Pele's Kuleana ... Kauluwela na moku ... Maker of land through fire

 

 

Another story of Ka'ala Farm and Cultural Kipuka

Yesterday I posted a YouTube interview with Eric Enos. The magic of the message was clear to me, but the language was missing something. The voice and texture of Eric's message was layered. In part, that sort of communication happens every where, every day. We adapt language to fit the 'package' or the interview. I know I do it. Adapt. There is a price and a value to adaptation: the value is many survive because we adapt or make ourselves available to the prevailing culture -- the dominant culture. The price of adaptation can be a lifetime or generations of lifetimes where true value is invisible, hidden or misrepresented. No way do I hear a misrepresentation of the message on Eric Enos's part. But in a different venue I knew his language would be different. I sought it out.

Using the example of Eric Enos' interview I found something more to listen to and consider. Using the tools of the Makua o'o today's post involves 'listening for the heartbeat of the culture.' Going deeper the link here takes another listen at the story of working with and caring for the land... malama 'aina in a talk at AHA KANE, 2012. 

AHA KANE's mission and vision in their own words is:

Our Mission and Vision

Ke Kuhi Hopena (Vision)
To nurture a healthier Native Hawaiian male population by eliminating psychosocial, health, and educational disparities founded on traditional cultural practices and building sustainability in the community.
Ka Mākia (Purpose)
To increase our awareness and empower Native Hawaiian males to fulfill our roles and responsibilities amongst ourselves, as well as within our families and our respective communities.

Ka Huakaʻi (Mission)
To strengthen the Native Hawaiian community through nurturing and perpetuating the traditional male roles and responsibilities that contribute to the physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being of Hawaiian males, their families and communities.

LINK BELOW to a video with Eric Enos as he talks with Hawaiian men at AHA KANE 2012 about the discovery and restoration of traditional and cultural practices; the establishment of Ka'ala Farm.

http://www.oiwi.tv/channels/culture/working-and-caring-the-aina/

Was there a difference in the message in the two stories about cultural kipuka? Consider it for yourself. 

Cultural Kipuka

"Cultural kipuka were calm and safe traditional centers of spiritual power where Native Hawaiian beliefs and practices were able to develop long before Western and Christian influences."- McGregor, 2007

Our son is living on O'ahu. A couple days ago we chatted and he told me about a recent study completed in Hawaii focused on Hawaiian (and Pacific Islanders) health. I've read the report and begun to sift through the details sniffing in my fashion as woman with stick (makua o'o) for the magic in the message. I found it! For me, as I wrote back to my son yesterday, the "cultural kipuka" was something to chew on and digest. This morning I used the cybernetic portals available through these keys and screen and found the YouTube filmed in the Waianae Valley at Ka'ala Farm on the Leeward coast of O'ahu. This is a film and conversation with Eric Enos and here I listened with my whole body and felt the heartbeart of my culture. (Press that arrow above now if you have thirty minutes to feel with your whole body.) Listen carefully for Eric Enos' definition of "kipuka" using the beauty of Hawaiian metaphor and the concept that is the papaku (foundation) upon which Ka'ala Farm restores and reminds Hawaiians of our true inheritance.

"Hawaiians are notoriously adaptive"

The quote used to entitle this post comes from a TEDx presentation "Hawaii's Legacy of Literary" given by Puakea Nogelmeir, Hawaiian scholar and teacher of the Hawaiian language. Today is 'Ole Kukahi, the first of the three phases of the Hawaiian Moon Calendar where review, rest, restoration (along with weeding, repairing and editing) are worthy practices. I've done a little weeding, and yesterday pruned back my wildly advancing raspberries so the scarlet runner beans can get more sun. A wheel barrel is filled with weeds, and my hair is freshly washed and drying because it is a beautiful summer day in the Pacific Northwest. I have a story and a printed version of it in the making. The words are more finely tuned through editing, and now I have to learn to format it using new software. The story and book is a completely one-woman show ... I have a lot to learn, and every day I learn how my kupuna with their legacy of literary have been helping me all the way along. When I think I can't ... they come and show me how it was done before. And I keep at it.

Listening to Puakea speak, and seeing the mountain of literary described in his presentations restores my energy. I need that. The layers of meaning that comes from a simple story is what excites me, though I wonder who will get the many meanings? Patiently, and sometimes not so patiently, I write the story and take the medicine that is a flow of consciousness ... the words don't rhyme but the meanings are metaphoric and literal and then I find more meaning because the rubble of hidden treasure is busting open. Here. There. A pin folding one end of the meaning to the sentence hungry for connection. 

