Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)

Sometimes it was thought that a ghost god could be seen sitting on the head or shoulder of the person to whom it belonged. Even in this twentieth century a native woman told the writer that she saw a ghost-god whispering in his ear while he was making an address. She said, "That ghost was like a fire or a colored light." Many times the Hawaiians have testified that they believed in the presence of their ancestor ghost-gods.

This is the way the presence of a ghost was detected: Some sound would be heard, such as a sibilant noise, a soft whistle, or something like murmurs, or some sensation in a part of the body might be felt. If an eyelid trembled, a ghost was sitting on that spot. A quivering or creepy feeling in any part of the body meant that a ghost was touching that place. If any of these things happened, a person would cry out, "I have seen or felt a spirit of the gods."

Sometimes people thought they saw the spirits of their ghost friends. They believed that the spirits of these friends appeared in the night, sometimes to kill any one who was in the way. The high chiefs and warriors are supposed to march and go in crowds, carrying their spears and piercing those they met unless some ghost recognized that one and called to the others, "Alia [wait]," but if the word was "O-i-o [throw the spear]!" then that spirit's spear would strike death to the passer-by.

There were night noises which the natives attributed to sounds or rustling motions made by such night gods as the following:

    Akua-hokio (whistling gods).

        "    -kiei (peeping gods).

        "    -nalo (prying gods).

        "    -loa (long gods).

        "    -poko (short gods).

        "    -muki (sibilant gods).

A prayer to these read thus:

   "O Akua-loa! [long god]    O Akua-poko! [short god]    O Akua-muki! [god breathing in short, sibilant breaths]    O Akua-hokio! [god blowing like whistling winds]    O Akua-kiei! [god watching, peeping at one]    O Akua-nalo! [god hiding, slipping out of sight]    O All ye Gods, who travel on the dark night paths!    Come and eat.    Give life to me,    And my parents,    And my children,    To us who are living in this place. Amama [Amen]."

This prayer was offered every night as a protection against the ghosts.

The aumakuas were very laka (tame and helpful). It was said that an aumakua living in a shark would be very laka, and would come to be rubbed on the head, opening his mouth for a sacrifice. Perhaps some awa, or meat, would be placed in his mouth, and then he would go away. So also if the aumakua were a bird, it would become tame. If it were the alae (a small duck), it would come to the hand of its worshipper; if the pueo (owl), it would come and scratch the earth away from the grave of one of its worshippers, throwing the sand away with its wings, and would bring the body back to life. An owl ancestor-god would come and set a worshipper free were he a prisoner with hands and feet bound by ropes.

It made no difference whether the dead person were male or female, child or aged one, the spirit could become a ghost-god and watch over the family.

There were altars for the ancestor-gods in almost every land. These were frequently only little piles of white coral, but sometimes chiefs would build a small house for their ancestor-gods, thus making homes that the ghosts might have a kuleana, or place of their own, where offerings could be placed, and prayers offered, and rest enjoyed.

The Hawaiians have this to say about sacrifices for the aumakuas: If a mo-o, or dragon-god, was angry with its caretaker or his family and they became weak and sick, they would sacrifice a spotted dog with awa, red fish, red sugar-cane, and some of the grass growing in taro patches wrapped in yellow kapa. This they would take to the lua, or hole, where the mo-o dwelt, and fasten the bundle there. Then the mo-o would become pleasant and take away the sickness. If it were a shark-god, the sacrifice was a black pig, a dark red chicken, and some awa wrapped in new white kapa made by a virgin. This bundle would be carried to the beach, where a prayer would be offered:

   "O aumakuas from sunrise to sunset,    From North to South, from above and below,    O spirits of the precipice and spirits of the sea,    All who dwell in flowing waters,    Here is a sacrifice—our gifts are to you.    Bring life to us, to all the family,    To the old people with wrinkled skin,    To the young also.    This is our life,    From the gods."

Then the farmer would throw the bundle into the sea, bury the chicken alive, take the pig to the temple, then go back to his house looking for rain. If there was rain, it showed that the aumakua had seen the gifts and washed away the wrong. If the clouds became black with heavy rain, that was well.

