► Molokai: Iliili-Opae: Ohia Timber - 8

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Tuesday, January 22, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor

     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.

Hawaiian god, Ku

Photo credit

      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."

► Molokai's Iliili-Opae - 7: Interior Fittings

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Monday, January 21, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor 

     Just why the high priest of the Molokai king had selected the rise below Iliili-opae temple was evident when the altar and oracle tower were planned.

     The altar with all its sacred fittings was placed at the east end of the great platform area.

     The east end of the platform was more than 20 feet off the ground and the three tiers, required for the platform, placed the sacred area in a high position.

     The effect was dramatic. The audience, assembled on the platform below the altar and on the open ground surrounding the heiau, could plainly see the ceremonies being performed on the altar.

     The altar abutted the ridge Mapulehu, which acted as a sounding board for the voices of the priests in prayer and chant. The voices reverberated against Mapulehu so that they were carried to the people outside the heiau.

VALUE OF ACOUSTICS
     The high priest who planned the altar fittings fully understood the value of good acoustics. He placed the anuu, oracle tower, to the right near the Mapulehu Ridge.

     The oracle tower was a tall wooden structure, 24 feet high and 18 feet square, from which the priest announced the oracles, or prophecies at the close of certain ceremonies.

     He climbed to the top platform of the tower and threw his voice against the Mapulehu Ridge like a ventriloquist and the people thought they were hearing the real voice of god.

     The main portion of the temple was dedicated to the worship of the great god Ku, so a special thatched house was built for Ku and in it was placed the image of the Moi, principal god who guarded the temple itself.

     This house was called Mana (sacred).

     Other houses were for the sacred drums used during the services, the king and the priests.

PLACE OFFERINGS
     Standing before the Mana house was a high shelf-like structure, the lele. On the lele were placed offerings to the god Ku.

     The lele was large enough to hold a human sacrifice and two pigs.

The tall tower is an example of an "Anu'u". Also, the smaller tower to the right is an example of a "Lele. (Illustration 82. Interior of a large luakini at Waimea, Kaua'i, drawn by John Webber on Cook's third voyage in 1778.)

Illustration credit

     Behind the altar were built a cook house in which pigs were built for the ceremonies and a house to keep the paraphernalia of the priests.

     The space in front of the altar was marked off by an ornamentation on which images of guardian gods were placed. This ornamentation consisted of two semi-circle low platforms placed side by side.

NEXT: Ohia Timber