► The Kahuna: Importance of Prayer

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Monday,June 15, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     "Daddy Bray, how many of these haole "seekers of the truth" ask you about prayer?"

     "To date there have boon only four," he replied. I asked:

     "Isn't it prayer that unlocks the secrets of the ancient Kahuna?"

     "Yes," he said. "I try to tell them - but a man has to have a certain spiritual development before he is willing to ask. Each of these seekers for truth has to learn that they do not know all and that they must learn from a higher power.

OPEN BIBLE

     "I try to tell them that they d not need to pray to Kane, Ku or Lono. They have only to open their Bibles and truth will be unfolded.

     "I give them certain chapters to read. If they are sick or in trouble, I tell them I will assume their burdens for a certain length of time... after that, it is up to them.

     "To help them focus their minds, I give them simple little rituals to carry out at the time they read the Bible.

     "I teach them about the four elements of the Hawaiian - earth, air, fire and water. These four elements account for all life. Then there are the upper and the lower forces.

     "Upper forces come from the heaven. They bring enlightenment and harmony. Lower forces are of the earth - they bring greed envy and hate.

HUMBLENESS

     "The Kahuna approaches God in humbleness. He prays to know his own sins then asks forgiveness for them. He them seeks harmony between himself and the people amongst whom he lives. It is only them the Kahuna achieves harmony with God.

     "It is only then that the Kahuna can ask for blessings or the knowledge of how to treat the sick or those in trouble.

     "Most people do not know how to pray. They pray aloud to be heard. They make demands upon God.

     "As a result, they make a god of themselves and they arose hate in themselves and in others.

     "Instead of receiving an answer to their prayer, they become confused - for hatred breeds confusion."

NEXT: The rathole

► The Kahuna and His Polynesian Gods

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wednesday,June 10, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     Haole "seekers of the truth" who came to Daddy (David K.) Bray for enlightenment are often surprised to learn that the old Hawaiians had religious differences just as we have today.

     Each of the four great gods of Hawaii had their "school" of priests and followers. The schools were like the division among our Catholic,  Episcopalean, Unitarian and Congregationalists.

     In addition there were many independent Kahunas who set up their own schools, much like today's cultists.

KANE CREATOR
     All ancient schools acknowledged Kane as the creator and giver of life. They acknowledged Ku-nui-akea as the architect and builder, the god who was the builder and destroyer at the same time.

     Lono-nui-akea, was the god of fertility - he who dwelt in the rain clouds and was a messenger between earth and Kane.

     Kanaloa was the god of the ocean and sustainer of life; important because "it is from the ocean that come life."

     These four were the high gods. Dwelling on earth were thousands of other gods of whom, Pele, the volcano, and Haumea, the earth goddess, were the more important.

     During the nineteenth century, after the coming of Christianity, there arose a group among the Hawaiians who claimed that their ancestors had worshipped a supreme god named Io. They produced  an ancient prayer to prove their contention.

     Daddy Bray is one of those who believes in Io.

     In accepting the Bible, practically all nineteenth century Hawaiians thought of Kane as "god the father", Ku as the "Holy Ghost" and Lono as "Christ".

     Kanaloa was consigned to hell by these people.

     Because of this identification of the old gods with the Trinity in the Bible, you often hear Hawaiians of today say "We had the truth long before the white man brought us the Bible."

     In addition to all these gods, the Hawaiians had personal saints whom they called aumakua. The aumakua were definitely ancestors who regularly visited their earth children to give them assistance. 

     The aumakua of the day were those who had lived on earth and helped with early matters. The aumakua of the night was a "Heavenly force."

NEXT: Reincarnation
     

► The Kahuna: His School and Instruction

The Saturday Star-Bulletin, June 6, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     Haole "Seekers of the truth" who come to Daddy (David K.) Bray for knowledge of the old religion of Hawaii are interested to know just how the kahuna learned his skill.

     Daddy Bray explains that a skilled kahuna selects a few intelligent or gifted students and orally instructs them in what he knows.

     The skilled instructor becomes a Haku, one who rules others. His students obey implicitly and never question his teachings.

LIKE TEMPLE
     The Hale Wanana in which the students and their Haku sit is built much like a temple. It has a sacred post at one end and a shallow fireplace in the middle. The fireplace is lined with stones.

     Haku and students sit about the fireplace.

     The teachings of the Haku are secret. Ths secrecy had led to the belief that the Kahuna Haku had occult knowledge which would "unlock the secrets of the universe."

     That is why the "huna" in the word kahuna means "hidden" or "secret."

     The real reason behind the secrecy is that the professional man of ancient Hawaii had no laws to protect him. He could not pass an examination and receive a certificate for his learning.

     His learning was shown in his work.

     Too often the student who had learned a little went out into the world and practised sorcery, saying he had learned it from such and such a teacher.

     The secrecy helped protect the teacher from such people.

CERTIFICATE
     When the Kahu felt a student had completed his training, he gave the student a "certificate" in a little ceremony.

     The certificate was a small stone (perhaps it came from the fireplace) which the Kahuna Kahu handed the pupil.

     In this ceremony, the pupil stood to the left of the Kahu. The Kahu placed his left hand of the pupil's head. He raised his right hand to the rising sun and he prayed to Kane, the giver of life and intelligence, that the student might go forth armed with spiritual knowledge.

NEXT: Rituals