The offerings for Pele and Hiiaka were awa to drink and food to eat, in fact all things which could be taken to the crater.

This applies to the four great gods, Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa. They are called the first of the ancestors. Each one of these was supposed to be able to appear in a number of different forms, therefore each had a number of names expressive of the work he intended or was desired to do. An explanatory adjective or phrase was added to the god's own name, defining certain acts or characteristics, thus: Kane-puaa (Kane, the pig) was Kane who would aid in stirring up the ground like a pig.

This is one of the prayers used when presenting offerings to aumakuas, "O Aumakuas of the rising of the sun, guarded by every tabu staff, here are offerings and sacrifices—the black pig, the white chicken, the black cocoanut, the red fish—sacrifices for the gods and all the aumakuas; those of the ancestors, those of the night, and of the dawn, here am I. Let life come."

The ancestor-gods were supposed to use whatever object they lived with. If ghosts went up into the clouds, they moved the clouds from place to place and made them assume such shape as might be fancied. Thus they would reveal themselves over their old homes.

All the aumakuas were supposed to be gentle and ready to help their own families. The old Hawaiians say that the power of the ancestor-gods was very great. "Here is the magic power. Suppose a man would call his shark, 'O Kuhai-moana [the shark-god]! O, the One who lives in the Ocean! Take me to the land!' Then perhaps a shark would appear, and the man would get on the back of the shark, hold fast to the fin, and say: 'You look ahead. Go on very swiftly without waiting.' Then the shark would swim swiftly to the shore."

The old Hawaiians had the sport called "lua." This sometimes meant wrestling, but usually was the game of catching a man, lifting him up, and breaking his body so that he was killed. A wrestler of the lua class would go out to a plain where no people were dwelling and call his god Kuialua. The aumakua ghost-god would give this man strength and skill, and help him to kill his adversaries.

There were many priests of different classes who prayed to the ancestor-gods. Those of the farmers prayed like this:

   "O great black cloud in the far-off sky,    O shadow watching shadow,    Watch over our land.    Overshadow our land    From corner to corner    From side to side.    Do not cast your shadow on other lands    Nor let the waters fall on the other lands    [i.e., keep the rains over my place]."

Also they prayed to Kane-puaa (Kane, the pig), the great aumakua of farmers:

   "O Kane-puaa, root!    Dig inland, dig toward the sea;    Dig from corner to corner,    From side to side;    Let the food grow in the middle,    Potatoes on the side roots,    Fruit in the centre.    Do not root in another place!    The people may strike you with the spade [o-o]    Or hit you with a stone    And hurt you. Amama [Amen]."

So also they prayed to Kukea-olo-walu (a taro aumakua god):

   "O Kukea-olo-walu!    Make the taro grow,    Let the leaf spread like a banana.    Taro for us, O Kukea!    The banana and the taro for us.    Pull up the taro for us, O Kukea!    Pound the taro,    Make the fire for cooking the pig.    Give life to us—    To the farmers—    From sunrise to sunset    From one fastened place to the other fastened place    [i.e., one side of the sky to the other fastened on each side of the earth]. Amama [Amen]."

Trees with their branches and fruit were frequently endowed with spirit power. All the different kinds of birds and even insects, and also the clouds and winds and the fish in the seas were given a place among the spirits around the Hawaiians.

The people believed in life and its many forms of power. They would pray to the unseen forces for life for themselves and their friends, and for death to come on the families of their enemies. They had special priests and incantations for the pule-ana-ana, or praying to death, and even to the present time the supposed power to pray to death is one of the most formidable terrors to their imagination.

Menehunes, eepas, and kupuas were classes of fairies or gnomes which did not belong to the ancestor-gods, or aumakuas.

The menehunes were fairy servants. Some of the Polynesian Islands called the lowest class of servants "manahune." The Hawaiians separated them almost entirely from the spirits of ancestors. They worked at night performing prodigious tasks which they were never supposed to touch again after the coming of dawn.

