► Death of a Beloved King

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Tuesday, January 20, 1959 - "Clarice B. Taylor's Tales about Hawaii"

     Letter writing for the widow, Marie Patton Chamberlain, increased with age and the departure of children from home.

     Fortunately the letter written February 8, 1874, to daughter Maria J. has been preserved and i in the collection of her great-great-grandson, David Forbes.

    "Our beloved King, the people' choice, the liberal minded generous hearted Lunalilo, expired without pain, 10 minutes before 9 o'clock, Wed. Feb 3rd. O how many prayer were offered to God for him, especially the last three days of his life, and we cannot but hoped that he looked to Jesus and found mercy in his dying hour. He would not hear yo having anything to do with a native kahuna, said 'if he was to die he would die & if he was to live, he would live without them.'

William Charles Lunalilo
Hawaii's shortest-reigning monarch,
January 8, 1873 - February 3, 1874.
He died at age 39.

NO WAILING

     "He gave directions (I think it was in hi will) that there should be no heathenish wailing after his death and the he wished to be buried with hi people, and laid by the side of his mother.

     "We rode over in the carriage at 11 a.m. to look for the last time, on his fine manly form, & peaceful countenance, in death.

     "He was laid out in a plain black broad-cloth suit, white kid gloves, and boots, with no other adornment than a most beautiful STAR on  the left hand side of his coat.

     "Unlike the previous occasion little more than a year ago, when we passed in the same place almost with lightning speed, the hulk of the huge, bloated predecessor, we lingered to take in a satisfactory view of his loved MOI.

     "I feel a real pleasure in his having refused to the last, the appointment of his successor for the present candidate Kalakaua was the torment of his life.

     "His poor broken hearted father will not probably long survive his only son and only child.

FEATHER CLOAK

     "It was a very touching incident that when he was put in his coffin the feather clock over him saying "this shall go with him."

     This letter reflects the high opinion which the American missionaries held for Lunalilo in whom they had great hopes.

     "The previous occasion little more than a year ago" was the death of Kamehameha V whom the Americans feared to be under English influence.

► Pele, The Fashionable

 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Friday, December 4, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     Today, Pele is called "the woman in red"  and she is pictured in an flaming red holoku.

     It is not always so. Pele keeps up with fashion.

     In very ancient days, she was thought of as a beautiful young woman clothed in a cloud of steam or just a fluffy white cloud.

     In the books of Pele legends published during the last century, Pele was often pictured as a young woman in a split ti-leaf skirt. At the same time, the text of the legends said Pele was dressed in Kapa (kapa is the old beaten bark skirt).

DONS HOLOKU 
     After the missionaries dressed the Hawaiians in holokus, Pele began wearing a red silk holoku and smoked cigarettes. During that early period, Pele often asked for cigarettes.

     Another change cam over Pele at the same time. In old Hawaii, Pele was given awa as a drink offering. Awa was the drink of the gods and therefore correct for her.

     During the twentieth century, Hawaiians gave up making awa because the church taught that awa was evil. so, folks began throwing bottles of gin into the pit. Nowadays they throw any kind of liquor as an offering.

     Pele keeps up with the times. Today she rides in automobiles and on street cars.

     She likes tailored cigarettes and no longer rolls her own or smokes a small ivory pipe.

     The modern Pele has problems the old Pele never knew. Each time she makes an appearance to let people know that she plans letting loose her lava flow, moderns makes new legends.

     For instance, moderns have the impression that Pele's appearance to a particular person means death to that person. Such folklore has grown out of old legends which tell of the destruction of those who refuse food or  tobacco.

     Pele often find modern visitors are a curse.  She particularly dislikes those who clutter her domain with filthy wrapping papers and old sacks.

BELCH FUMES
     Her only defense is to kick up her heels and spray such people with drops of hot lava or belch strong fumes.

     She has a more successful way of dealing with those who take rocks and cooled lava from her without permission of saying "thank you." During the Puna flow, she was pestered with visitors who tore chunks of cooled lava from her and took the pahoehoe home.

     Pele's revenge is to strike the individual, or someone close, with a crippling illness.

