Moon and Sun, Earth and Sea: The importance of their stories

"Entering the world of ancestral memory requires a certain mindset...To understand the many levels of mele, one must digest, believe in, invest in, defend and commit to Hawaiian cultural practices and Hawaiian language arts. The Hawaiian cultural knowledge one possesses, along with the clues presented in chants, creates a stage for enlightenment--a junction where memory and na'au meet and produce instantaneous moments when ancestral knowledge is reborn again.

Know your culture and language well enough so these special moments do not flee without recognition."

-Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele

"The shadows always intrigued her, even as a girl child the patterns that happened onto her skin caused something different. Through the screened window the moon did not ask permission to tattoo her. While everyone else slept, this child made room for the moon and the shadows and grew the voice.

 The wind's silent breezes changed the markings that floated onto her small brown arms. In the night 'brown' might have been any number of colors. The ink of moon's stains were always the same and wore itself on all pallets. But, it was the wind that made the tattooed dancers sway and change shape like hula changed the bodies of her aunties when they moved. She watched and let the shapes bathe their way into her blood, carried as messengers to the place where memories swam.

Annoying?

"Does anyone else find the common practice of stating an opinion and then going on to write "That said... blah blah blah" or "Having said that... blah blah blah," to be extremely redundant and poor stylistically? Whenever I see it I feel like I'm reading the writing of a first grader that is too lazy to craft decent writing, even though professional writers are sometimes guilty.

That said, it does seem to serve a useful purpose in informal writing, as a sort of disclaimer: a bash-you-over-the-head acknowledgment of apparent contradictions or counterarguments."

-From a forum on The Free Dictionary.com

That phrase is one of my pet itches. Until I began blogging and reading blogs I'd never heard it. Now, it's an invasive species; showing up in an otherwise fascinating read, Doc by Mary Doria Russell. The story is that of Doc Holliday, Russell's expertly researched and told revisionist history of an American West hero. When I came across "that said" in that fictionalized history I almost spit. Could "that said" fit in a saddle?

It's an uncommon thing for me to rant like this, but there you have it. Elders do.

Does this phrase bother you?

Saturn's role in the journey for makua o'o

"With Saturn in Scorpio, energy is limited and I just don’t have it to waste."-Elsa P.

Saturn in Scorpio is moving through my 10th House (public reputation). With each new day I am made very aware of the limited energy I do have. The upside of that is, I do have some energy. Yesterday my husband and I packed up our Subaru and braved the pre-solstice downpour to celebrate my good friend's graduation. Packing up your car in these contemporary times might seem oddly out of date for a trip an hour and a half away. But, to us, in our form of living it takes packing and preparation. We did successfully drive north on Highway 20, Pete steady at the wheel at 50MPH with very little traffic to impede us. We made a choice to see this good friend whose journey inspires me as she uses the energy available to her to become a force with which to reckon. I have listened to her sort what's good, what's no longer nourishing, what beliefs can sustain her now.

Our drive to celebrate her success required packing up, and when we arrived it was obvious we could not stay long. We found her among the red gowns and embraced with the energy of friendship solid. It was important to be there; not a waste of energy. I had my blue waterproof boots on, and had the Toy Story umbrella poised above me to shed the rain. Pete found our friend in that crowd of graduate, and when we had to leave said, "Moki really just wanted to show off her boots!" He's a Cancer with care at his core and mischief in all his limbs. "Those are boots worth showing," my friend said appreciatively. I glowed.

Above everything else Saturn does for all of us, the planet of time-keeping brings the lesson of slowing down to learn lessons deeply. For me, the 10th House transit has to do with being an elder, a writer and friend who is worthy of self-love and love of those who really know me.  Donna Cunningham, astrologer and blogger; and friend who joined me on my on-line writers group for a time, has a fascinating and vigorous post on Saturn. The comments and dialogue are healthy and thoughtful. Here is the link for you to read yourself. At 70+ Donna's elderhood still glows with humor and grace. I love her for that light. I seek that out and blend it into my own recipe for metamorphosis. Right, if there's not a lot of energy to waste, choose wisely or wiser than before. Saturn is all about that.

What's your relationship with Saturn like?

In the flow this summer: Grand Trine in Water

Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula'au.
Rains always follow the forest.

The rains are attracted to forest trees.
Knowing this, Hawaiians hewed
only the trees that were needed.

-'Olelo No'eau

We live on an island. An island is surrounded by ocean. The ocean that surrounds us is the Salish Sea, Puget Sound by modern naming, Whidbey Island is water bound. The patch of land we park upon is in the middle of the forest we make room but cut no trees for our tiny huts, walk paths that get us from eating place to sleeping place. The trees grow taller each season, the huckleberries and fern reach up and out and all of this depends on the water.