The eepas were usually deformed and defective gnomes. They suffered from all kinds of weakness, sometimes having no bones and no more power to stand than a large leaf. They were sometimes set apart as spirit caretakers of little children. Nuuanu Valley was the home of a multitude of eepas who had their temple on the western side of the valley.

Kupuas were the demons of ghost-land. They were very powerful and very destructive. No human being could withstand their attacks unless specially endowed with power from the gods. They had animal as well as human bodies and could use whichever body seemed to be most available. The dragons, or mo-os, were the most terrible kupuas in the islands.

THE DRAGON GHOST-GODS

Dragons were among the ghost-gods of the ancient Hawaiians. These dragons were called mo-o. The New Zealanders used the same names for some of their large reptile gods. They, however, spelled the word with a "k," calling it mo-ko, and it was almost identical in pronunciation as in meaning with the Hawaiian name. Both the Hawaiians and New Zealanders called all kinds of lizards mo-o or mo-ko; and their use of this word in traditions showed that they often had in mind animals like crocodiles and alligators, and sometimes they referred the name to any monster of great mythical powers belonging to a man-destroying class.

Mighty eels, immense sea-turtles, large fish of the ocean, fierce sharks, were all called mo-o. The most ancient dragons of the Hawaiians are spoken of as living in pools or lakes. These dragons were known also as kupuas, or mysterious characters who could appear as animals or human beings according to their wish. The saying was: "Kupuas have a strange double body."

There were many other kupuas besides those of the dragon family. It was sometimes thought that at birth another natural form was added, such as an egg of a fowl or a bird, or the seed of a plant, or the embryo of some animal, which when fully developed made a form which could be used as readily as the human body. These kupuas were always given some great magic power. They were wonderfully strong and wise and skilful.

Usually the birth of a kupua, like the birth of a high chief, was attended with strange disturbances in the heavens, such as reverberating thunder, flashing lightning, and severe storms which sent the abundant red soil of the islands down the mountain-sides in blood-red torrents known as ka-ua-koko (the blood rain). This name was also given to misty fine rain when shot through by the red waves of the sun.

By far the largest class of kupuas was that of the dragons. These all belonged to one family. Their ancestor was Mo-o-inanea (The Self-reliant Dragon), who figured very prominently in the Hawaiian legends of the most ancient times, such as "The Maiden of the Golden Cloud."

Mo-o-inanea (The Self-reliant Dragon) brought the dragons, the kupua dragons, from the "Hidden Land of Kane" to the Hawaiian Islands. Mo-o-inanea was apparently a demi-goddess of higher power even than the gods Ku, Kane, or Kanaloa. She was the great dragon-goddess of the Hawaiians, coming to the islands in the migration of the gods from Nuu-mea-lani and Kuai-he-lani to settle. The dragons and other kupuas came as spirit servants of the gods.

For a while this Mo-o-inanea lived with her brothers, the gods, at Waolani, but after a long time there were so many dragons that it was necessary to distribute them over the islands, and Mo-o-inanea decided to leave her brothers and find homes for her numerous family. So she went down to Puunui in the lower part of Nuuanu Valley and there made her home, and it is said received worship from the men of the ancient days. Here she dwelt in her dual nature—sometimes appearing as a dragon, sometimes as a woman.

Very rich clayey soil was found in this place, forced out of the earth as if by geyser action. It was greatly sought in later years by the chiefs who worshipped this goddess. They made the place tabu, and used the clay, sometimes eating it, but generally plastering the hair with it. This place was made very tabu by the late Queen Kaahumanu during her lifetime.

Mo-o-inanea lived in the pit from which this clay was procured, a place called Lua-palolo, meaning pit-of-sticky-clay. After she had come to this dwelling-place the dragons were sent out to find homes. Some became chiefs and others servants, and when by themselves were known as the evil ones. She distributed her family over all the islands from Hawaii to Niihau. Two of these dragon-women, according to the legends, lived as guardians of the pali (precipice) at the end of Nuuanu Valley, above Honolulu. After many years it was supposed that they both assumed the permanent forms of large stones which have never lost their associations with mysterious, miraculous power.