     If you would to escape injury, speak to Pele under your breath and tell her that you want some of her hair or her cooled lava. Be sure to thank her for it.

NEXT: Pele's boy friends

► The Kahuna and Reincarnation

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Thursday,June 11, 1959 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii"

     "Did the Hawaiian believe in reincarnation?" asks the haole "seeker of the truth" of Daddy (David K.) Bray in trying to find the secret of the power of the Kahuna.

     "Yes and no," Daddy Bray replies. "The Hawaiian did not call it reincarnation, but his beliefs were very similar to what you call reincarnation."

     First of all, Daddy Bray explains, the Hawaiian did not believe in death. He believed that life went on eternally and never died.

     When the Hawaiian left this life, his soul either went straight to heaven or it was sometimes lost and consigned to hell. But hell to the Hawaiian was an underground cavern where the soul lived a monotonous life. There were no hell fires.

COULD VISIT EARTH
     The soul in heaven could visit earth at will - it could go into hell and rescue a lost soul.

     Sometimes heavenly souls were reborn on earth into the same family. Then you have a real reincarnation.
  
    Sometimes heavenly souls returned to take possession of a body or person.

     But the aumakua was the real "reincarnation" as the Hawaiian saw it.

     If a man was good and prospered - it was because he had a "powerful aumakua," ancestor who visited him and directed his actions. The Hawaiian of today call his aumakus his "inspiration" because not other word explains the situation.

     If am man were bad and suffered for his sins, then his aumakua was said to have deserted him. At death, his soul wandered and became lost because his aumakua had deserted him and did not look after his soul.

ONE OR MORE
     Each person has an aumakua and a spiritual person has more than one. A commoner might have a mother or grandmother as his aumakua.

     An alii (nobleman) coud claim any one of the gods in heaven as his aumakua as well as some ancestor. The more aumakua the better. But, an aumakua, like a god, must be treated with care. Regular prayers and offerings must be made by the living person.

NEXT: Spiritual Mediums     

► Molokai's Iliili-opae: Rituals - 14

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Tuesday, January 29, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor

     The rituals used in the month-long dedication ceremonies of Iliili-opae heiau at Mapulehu Molokai were very dramatic.

     Each service was named for the particular long prayer said by the high priests and his fellow priests.

The scripture was enunciated in the questions asked by the high priest and answered in unison either by the other priests or the congregation.

     The attention of the congregation was held by placing the men in rows and forcing them to hold certain attitudes in absolute quiet.

DIFFERENT RITUALS
     Each object in the temple was blessed with a different ritual. In one, all the chiefs brought their spears and had them blessed.

     In another, the chiefs brought all their family aumakua (guardian gods) and had them dedicated.

     A parade or procession of the gods featured the serious services. Priests brought out the feathered gods, followed by the wooden gods and paraded them around the altar in circles and square formations.

     The hulahula, a sacred hula, was danced at the dedication of the oracle tower while certain priest decorated the tower with banners of white tapa.

     It was also danced at the blessing of the mana house while the house was being covered with a special tasseled net.

800 PIGS KILLED
     At one point in the services, 800 pigs were sacrificed, baked and the congregation feasted on them.

      In another service, the Hakuohia and all the gods were dressed in beautiful white, yellow and red malos (loin clothes).

     The final service at which the human sacrifices were made was called Hono.

     All priests, the king and chiefs took a cleansing sea bath before the Hono service. They planted their aumakua in a protecting row on the sea beach before going into the water.

SEVERE SERVICES
     The exacting Hono service was dreaded because of the hour-long prayer and the severity of the service.

      The audience was seated in rows with the feet crossed, the left foot over the right, the seat firmly fixed and the left palm over the right.

     At a signal from the priest, all raised the right hand with the palm upward. This attitude was held during the entire prayer.

     If anyone moved, the Mu priest hauled the offender from the floor and decreed death for him.

     During the prayer, the human sacrifice was brought into the heiau, strangled and laid upon the altar.

     The service gave the atoning victim and the audience special purification.

NEXT: College of priests