It is wet here, often. Summer brings dry times and we pull out the picnic table and dig out our shorts delighted to brown up the pasty bleached out skin. My garden seeds have popped through the rich brown dirt, ten once purple bean seeds launched themselves this morning thanks to the summer rain that drenches now.The seeds are in the flow. All my anxious waiting and wondering "Where are they" stuff. No nevermind, the seeds knew what they needed.

Tending a garden is my best teacher: I plant my anxiety into the dirt and the lepo transforms it into feed for the seeds and with patience, the seeds reach for the sun, drink up the rain or spray from the hose, and create Blue Lake Beans and peas to eat later this summer. Astrology is another of the best teachers for me. Planting me with insight into Papahulilani via my favorite astrologer Elsa P. I can be in the flow. (Both the links to Papahulilani and Elsa's Grand Trine insight are worth the exploration!)

Definitions:

A Trine refers to 120 degrees between planets. Trines create unimpeded flow--sweet and deep support.- Elizabeth Rose Campbell

Interpretation

Saturn in Scorpio (deeply planted roots) trines

Jupiter (your philosophy about family) in Cancer trines

Neptune (ability to transcend/forgive) in Pisces

I can feel how deep my roots are planted and use my native curiosity to learn the language of my mother's blood. I read and breathe in the 'oli and interpretations from Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele's Ka Honua Ola. Slowly, I read the words and heed Pua's advice from the Preface, "Take time to enjoy and understand each phrase or line before going on. Remember, this gift took many lifetimes to wrap. Don't be in a hurry to unwrap it and become frustrated in doing so."  This is precisely what Saturn's 2.5 year stay in Scorpio is about for me. Don't rush. Dig deep.

While I rest between digs I have begun a gentle meditation practice to maintain flow. A simple ritual. I fold a paper cup. The one who is in need comes. I fill it. Or, they fill mine when it is my cup that is in need. 

Are you flowing?

 

The Safety Pin Cafe is now open!

Regular readers of" Makua O'o" will know about the medicine story I wrote last winter called "The Safety Pin Cafe." New readers to this blog may be curious about the cafe tucked under the red awnings. Like a loved child the fairy tale and mythic story has grown, involved other artists and still continues to make magic. Today the tale and the new blog is open. I hope you come through the doors, enjoy your visit and come back often.


Welcome to The Safety Pin Cafe the cozy place where magic is common and continuous, the remedies unique, protocol practiced with care, and silliness easily available.

You will find a story here and characters familiar or strange. Language of birds and memories of ancient messages pin themselves into wishes, answers to prayers made and art yet to be fashioned. The Safety Pin Cafe is close, nearer than one could imagine and is open especially to those who straggle borders listening for the comfort of an empty cup needing filling.

A sample from the Menu

the medicine story

"Are you facile with magic in its many flavors, open-minded yet tethered to the illusive metaphors of a tale? A mostly unedited yet spirited version of myth will soothe and enliven you if you have a taste for story that is not dripping with sauce, and detail. This story is full of bones, so you are warned. On the other hand if you easily fill in empty space with your imagination this story will be sure to please."

Summer Solstice, Friday, June 21, 2013 is the perfect time to swing wide the doors of a mythic place for comfort.

The Safety Pin Cafe is now open.

Kaulana Na Pua for 'Ole Pau (never ending)

Kaulana Nâ Pua (Famous Are The Flowers) - Ellen Keho`ohiwaokalani Wright Prendergast
Kaulana nâ pua a`o Hawai`i Kûpa`a ma hope o ka `âina Hiki mai ka `elele o ka loko `ino Palapala `ânunu me ka pâkaha Pane mai Hawai`i moku o Keawe Kôkua nâ Hono a`o Pi`ilani Kâko`o mai Kaua`i o Mano Pa`apû me ke one Kâkuhihewa `A`ole a`e kau i ka pûlima Ma luna o ka pepa o ka `ênemi Ho`ohui `âina kû`ai hewa I ka pono sivila a`o ke kanaka `A`ole mâkou a`e minamina I ka pu`u kâlâ o ke aupuni Ua lawa mâkou i ka pôhaku I ka `ai kamaha`o o ka `âina Ma hope mâkou o Lili`ulani A loa`a ê ka pono o ka `âina *(A kau hou `ia e ke kalaunu) Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana Ka po`e i aloha i ka `âina *Alternate Stanza	Famous are the children of Hawai`i Ever loyal to the land When the evil-hearted messenger comes With his greedy document of extortion Hawai`i, land of Keawe answers Pi`ilani's bays help Mano's Kaua`i lends support And so do the sands of Kakuhihewa No one will fix a signature To the paper of the enemy With its sin of annexation And sale of native civil rights We do not value The government's sums of money We are satisfied with the stones Astonishing food of the land We back Lili`ulani Who has won the rights of the land *(She will be crowned again) Tell the story Of the people who love their land *Alternate Stanza
Source: Na Mele o Hawai`i Nei by Elbert & Mahoe - Written Jan. 1893, published in 1895, this himeni opposed the annexation of Hawai`i to the United States. The original title was Mele `Ai Pohaku or The Stone-eating Song, and was also known as Mele Aloha `Aina or the Patriot's Song. This song was composed as Ellen Wright Prendergast was sitting in the garden of her father's house in Kapalama. Members of the Royal Hawaiian Band visited her and voiced their unhappiness at the takeover of the Hawaiian Kingdom. They begged her to put their feelings of rebellion to music.  Mahalo CKB, for the link-up.	Ellen Keho`ohiwaokalani Wright Prendergast

