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.

October is yellow

Yellow is the color ... sometimes mellow and sometimes mixed with the flames of orange or piney stems of falling needles surrounding flocks of mushrooms popping up beside the golden wagon between the gravel paths. It's the season that fuels the Silver-haired Raven with pre-winter energy for cleaning roofs of moss and mold and standing on ladders surveying the woods ... it's home.

The inaugural event: a makua spreads her wings at The Safety Pin Cafe

Mahalo Rumz for the video!

A morning gift of a video on YouTube came to me and I pass it along ...

A life of stitches

"For centuries women have done needlework. It was a necessary skill, it was an accomplishment, and it was a chance to appear to be active while giving one’s mind free reign to consider, to think..."
Read more ... 

"It makes no never mind!" We did it

 "Feel the possibilities
The soaring fantasy of your dreams
And
The solid support of your reality!"
-Satori

From the imaginary and virtual reality of a cozy place painted by one artist and written about by another. The Safety Pin Cafe became, with lots of hard work, hours of meditative cutting, pinning and stitching and application of the tools of a Makua O'o ... the real deal. "It makes no never mind, the work is hard. So?"

 Yesterday we pitched tents, said prayers, chanted over and over again and let the stories fly under a sunlit Sunday sky. It was the real deal. We kept a promise to give thanks to the people and place:The South Whidbey Tilth.

 Link to a bit more over at The Safety Pin Cafe blog.

Thank you to our friend Michael Seraphinoff for taking the photo at the cafe opening!

Moku to Moku ... island to island

Five men and three women (one of those women is taking the picture) hook up on O'ahu's Windward side. From that moku we connect to know the Hawaii Universe is moku to moku on this island earth. That's my brother, his wife, their son with his daughter, son #2 and our son #1: Kawika Jr., Jen, Kawika III, Kiki I, Kalani and Christopher Kawika and Richie at the lense. Ea no Kawika e.

Practicing the art of living (be flexible)

"This is a week of weather: all sorts of weather. On Friday a handful of friends came out to the South Whidbey Tilth to practice. What a day it was. BLUSTERY! The wind made itself present, and made some decisions about where and how to set the tents for The Safety Pin Cafe. Fiber Artist Pam Winstanley has helped with designs and support for this project since I first dreamed up the possibility of 'an event.' Jo Stevens, South Whidbey Tilth's Land Steward and Farmers' Market Manager was with us to choose a location for the setup and hold the tent down when the wind became bombastic. Pete made sure the chicken stew was hot and slices of whole wheat bread and butter were ready when we were too wind-blown to keep practicing. I cooked up the stew, made a batch of cinnamon toast and chanted a prayer of permission to be in this place...

Click here to read more about setting the table for The Safety Pin Cafe.

Pete in the Orchard ... practicing

Astrologically, Elsa P. my favorite astrologer said this about this week:

Her newsletter described the week as: "Why It's Not A Good Idea To Get Whipped Into A Frenzy This Week"

"We've got a potent week on tap. I know a lot of people are afraid of the new moon on Friday. I don't think this makes a lot of sense so I want to come in with another perspective. The week is dominated by a cardinal T-square involving the Sun, Uranus and Pluto... Is is hard-core?  Yes. 

 

But we are going to be dealing with a cardinal t-square well into 2014.  See Year-long Cardinal T-Square)

 

Considering this, a person would be well-advised to learn all they can about this energy, embrace it and learn to work with it. This week provides an excellent opportunity to do this, because there are so few distractions.

 

As an example of what I mean, my husband speaks a lot of languages. He says they are easy to learn if you're immersed in the culture where the particular language is spoken.  So this is like that. We're all going to be wrapped up with energy. Why not make it pay?

Practicing the art of living is all about (for me) learning to be flexible. The weather? I cannot do much about it, but I can attend to it, have Plan B, and immerse myself in the culture of where we live now. That place is the Pacific Northwest and the season is the beginning of the wet time. One of the many things living with MCS teaches us is to see life as art and make the best art possible. Rain or shine.

And your art of living?