It's an 'ole moon and rest brings restoration. Listen to the treasure of the notoriously adaptive Hawaiians.

Kuleana Project: Artist Interviews

These are the 'Ole Moons (link to a wonderful digital book  about Mahina and the Hawaiian methodology for tracking time and living time created by the Edith Kanakaole Foundation), not a good time for planting or fishing; a perfect time for review and weeding and mending nets and correcting errors.

The video included with this post expands on a previous blog post. Hear and see the artists involved in creating Project Kuleana for insight into contemporary Kanaka (Hawaiian) living and growing truth, pono and excellence.

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.

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?

 

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

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

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

Diving into Epistemology ... more mana'o from Manu Meyer

I'm diving here. I need this now more than ever.

Feel the heartbeart of the Culture ... Personal Retreats during the 'Ole Cycle of Mahina

The practice of Counting on the Moon

What is an 'Ole Cycle?

'Ole is the Hawaiian word, pronounced OH-LAY with the emphasis on the OH, meaning 'without or empty.' In the context of this article 'Ole Cycle' refers to the the 'empty cycles' of the moon's near thirty-day appearance and relationship with planet Earth. We see the moon appear smaller or larger in the sky because of her reflection of light from the Sun. Ancient peoples, as are the Kanaka Maoli, my ancestors the Hawaiians, have long been observant and in tune with the Moon, Mahina, and her affect on life on Earth and beings living on Earth. Mahina affects the tides, Mahina affects the tide and water both on our planet and in our bodies. Fisher folk and farmers tend to their lives with awareness of Mahina.

The 'Ole Cycle(s) are the non-productive times of planting and fishing times when the seas, and the soil are left to replenish and as well, the kanaka rests from new projects/work. Hawaiians like my ancestors and now, Hawaiians like myself, make time to s l o w down and reconnect with nature especially during the two 'Ole Cycles within a thirty-day cycle. There are two 'Ole Cycles, one cycle is four-days/nights long and happens seven nights after any New Moon. The other 'Ole Cycle is three-days/nights long and begins twenty-one days after any New Moon. The four-days/nights of 'Ole have just passed.

The wisdom that has grown from my personal practice of non-production during the 'Ole Cycle began that winter of 2007, when all possibilities of returning to the way things used to be went up in a toxic drift. My husband and I have suffered and survived loss upon loss since that pesticide poisoning in Ka`aawa. We are worn from the turn of tides that wiped friendships, family connection and pre-conceived entitlements. Life compressed, relief and then remedy came because we were called -- shouted at, to live intimately with the Earth. With nothing to count on, we came to count on the Moon. My son's focused remark "Do no new projects during the 'Ole," gave me a talisman of time upon which I could begin to 'be like nature.'

Given all the uncontrollable events, choices and outcomes of our nomadic life, there were seven days and nights in any thirty days and nights when we could tap into the energy of something more powerful than loss. Four times following an empty sky (New Moon) we became 'ole, emptied of fear, emptied of deciding, emptied of trying to make things different. Again later in the journey of the Moon on her way to becoming empty, we had three times (day and night) when we became 'ole, emptied of fear, emptied of deciding, emptied of trying to make things different. This three 'ole cycle was also an especially auspicious time, and a time to offer pule (prayers) to the Akua of planting and nourishment. I began to be more conscious of these prayer times, and called particularly on those Akua. At first, I forgot to pray, and lost track of Mahina. She minded not. Next cycle she was there, wherever we were parked, the Moon was present. Slowly, month by month the cycles became more a part of us. We noticed. I felt the cycles, and knew when it was time to empty and be with the 'ole.

The practice now

Personal Retreat, Powerful Emptying

This four-days and nights of 'Ole just passed were a powerful time of emptying. Conscious and compassionate, I made time for Retreating, drawing in to listen intuitively and quieted the clamber of external shouts and demands.