A Spoonful of Magic

Have you a spoonful of magic? Everyone needs at least one spoonful a day, and maybe two, on days when you might not have a spoon left to hold the magic.

http://vimeo.com/28512685

Perhaps, carrots might do for a dose of magic today ...

A spoonful of magic begins with carrots

It's one of those days when most of my spoons are dirty, need a bit of washing and I need a nice nap and a laugh. Don't need a spoonful of sugar though I maybe craving it out of habit. I am smiling at the dose of magic from The Safety Pin Cafe as I tweak and clean up story and the healing lessons from the characters. Link here to the original dose if that's your fancy. And, a treat ...The Safety Pin Cafe (in summer) thanks to artist Elizabeth Crabtree who has allowed me the use of her painting "Open Door Cafe" as the homepage for "The Pin." (see more of Elizabeth's work here).

Now, for that nap on an 'Ole Moon.

A hui hou.

He puko 'a kani 'aina

He puko 'a kani `aina 
A coral reef that grows into an island
A person beginning in a small way gains steadily until he becomes firmly established.
-'Olelo No'eau

The astrology for the next few days can be described in this way according to my astrologer, Elsa Panizzon, “With the Moon,Venus and Mercury in Cancer today, many will be drawn towards their families, their hometowns, their clan, their roots, etc. They’ll want the comfort that comes from familiarity.Uranus and Pluto aspect the stellium in Cancer. This combination is all about disruption and separation, so unfortunately, few will be able to find the security or nurturing they want (Venus) and feel they need (Moon)."   I've been feeling this longing for home even more strongly than usual and can usually find comfort in astrology as I ride the next wave of emotions or tumble within it as the undertow shakes me.

Being rooted to something long lasting to endure the tidal pulls and the dry spells I'll often go to my stack of 'Olelo No'eau cards for Hawaiian poetry and insight. The small deck of cards the size of business cards were printed years ago (and I believe no longer available) by my old friend Elo(ise) Nakama Hiura and her twin sister whose name I cannot retrieve from memory. When I am looking for something to which I can tether or conversely something from which I can makawalu (unfurl from) I thumb through the cards. He puko 'a kani 'aina reminds me that time is relative, growth can be measured by so many different rulers, and makua o'o is life's work.

Yesterday afternoon I was restless. My self-imposed isolation from the pollens of the dreaded Scotch Broom. The brilliant but difficult blossoms and pollen have been proliferating this year and besides its invasive physical nature The Broom is a real challenge for those who have pollen allergies (that would include me). Here in the woods I dig in the dirt, plant my beans and mache seeds, feed the chickens and go about my life but don't leave home. Yesterday I needed to have a little stretch. Just as I was heading for my car a gentle breeze blew through the high tree tops. In its wake I saw the fine yellow rain of pollen being shaken from the tips of our pine tree. There is no escaping new life, spawning and growth. It's a lesson I am given over and over again. Laughter helps (and so too does a little ride, close to home, with a hot cup of something over chitchat).

Sometimes the limits of life can create the illusion that life is only about the limitations. But. Life is not only about that. While the pollens scatter on breezes, coral spawns. While coral spawns children leave the nest. These things happen not once. These things happen over and again. See what I mean when I say the journey of a makua o'o is life work?

Is it so for you as well?

Photograph Credits: CKB and Laulau in Brussels, Coral spawning in WA

New Moon in Gemini, June 8, 2013

Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills 

the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness. -Rumi

The quote from Persian mystic and poet Rumi says it all for me. It's a beautiful day in my Pacific Northwest neighborhood, I'm excited to be alive and want to fill some cups, just like Rumi said. Timing is the secret to comedy, and the time seems right to spread the word and put the challenge out to my neighbors far and near. I'm hoping for viral.