Even as late as 1825, Mr. Bloxam, the chaplain of the English man-of-war, recorded in "The Voyage of the Blonde" the following statement:

"At the bottom of the Parre (pali) there are two large stones on which even now offerings of fruits and flowers are laid to propitiate the Aku-wahines, or goddesses, who are supposed to have the power of granting a safe passage."

Mr. Bloxam says that these were a kind of mo-o, or reptile, goddesses, and adds that it was difficult to explain the meaning of the name given to them, probably because the Hawaiians had nothing in the shape of serpents or large reptiles in their islands.

A native account of these stones says: "There is a large grove of hau-trees in Nuuanu Valley, and above these lie the two forest women, Hau-ola and Ha-puu. These are now two large stones, one being about three feet long with a fine smooth back, the other round with some little rough places. The long stone is on the seaward side, and this is the Mo-o woman, Hau-ola; and the other, Ha-puu. The leaves of ferns cover Hau-ola, being laid on that stone. On the other stone, Ha-puu, are lehua flowers. These are kupuas."

Again the old people said that their ancestors had been accustomed to bring the navel cords of their children and bury them under these stones to insure protection of the little ones from evil, and that these were the stone women of Nuuanu.

Ala-muki lived in the deep pools of the Waialua River near the place Ka-mo-o-loa, which received its name from the long journeys that dragon made over the plains of Waialua. She and her descendants guarded the paths and sometimes destroyed those who travelled that way.

One dragon lived in the Ewa lagoon, now known as Pearl Harbor. This was Kane-kua-ana, who was said to have brought the pipi (oysters) to Ewa. She was worshipped by those who gathered the shell-fish. When the oysters began to disappear about 1850, the natives said that the dragon had become angry and was sending the oysters to Kahiki, or some far-away foreign land.

Kilioe, Koe, and Milolii were noted dragons on the island of Kauai. They were the dragons of the precipices of the northern coast of this island, who took the body of the high chief Lohiau and concealed it in a cave far up the steep side of the mountain. There is a very long interesting story of the love between Lohiau and Pele, the goddess of fire. In this story Pele overcame the dragons and won the love of the chief. Hiiaka, the sister of the fire-goddess, won a second victory over them when she rescued a body from the cave and brought it back to life.

On Maui, the greatest dragon of the island was Kiha-wahine. The natives had the saying, "Kiha has mana, or miraculous power, like Mo-o-inanea." She lived in a large deep pool on the edge of the village Lahaina, and was worshipped by the royal family of Maui as their special guardian.

There were many dragons of the island of Hawaii, and the most noted of these were the two who lived in the Wailuku River near Hilo. They were called "the moving boards" which made a bridge across the river.

Sometimes they accepted offerings and permitted a safe passage, and sometimes they tipped the passengers into the water and drowned them. They were destroyed by Hiiaka.

Sacred to these dragons who were scattered over all the islands were the mo-o priests and the sorcerers, who propitiated them with offerings and sacrifices, chanting incantations.

CHAS. R. BISHOP

Mr. Chas. R. Bishop died in California early in 1915, having just passed his ninety-third birthday. He was born in Glens Falls, N.Y., and sailed around Cape Horn to Hawaii in the early days before steamship communication.

His wife, Pauahi, was a very high chiefess descended from the royal line of Kamehameha the Great. To her Kamehameha V. offered the throne, and on her refusal to espouse him remained a bachelor and died without heir. Mrs. Pauahi Bishop bequeathed her vast estate and fortune to found the schools for Hawaiian boys and girls, known as the Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, and near these Mr. Bishop founded the Bishop Museum; which contains all the magnificent feather-cloaks, helmets, calabashes, etc., handed down from generation to generation through the royal line of the Kamehamehas and inherited by Mrs. Bishop. This has been greatly increased by other gifts and purchases and now forms the finest museum in the world, of relics of the Polynesian race.

PARTIAL LIST OF HAWAIIAN TERMS USED

(For Pronunciation see page iv)

• aala-manu, 198.

• Ahaula, 2.

• Aikanaka, 49, 50, 57, 58.