Rest

Life with MCS is difficult. With time and attending the symptoms of this illness calm and improve, but my experience is the symptoms persist or change. Much like life itself, this illness changes and because we live on the fringe of society in nearly every definition, our well-being is not guaranteed by a health care provider or insurance co-payment. We have long since been able to pay for or use the services of doctor or dentist. Instead, our well-being is most dependent upon our being able to rest and sleep deeply, encouraging body-mind and spirit to restore itself natively. It is more difficult for my husband, who continues to enter and return from society earning money and recognition as a dependable and skillful worker. His work involves contact with contaminated sources: fragranced environments and people. He is affected, and the scents then need to be washed off using eight cups of hot water at a time. The process is intentive, and the steps multiple.

During the 'Ole Cycle our bodies empty, and we rest deeply, and heal a little bit more.

Restoration

My life is compressed if one looks at it from the outside. I travel little, walk from our vardo to this Quonset, take walks in the woods and see few people. On the inside, my life is immense, my connection with the Divine intimate and the avenues of expression grow from that internal life. Writing, as I am now, is the exchange of energy that comes from my daily practices: prayers, reading of Al-Anon literature, astrology and the casting of Runes. All these make for a full day. Life Navigation is an art, the course set last week may well require correction because of course, I sail not alone. I tune in, ask for clarification an during 'Ole I write less, make even fewer contacts than my minimal usual, and I listen more.

Review

Plant and fish, weed and mend nets


'Ole Cycles happen regularly, twice in a calendar month and with that natural structure I live my life in smaller chunks. The years of living on the road, presented us with the gift of wisdom wrapped with the moon. Time has offered us opportunities to become fisher folk and farmers of our personal sea, our personal garden. In no some way with no hold or ownership of sea or land, we plant seeds or fish where we are. Today, as the clocks jump ahead an hour in Northwestern USA, we plant ourselves lightly on portable homes no bigger than a closet. We share ourselves and our resources with two kind women and their animals. They share space in exchange for a minimal rent and our survival skills. We nurture this relationship, and restore the value of being together.

What, how and when I write changes and during 'Ole I stop writing on the blogs, and tend to the writing already begun editing and listening to the melody of stories written to hear them again. My decisions to close down access to the blogs written during the years of diaspora and building our vardo home are the right ones for me. The 'Ole time confirmed that choice, new energy comes when weeding is efficient and timely. There is room for the unexpected and the unknown. The newly created writers group rested this past long weekend, and soon we will come together to find what is next.

Relationships

The Earth is experiencing huge changes. To deny that is a choice that will bring with it consequences unique to the chooser. Just as this planet and her inhabitants experience the changing relationship between humankind and place, we will experience changes in our personal relationships. I am aware of the change in me, as I recognize and am affirmed that "This is not a rehearsal. This is IT!" The sky is falling, and we are all affected. 

Astrology and faith reinforce the course of my life. With each loss and resurrection, I am learning to know all my 'cards' so to speak. With each loss I find out who this person is, and who I am not. The relationships I have whittle the facades I have worn, and I learn to deal more squarely with my real self. The self that wears a mask because toxic drift is real. The self that loves, yet knows their are limits. The self that knows some (or all) of my choices might end a friendship, relationship. And then, there are the 'Ole cycles when unexpected reconnections lead me to kindle a passion thought lost. Storytelling is that passion. Oh yes, the story told through words stretching across the page continues to flow, and change, as here I write. But it is the telling story that I love that has been left to seed. Yesterday I reconnected with a friend and master of the tale who did re-ignite my love for the oral tradition. To him, I end this winding tale, with a smile as broad as bowls. Emptied, there was room for Jeff Gere, and what a genie, showing up across the waves.

The Makana (the give-away)

An MCS Gypsy Remedy: Personal Retreat during the 'Ole Cycle of the Moon

First, a couple definitions.

This remedy is not a cure, but may aid, assist or support your personal well-being and health related choices; and it will surely do you no harm.

Gypsy. In all respects and manner, I humbly acknowledge the Romani Nation, the people who are called 'Gypsy' in countries across Planet Earth. To these ancient and respected travellers I mean no disrespect as I link myself as "MCS Gypsy." I experienced a life without settlement, and diaspora and know the Roma or Romani history with diaspora. Only with the highest regard for "Gypsies" do I call myself a wanderer and traveller.

Undeniably those who live with chronic illnesses like I do with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities benefit from the support of understanding people and practices for well-being as unique as each of us. My experiences with loss and recovery, hope and resilience has benefited from my relationship with nature and in particular my relationship to Mahina. Whatever your personal well-ness practices are here is one that is portable, practical and inexpensive. The Moon is there wherever you are. The practice of Personal Retreat during the 'Ole Cycle of the Moon" as adaptable as you find yourself, and inexpensive for it only costs you willingness and seven-days in a calendar month.