The astrology prep work of the New Moon in Gemini from Elsa P. has me "brainstorming how to be effective" with the New Moon in Gemini conjuncting my natal Uranus.


Here's the back story ...

In 2000 I traveled to Hiroshima Japan to deliver 1,000 origami (Japanese paper folded) cranes to the Sadako Peace Park. My friends and I gathered at my home to fold paper cranes all year long; they folded cranes at work; they gave me cranes from their 1,000 wedding cranes. One of my friends who helped fold cranes was a flight attendant with Northwest Airlines she came through with a buddy pass. She and I made the trip and we were bumped into First Class to enjoy the trip.

Here's the thing that added sacredness to an already miraculous experience: a few days before we left I severely injured my lower back teaching yoga. There was a big lesson to learn with that, and I would learn it for years to come. See many someones filled my cup to get those cranes to the Sadako Peace Park. There was my ticket to Japan (first time in first class, first time Japan); then the heated massage pillow for easing the pain while I flew; the hospitality of the Japanese people, especially the owners of the Soba Shop who fed us wonderful noodles and had a secret oitment for my back.

Now, thirteen years later the injury to my back and the lesson about pushing from ego have mostly realigned me. I have had many people fill my cup since, and feel it is time to fold more paper. Maybe my current lesson is "Use it or lose it." Pass it on, pass it forward. Like attracts like. This time I would like to fold paper cups. A Thousand Paper Cups. Paper cranes are beautiful, but they're intricate to fold and honestly I have difficulty with them now. Paper Cups are breezy, easy and so cute!

Here's the challenge:
Would you like to join in, from where you are (any where you are!) and fold A Thousand Paper Cups?

Hua ka'i, 'Eli'eli Kau Mai

 

Definitions 

Huaka'i

Trip, voyage, mission; procession; to travel, parade.

'Eli'eli Kau Mai

"Whatever you dig deep ... and find ... is yours."- from an Interview with Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele about her book Ka Honua Ola

Nature in her many forms

Spiders hatching

All around us in the woods where we live spiders are hatching. The picture above is one that is similar to what Pete and I watched the other day. It was a breezy afternoon, makani olu a very pleasant breeze was present moving from left to right as we stood at the fence post leading into the orchard and my garden where a row of bean seeds are just warm enough to push their way out of the lepo and reach for the sun. We stood enjoying the succulent breeze. In front of us, so close one could have missed it a pod the color of baby poop started to move. Tiny movements. Many movements. One by one the tiny moving being broke from the pod of baby poop and with makani olu's help strands of spider web launched baby spiders out into the sky.

Fern unfurling 

We begin our fourth year of living on this land, this moku. Slowly and gratefully we make ourselves known to this island and this place surrounded by the Salish Sea and all the elements, gods, and protocols for life, here. The ferns that have grown up around us are nearly at their full and luscious height. They have unfurled. They are making their journey, they have sprung from roots planted deep in these forest floors. They show me through their example hua ka'i ... new beginnings, adventures just as the baby spiders journey into the unknown.

 

Tina Turner 

I've been listening to her since she was singing with Ike on vinyl records. She has sustained and she journeys from her Nut Bush City beginnings. Her music and her fame has launched her into the world as a celebrity the world knows. I will never know her to watch and become familiar with like I watch and become familiar with baby spiders or a neighborhood fern. But she is one of my species, and a woman and for that I can celebrate the possibility and the example. The interview with her was enjoyable and the conclusion very human. I connected on many levels and appreciated once more the awesomeness of YouTube.

Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele

Pua Kanahele is a contemporary of Tina Turner, they are probably the same age (78). Like Tina Turner Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele is a celebrity with a powerful voice. The title for this post and the inspiration to use these photos to enhance this post come from Pua. I have been studying her work, and appreciating the depth of her knowledge as I pursue my own practice as makua o'o elder in training. I learn something every time I listen to her, and look forward to reading her book Ka Honua Ola. 

Those baby spiders, the unfurled ferns,Tina Turner and Pualani Kanahele are inspirations for living passionately today. So glad to have another day to be surprised by the journey, and the discoveries. I am refreshed with these example. 

Dig deep, but don't plant today. It's Kane Moon.