• aikane, 133, 137.

• aka, 158.

• akala, 161.

• Akaaka, 88, 90, 92.

• Akoa-koa, 170.

• Akuapohaku, 75.

• ala, 201.

• ala-nui, 105.

• alii, 7, 50, 208.

• Aliiwahine, 120.

• Aloha, 82.

• aloha, 105, 166, 167, 168, 178, 215.

• amama, 199, 205.

• Anao-puhi, 57.

• Anuenue, 48, 84, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 134, 140, 147, 148.

• ao-opua, etc., 128, 130.

• ao-pii-kai, 140.

• Aukele-nui-aku, 206.

• aumakua, 37, 47, 101, 103, 150, 173.

• auwe, 80, 239.

• au-waa-olalua, 43.

• awa, 17, 79, 109, 164, 165, 186, 187, 199, 207, 211, 213.

• Awela, 191.

• Ea, 212, 213.

• Eeke, 49.

• eepa, 46, 117, 141, 142, 144, 150, 207.

• Enaena, 5.

• Hae-hae, 210, 217.

• Haena, 197, 198.

• Haina-kolo, 178-180, 186-204.

• hala, 39, 201.

• Halulu, 66-73.

• Hamakua, 133, 186, 197, 199, 205.

• hau, 71.

• Haumea, 152, 154, 157, 160, 161.

• Hau-pu, 21-25.

• Hawaii-nui-akea, 2, 4, 7, 118, 125, 155.

• Heeia, 41, 148, 160.

• Hee-makoko, 120.

• hee-nalu, 102.

• heiau, 2, 3, 49-51, 57, 179, 180.

• Hewahewa, 3.

• Hiku, 225-240.

• Hiiaka, 205, 206.

• Hiikalanui, 177, 197, 199.

• Hiilawe, 37, 47.

• Hii-lani-wai, 136, 137.

• Hiilei, 132, 139, 143, 148, 163-176, 180-184.

• Hilo, 95, 122, 124, 132, 186, 190, 191.

• Hina, 37-39, 45-48, 117-132, 139, 142, 144, 148, 163, 164, 180, 181, 191.

• Hina-kekai, 213, 214.

• Hinalea, 158, 160.

• Hinole, 153-158.

• holua, 7.

• Honolulu, 14, 18, 74, 117.

• Honu, 212.

• honuhonu, 102.

• Honua-lewa, 165.

• Hookena, 26.

• hookupu, 189.

• Hou, 191.

• hula, 102, 137, 145-147, 204-207, 216.

• ieie, 39, 48, 113, 205, 230, 231.

• iiwi, 38.

• imu, 28.

• Inaina, 77, 78.

• inalua, 159.

• Iwa, 121, 122.

• Kaakee, 114.

• Kaa-lii, 15.

• Kaaona, 170.

• Ka-ao-opua-ola, 129.

• Kaena, 21, 24, 25.

• Kahala, 84-93.

• Kahanai, 120-126, 132, 141-148.

• Kahekili, 114, 115.

• Kahele, 7-12.

• Kahiki, 66, 116, 146, 150.

• kahili, 105, 110.

• Kaholo, 36, 37, 195.

• Kahoolawe, 44, 46, 157.

• kahu, 40, 52, 55, 220-222.

• Kahuku, 45, 49-58.

• Ka-hula-anu, 105.

• Kahuli, 163, 164, 168-172, 198.

• kahuna, 64, 66, 72, 87, 183, 186.

• Ka-ia, 194, 202.

• Kaiahe, 44.

• Kaikawahine, 84.

• Ka-ikuwai, 105.

• Ka-ilio-hae, 100-106.

• Kaipuo Lono, 120.

• Kakea, 36.

• Kakela, 163, 172, 184.

• Kakuhihewa, 16.

• Kalae, 5, 21, 95-99.

• Kalai-pahoa, 108-115.

• Kalapana, 66.

• Kalakaua, 87, 92, 224, 240.

• Kalakoi, 113.

• Kalala-ika-wai, 122.

• Kalaniopua.

• Kalauokolea, 134.