Try this:

• NOTE THE NEW MOON

Look at a calendar, or go on-line and find out when the New Moon is for the up-coming month.

• COUNT TO SEVEN

Once you know when the New Moon is, count it as "1" and then go forward counting to "7". Day "7" is the first 'OLE DAY/NIGHT. There will be FOUR 'Ole days and nights in this cycle, "7",8", "9" and "10."

Days and Nights "7" through "10" are 'OLE.

• DO NO NEW PROJECTS During the 'Ole

This may take some practice, some of us will find rest, weed and restore difficult. Start with awareness, and let the practice happen with time. Be easy.

• There's a second set of 'Ole Days later in the month

COUNT FORWARD FROM THE NEW MOON TO "21"
Days and Nights counted "21" through "23" are the second cycle of 'Ole.

Three days and nights of the moon are 'Ole, a second time for resting and DO NO NEW PROJECTS within any calendar month.

I live a Gypsy-like life and know first-hand the harshness, and the wisdom that can come from a life of wandering. I suspect there will be more of us on this road, due the physical and economic shifts that are happening throughout the Planet.  We will need to draw on courage we have never known before, and may find our dreams, our homes and the life you know lost like sandcastles at a high tide.  If there are times when you can not count on a thing, try counting on the Moon.

Do you take time for personal retreats?

If you would like to learn more about the 'Ole Cycle, or consult with Mokihana e-mail me at ssvardoATgmailDOTcom.

Imagine Credit:  Copyright, Mokihana Calizar and Pete Little

SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY is happening ... Part of the writing project focused on VALUE

Here is an exception to my usual practice of not posting on an`Ole Day ... a story worth telling ... nothing new ... something that simply needs to be remembered in time to be part of a fun group writing project.


The Earth is bubbling, quaking under her skin are the rumblings of new earth. Not far from our little apartment in Seattle, Mt. Redount, an Alaskan volcano is shaking things up. Just where she will take that volcanic activity ... perhaps the vulcanologists can predict. In whatever form, that volcano is stirring the ALL THAT IS. Of course, the four-legged know the Earth is talking, they have never lost the ability to hear and feel Mother. My cat knows it, she is hunkered down under a flannel blanket atop a woolen sweater. Some of the two-legged ones know the Earth is talking as well, and we don't watch the television or listen to much radio news. The problem with my 'knowing' is I don't tune into the translation of the signals as exquisitely as my kitty.

INNER ECOLOGY

Something extraordinary is happening and it has a lot to do with knowing the value of inter-connectedness. One of my recent most favorite people is Leonardo Boff. I began reading his work and then started writing about him just this week on Makua O`o. He has inspired me with the simple reminder of the INNER ECOLOGY of all living being. As a Hawaiian, I have an ancient memory of this INNER ECOLOGY and connection to ALL that is. The culture of my mother's people have always respected the nature of living in everyone from bug, to spider, shark and my Green Bay born husband. And yet, the limiting and confining beliefs about myself during my life turned that respect, the unquestioning truth that in the natural world everyone 'speaks' the same language, to fear of being without VALUE.

A Short Hawaiian People's history

Perhaps a Hawaiian People's history lesson could shed some light. I recall from memory parts of this history of Hawaii in the Old Times. (I acknowledge and mahalo the family storytellers Koko Willis and Pali Jai Lee from the island of Molokai who collected the mana`o of their kupuna ... elders, and wrote the book Tales of the Night Rainbow translating mana`o into these valuable teachings. Mahalo nui loa kakou.)

`Aina ... that which feeds you

In times long past, this island was rich and abundant with life. `Aina in Hawaiian means "land" and it means more than that. `Aina means that which feeds you, and this is where the real story begins. In the Old Times, people lived in simple fashion from the ocean's shore to the top of the rain-drenched mountains. The people of the ocean fished, harvested limu (sea vegetables) and dried ocean water to make pa`a kai (sea salt) for seasoning and preservation. Everyone in the sea knew everyone on the shore. There was a kinship, a respect for life. Ke Kai, The Ocean, is one of the many gods Hawaiian acknowledge, respect and honor. Through the days and nights the Kanaka (the human) respected the cycles of high and low tide, calm and rough waters. Their knowing made it possible to fish, harvest, au` au bathe and enjoy swimming, surfing and canoeing with ease. With respect, all life was at ease.

