flirt.

     Most Hawaiians love an even-tempered child who is obedient and does not cause trouble. A nice baby can easily get a bad start in life  by being named Pele.

     Believe it or not, Pele and her sisters sometime some to visit elderly Hawaiians. In a case like that, the one who has received a call speak of them as "Those people."

     The one visited will say " Those people were here today."

     There is a short, narrow street on Punchbowl named in irreverence. Only a haole who doesn't know any better would name a street Pele.

NEXT: Pele's Family