• Kalaupapa, 51, 56.

• Kalawao, 51.

• Kalei, 60, 61, 210.

• Kalena, 136.

• Ka-lewa-nuu, 194.

• Kalei, 61.

• Ka-lewa-lani, 175.

• Kalihi-uka, 160, 161.

• Kalo-eke-eke, 26, 28.

• Kaluaaka, 49, 50.

• Ka-lua-hine, 178.

• Kama-ahala, 201.

• Kamaka, 94.

• Kamakau, 75, 83.

• Ka-make-loa, 104.

• Kamalo, 49-58.

• Kamehameha, 3, 108, 114, 115.

• Ka-moho-alii, 44, 45, 50, 61, 157.

• Kamoihiili, 84, 87.

• Kanaloa, 5, 15, 16, 117-124, 136, 139, 143, 147, 178, 199.

• Kana-mu, 184, 185, 188.

• Kane-ia-kama, 111-113.

• Kana-ula, 192.

• Kane, 5, 15, 16, 116, 117, 120-126, 134-150, 164, 199, 206.

• Kane-hekili, 124, 125.

• Kane-huna-moku, 209.

• Kanikawi, 127.

• Kanuku, 133.

• kapa, 61, 63, 102, 109, 112, 152, 164, 171, 179, 187-189, 200, 201.

• Kapu, 5.

• Ka-opua-ua, 142.

• Ka-pali-kala-hale, 177.

• Kapo, 98, 111, 140, 141.

• Kapoekino, etc., 46.

• Kau, 9, 10, 11, 13, 28, 95, 156, 187.

• Ka-ua-koko-ula, 145.

• Kauai, 21, 24, 25, 30, 40, 41, 43, 137-139, 177, 178, 185.

• Kauhi, 85.

• Kauhika, 183.

• Kauhuku, 49.

• Kaukini, 36, 39.

• Kaula, 176, 219.

• Kau-lana-iki-pokii, 132, 143-150, 184-188.

• Kau-mai-liula, 132, 139, 143-149.

• Kau-naha, 194.

• Kauwila, 181.

• Kawa, 191.

• Kawaihae, 178.

• Ka-wai-nui, 150.

• Kawelo, 191.

• Kawelona, 40-47.

• Kea-au, 197.

• Keakeo-Milu, 97.

• Ke-alohilani, 127, 130-135, 138.

• Ke-ao-lewa, 193, 194.

• Ke-ao-mele-mele, 116, 128, 131, 138-150.

• Ke-au-kai, 165, 171-177, 180-183, 186, 189, 199, 200, 221.

• Ke-au-miki, 164, 172, 176, 180, 186, 189, 197, 198.

• Ke-au-nini, 163, 170-197, 202-208, 215-219.

• Ke-au-oku, 183.

• Ke-awa-lua, 145.

• Kekaa, 101.

• Kekeaaweaweulu, 188.

• Keke-hoa-lani, 172.

• Kewa, 240.

• Kewalu, 224-240.

• Kiha-pu, 45.

• Kiha-wahine, 152, 157-162.

• Kilauea, 71, 157.

• kilo-kilo, 130.

• kilu, 99, 205, 235.

• koa, 26, 29, 32, 37, 85, 87.

• Koa-mano, 41.

• Kohala, 3, 178, 187, 191-193.

• kohi-pohaku, 29.

• koko, 113.

• Kokua, 77, 78, 80.

• Kona, 26-28, 89, 224, 233, 239.

• konane, 99, 191, 205.

• Konolii, 198.

• Koo-lau-poko, 149, 160.

• Kou, 144, 160.

• kou, 193.

• Ku, 5, 39, 72, 117, 126, 131, 148, etc.

• kua, 178.

• Ku-aha-ilo, 163, 175, 204, 214.

• Kuai-he-lani, 116, 121, 122, 126-131, 139, 170, 180, 183, 190-198, 212, 214, 215, 218.

• Kuamu-amu, 208.

• Kukali, 66-73.

• Kukalaukamanu, 42.

• Ku-ke-anuenue, 170.