Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)

Lono remained in Waipio Valley, becoming the ancestor and teacher of all the good healing priests of Hawaii, but Milu became the ruler of the Under-world, the place where the spirits of the dead had their home after they were driven away from the land of the living. Many people came to him from time to time.

He established ghostly sports like those which his subjects had enjoyed before death. They played the game kilu with polished cocoanut shells, spinning them over a smooth surface to strike a post set up in the centre. He taught konane, a game commonly called "Hawaiian checkers," but more like the Japanese game of "Go." He permitted them to gamble, betting all the kinds of property found in ghost-land. They boxed and wrestled; they leaped from precipices into ghostly swimming-pools; they feasted and fought, sometimes attempting to slay each other. Thus they lived the ghost life as they had lived on earth. Sometimes the ruler was forgotten and the ancient Hawaiians called the Under-world by his name—Milu. The New Zealanders frequently gave their Under-world the name "Miru." They also supposed that the ghosts feasted and sported as they had done while living.

XIII

A VISIT TO THE KING OF GHOSTS

When any person lay in an unconscious state, it was supposed by the ancient Hawaiians that death had taken possession of the body and opened the door for the spirit to depart. Sometimes if the body lay like one asleep the spirit was supposed to return to its old home. One of the Hawaiian legends weaves their deep-rooted faith in the spirit-world into the expressions of one who seemed to be permitted to visit that ghost-land and its king. This legend belonged to the island of Maui and the region near the village Lahaina. Thus was the story told:

Ka-ilio-hae (the wild dog) had been sick for days and at last sank into a state of unconsciousness. The spirit of life crept out of the body and finally departed from the left eye into a corner of the house, buzzing like an insect. Then he stopped and looked back over the body he had left. It appeared to him like a massive mountain. The eyes were deep caves, into which the ghost looked. Then the spirit became afraid and went outside and rested on the roof of the house. The people began to wail loudly and the ghost fled from the noise to a cocoanut-tree and perched like a bird in the branches. Soon he felt the impulse of the spirit-land moving him away from his old home. So he leaped from tree to tree and flew from place to place wandering toward Kekaa, the place from which the ghosts leave the island of Maui for their home in the permanent spirit-land—the Under-world.

As he came near this doorway to the spirit-world he met the ghost of a sister who had died long before, and to whom was given the power of sometimes turning a ghost back to its body again. She was an aumakua-ho-ola (a spirit making alive). She called to Ka-ilio-hae and told him to come to her house and dwell for a time. But she warned him that when her husband was at home he must not yield to any invitation from him to enter their house, nor could he partake of any of the food which her husband might urge him to eat. The home and the food would be only the shadows of real things, and would destroy his power of becoming alive again.

The sister said, "When my husband comes to eat the food of the spirits and to sleep the sleep of ghosts, then I will go with you and you shall see all the spirit-land of our island and see the king of ghosts."

The ghost-sister led Ka-ilio-hae into the place of whirlwinds, a hill where he heard the voices of many spirits planning to enjoy all the sports of their former life. He listened with delight and drew near to the multitude of happy spirits. Some were making ready to go down to the sea for the hee-nalu (surf-riding). Others were already rolling the ulu-maika (the round stone discs for rolling along the ground). Some were engaged in the mokomoko, or umauma (boxing), and the kulakulai (wrestling), and the honuhonu (pulling with hands), and the loulou (pulling with hooked fingers), and other athletic sports.

Some of the spirits were already grouped in the shade of trees, playing the gambling games in which they had delighted when alive. There was the stone konane-board (somewhat like checkers), and the puepue-one (a small sand mound in which was concealed some object), and the puhenehene (the hidden stone under piles of kapa), and the many other trials of skill which permitted betting.

Then in another place crowds were gathered around the hulas (the many forms of dancing). These sports were all in the open air and seemed to be full of interest.

There was a strange quality which fettered every new-born ghost: he could only go in the direction into which he was pushed by the hand of some stronger power. If the guardian of a ghost struck it on one side, it would move off in the direction indicated by the blow or the push until spirit strength and experience came and he could go alone. The newcomer desired to join in these games and started to go, but the sister slapped him on the breast and drove him away. These were shadow games into which those who entered could never go back to the substantial things of life.

Then there was a large grass house inside which many ghosts were making merry. The visitor wanted to join this great company, but the sister knew that, if he once was engulfed by this crowd of spirits in this shadow-land, her brother could never escape. The crowds of players would seize him like a whirlwind and he would be unable to know the way he came in or the way out. Ka-ilio-hae tried to slip away from his sister, but he could not turn readily. He was still a very awkward ghost, and his sister slapped him back in the way in which she wanted him to go.

An island which was supposed to float on the ocean as one of the homes of the aumakuas (the ghosts of the ancestors) had the same characteristics. The ghosts (aumakuas) lived on the shadows of all that belonged to the earth-life. It was said that a canoe with a party of young people landed on this island of dreams and for some time enjoyed the food and fruits and sports, but after returning to their homes could not receive the nourishment of the food of their former lives, and soon died. The legends taught that no ghost passing out of the body could return unless it made the life of the aumakuas tabu to itself.

Soon the sister led her brother to a great field, stone walled, in which were such fine grass houses as were built only for chiefs of the highest rank. There she pointed to a narrow passage-way into which she told her brother he must enter by himself.