Aloha,

Mokihana

Making space for voice

This spring in the woods I am wearing electric blue boots (waterproof, winter boots) with fuzzy orange lining and trim of that same vibrant color. My feet are short and wide and my ankles need extra support so shoes are a challenge. When I find a style and brand that works I go for it! The first winter in the woods I found a pair in a size and width that suit me; I've worn them 24/7 for three years. The backs of the boots are frayed from the many ins and outs as I put the boots on, take the boots off. We don't wear shoes or boots inside and to get from one room to another in our world one must go out into the woods.

Those electric blue boots are getting their initiation during the first days of June. Strange time for initiating a pair of winter boots, but they work just fine for me and I say, "thank you." Back inside with my feet bare and my toes freed up I'm happy to be blogging again. The break has done me good and the little gray cells and my navigational tools for crossing borders of the imagination are ripe like the salmon berries. I gobble the ideas like hungry Robin Woman and pin the energy of salmon berry magic to the page to remember them, and pass them along here.

When I was little one of the toys I relished as a girl was the phonograph. We didn't own one but my cousins did. My cousins would visit and sometimes spend the night while their mother worked. She worked at a record store, Thayer's Music in Honolulu. Along with a phonograph my cousins brought records, story records. Records, music and story easily transported me into worlds not yet known. I imagined and though it would be years before I found my own, I would learn that I had a voice. Those early records, and the time spent listening, really listening was priming me.

Writer Terry Tempest Williams said this about receiving her first voice lesson. In a talk given in Bellingham, Washington, Williams spoke about her parents and their influence on her (and her brother's) life. Williams was addressing the audience and speaking about her book When Women Were Birds. The link below takes you to the presentation. She says about her mother's influence as voice teacher "Mother had her own intensity but it was contained." Williams then describes how she and her brother sat in front of the phonograph and listened to the orchestra and narration of Peter and the Wolf. "We were introduced to the distinctive voice of each character...Within those 30 minutes I receized my first tutorial on voice. All of us has one, and each voice is distinct."

In a serendipitous connection with Terry Tempest Williams (whose books I admit to not yet reading) I inhaled the common influence of music ... making space for voice. Knowing how music can feed us the oxygen of inspiration. The mana necessary to grow where we are planted at the time to make use of space and transcend it, and time as well. Reopening my blog feels like freedom to me. Freedom opens up space in my lungs and fuels my heart to feed me 'ea ... sovereignty. The voices of fiction that tinker with my imagination love the feel of my feel in fuzzy orange lined electric boots. In those boots, my feet are ageless and agile. "Reality is what it is, but perception is King," my astrologer Satori wrote that the other day and I love repeating it. "However you frame reality creates your experience and the mind and senses are key."

And the electric blue and orange boots ... What you think?

Terry Tempest Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suPndViGWko

Back from hiatus

From time to time I will shut down this blog and reassess the journey taken thus far. Re-defining myself, my relationships with myself, my family, my kuleana (my responsibilities). Hawaiians say we must check to see if all is pono in harmony with the whole. Periodic doses of drawing within and asking for guidance. Those who have visited or stayed to read Makua O'o over the years know that I do this. Perhaps they wonder why I do it? One of the 9 tools of a makua o'o is 'practice good health practices'. Shutting down, cleaning up and drawing in are examples of that practice.

My most recent hiatus from blogging has given me a chance to pay attention to my physical health. I am grateful to my husband and my Ancestors for their love and care as I make necessary changes and listen to the dreams that come with directions.

There are several changes to what Makua o'o looks at this point:

The Homepage image is that of Pacific Northwest ferns. They surround us and this year especially are bombastic in their reach nearly shoulder height and oh so beautiful. It's significant, I feel, to use an image of the place where I am today. The fern is of this place. I am here I live with these fern and they teach me the protocol, the Nature of this space.

New Pages run across the Homepage and give you a different view of who and what I do here. The 'oli E HO MAI written by Aunty Edith Kanakaole lays the foundation for this blog wherein it asks for the wisdom to know what is important ... to you, to me, to us individually. From that 'oli the pages unfold my writing, both old favorites and new work in the making expanding storytelling to include myth-making and writing fiction. Link to them and I hope there's something fun or inspiring for you to discover.

Sidebar content has been edited and cleaned up without getting too clean in the process. I still have things to do on the sidebar, but these things will happen without affecting the site.

Mahalo niu loa kakou thanks to all of you for coming to read. We are all elders in training. So many ways to get there from here. This blog evolves as I evolve. I share it because it brings me joy. When it stops being joyful I reassess.

 "Joy is What We're After: Joy is the jackpot in life, and if you still believe jack is the jackpot, you don't know jack about joy!"
  - Swami Beyondananda

Enjoy the journey and thank you for coming to my blog Makua O'o!

Mokihana