Respect and ease

The same respect and ease happened along the paths upland, ma`uka in the mountains. Farmers used the natural slope of the land to channel rainway into drainage ditches `au wai, and the raised beds of taro, lo`i kalo (taro patches) were tended by hand and watered by the rain. The forrests of koa and other woods were respected for it was they who housed the birds, and the birds were the messengers. When it was time to choose a fitting tree to cut and carve into an ocean-ready canoe, the birds would know which tree was solid and which one was riddled with tree-eating bugs ... ono (delicious food for birds, peck, peck). As with the ocean people, when the `ole days of the moon shone, the farmer rested the land, weeded the lo`i and made offerings to the Gods.

Noticing and attending

Within every aha, or community, the elders maintained the teachings of harmonious living, and passed the knowledge along to those in the family who paid attention. The elders noticed everything, and were at ease with that knowing. Everyone had a place in the aha, no one was of more or less value. A child who was especially attention to the changing positions of the stars was no less valued than the other who could pound taro (nutritious corms) for hours without tiring. A child's natural inclinations were noticed and nurtured. And every child, every person was loved.

In this setting the life of the visible nurturance and the invisible were no difference. The protection and guidance of those who were no longer in the body, were now 'aumakua, spirit guardian. `Aumakua took many forms and in many cases families had special `aumakua. The bond did not change when someone no longer had a physical body. Most, or at least many, continued to see, hear and could travel between the planes in the Old Times.

VALUE or WAI WAI was in the being

The land, ocean, heavens (air and rain) and the beings on land and ocean and heavens had VALUE simply in their being. From that unquestioned value, the people worked. Food was gathered from the ocean, or grown in beautifully kept fish ponds; land vegetables were grown, cooked, preserved. What the fisherfolk gathered, they shared with the planter. No one went to sleep hungry, as long as respect for the ocean and land was maintained. There were 'ole nights, times during which the moon indicated rest for the ocean and the ground was indicated. Thanksgiving happened regularly, not only once a year.

Harmony ... pono

This system of pono, or harmony also came with a very different sense of 'enoughness'. In other words there was very little surplus or extra food or 'stuff' in a community of pono. Instead, there was VALUE in knowing the fisherman could fish, the kahuna (priest/healer) would care for the woman who was bleeding from the rectum, and the children would be loved. All would be loved, listened to, VALUED. HAVING was undefinable. OWNING not a word in the language. LOVE was everything and that is the word ALOHA.

This Hawaii, this world of pono existed prior to the arrival of the Tahitian, according to the teachings. With the Tahitian came a distinction between being and having. VALUE became a thing counted by the color of your skin, the quality of your clothing, and the number of people you could control. It was the great HEWA, the great fall as many myths recount a change from GODliness.

The essence of my story is not in the fall that came with the Tahitian, for I know many will question that thesis. It doesn't matter to the telling though. The point of the story is the VALUE of connectedness that began this tale. There is a volcano stirring not far from us here in Seattle, and many other volcanoes heat up all over The Mother. As contemporary society rumbles from the cycles of illusionary surplus and greed, the same language that has always been used on The Earth is even more important today. In the language of ALOHA, love for everyone makes surplus and greed valueless. In recalling and remembering the VALUE of being good at who I am, I do my very best work; maker of pies, grower of succulent strawberries, comforter of loss souls, tinker and builder, storyteller everyone receives exactly what they need. There is enough and it spreads miraculously.

I recently celebrated my 61st birthday last November. Yesterday I received a brand new-to-the-Earth soul, that is an occasion to celebrate. It is never too late to be born again to the language of VALUE that has little to do with how much surplus I count as mine. A brand new soul has nothing to compare Earth life to except for today. Everything is possible. What a fantastic state of being. What VALUE does that have to my friends, my family, my potential community? How would you VALUE a new born human being? I watched a beautiful grandmother answering her grand-daughter's question, "Will I be re-born a human?" The old one took a handfuls of rice and a long needle, and told her grand-daughter, "Now pour the rice over the needle, and tell me when you see one balance on the needle's tip." The little one did as she was told. At last she told grandmother, "That's impossible." There ... that's the answer, as impossible as it may seem we are here, life is precious and connected to ALL THAT IS.