"This," she said, "is the home of Walia, the high chief of the ghosts living in this place. You must go to him. Listen to all he says to you. Say little. Return quickly. There will be three watchmen guarding this passage. The first will ask you, 'What is the fruit [desire] of your heart?' You will answer, 'Walia.' Then he will let you enter the passage.

"Inside the walls of the narrow way will be the second watchman. He will ask why you come; again answer, 'Walia,' and pass by him.

"At the end of the entrance the third guardian stands holding a raised spear ready to strike. Call to him, 'Ka-make-loa' [The Great Death]. This is the name of his spear. Then he will ask what you want, and you must reply, 'To see the chief,' and he will let you pass.

"Then again when you stand at the door of the great house you will see two heads bending together in the way so that you cannot enter or see the king and his queen. If these heads can catch a spirit coming to see the king without knowing the proper incantations, they will throw that ghost into the Po-Milu [The Dark Spirit-world]. Watch therefore and remember all that is told you.

"When you see these heads, point your hands straight before you between them and open your arms, pushing these guards off on each side, then the ala-nui [the great way] will be open for you—and you can enter.

"You will see kahilis [soft long feather fans] moving over the chiefs. The king will awake and call, 'Why does this traveller come?' You will reply quickly, 'He comes to see the Divine One.' When this is said no injury will come to you. Listen and remember and you will be alive again."

Ka-ilio-hae did as he was told with the three watchmen, and each one stepped back, saying, "Noa" (the tabu is lifted), and he pushed by. At the door he shoved the two heads to the side and entered the chief's house to the Ka-ikuwai (the middle), falling on his hands and knees. The servants were waving the kahilis this way and that. There was motion, but no noise.

The chief awoke, looked at Ka-ilio-hae, and said: "Aloha, stranger, come near. Who is the high chief of your land?"

Then Ka-ilio-hae gave the name of his king, and the genealogy from ancient times of the chiefs dead and in the spirit-world.

The queen of ghosts arose, and the kneeling spirit saw one more beautiful than any woman in all the island, and he fell on his face before her.

The king told him to go back and enter his body and tell his people about troubles near at hand.

While he was before the king twice he heard messengers call to the people that the sports were all over; any one not heeding would be thrown into the darkest place of the home of the ghosts when the third call had been sounded.

The sister was troubled, for she knew that at the third call the stone walls around the king's houses would close and her brother would be held fast forever in the spirit-land, so she uttered her incantations and passed the guard. Softly she called. Her brother reluctantly came. She seized him and pushed him outside. Then they heard the third call, and met the multitude of ghosts coming inland from their sports in the sea, and other multitudes hastening homeward from their work and sports on the land.

They met a beautiful young woman who called to them to come to her home, and pointed to a point of rock where many birds were resting. The sister struck her brother and forced him down to the seaside where she had her home and her responsibility, for she was one of the guardians of the entrance to the spirit-world.

She knew well what must be done to restore the spirit to the body, so she told her brother they must at once obey the command of the king; but the brother had seen the delights of the life of the aumakuas and wanted to stay. He tried to slip away and hide, but his sister held him fast and compelled him to go along the beach to his old home and his waiting body.

When they came to the place where the body lay she found a hole in the corner of the house and pushed the spirit through. When he saw the body he was very much afraid and tried to escape, but the sister caught him and pushed him inside the foot up to the knee. He did not like the smell of the body and tried to rush back, but she pushed him inside again and held the foot fast and shook him and made him go to the head.

The family heard a little sound in the mouth and saw breath moving the breast, then they knew that he was alive again. They warmed the body and gave a little food. When strength returned he told his family all about his wonderful journey into the land of ghosts.

Note.—A student should read next the articles "Homeless and Desolate Ghosts" and "Ancestor Ghost-Gods" in the Appendix.

XIV

KALAI-PAHOA, THE POISON-GOD

The Bishop Museum of Honolulu has one of the best as well as one of the most scientifically arranged collections of Hawaiian curios in the world. In it are images of many of the gods of long ago. One of these is a helmeted head made of wicker-work, over which has been woven a thick covering of beautiful red feathers bordered with yellow feathers. This was the mighty war-god of the great Kamehameha. Another is a squat rough image, crudely carved out of wood. This was Kamehameha's poison-god.

The ancient Hawaiians were acquainted with poisons of various kinds. They understood the medicinal qualities of plants and found some of these strong enough to cause sickness and even death. One of the Hawaiian writers said: "The opihi-awa is a poison shell-fish. These are bitter and deadly and can be used in putting enemies to death. Kalai-pahoa is also a tree in which there is the power to kill."

Kamehameha's poison-god was called Kalai-pahoa, because it was cut from that tree which grew in the upland forest on the island of Molokai.

A native writer says there was an antidote for the poison from Kalai-pahoa, and he thus describes it: "The war-god and the poison-god were not left standing in the temples like the images of other gods, but after being worshipped were wrapped in kapa and laid away.

"When the priest wanted Kalai-pahoa he was taken down and anointed with cocoanut-oil and wrapped in a fresh kapa cloth. Then he was set up above the altar and a feast prepared before him, awa to drink, and pig, fish, and poi to eat.

"Then the priest who had special care of this god would scrape off a little from the wood, and put it in an awa cup, and hold the cup before the god, chanting a prayer for the life of the king, the government, and the people. One of the priests would then take the awa cup, drink the contents, and quickly take food.

"Those who were watching would presently see a red flush creep over his cheeks, growing stronger and stronger, while the eyes would become glassy and the breath short like that of a dying man. Then the priest would touch his lips to the stick, Mai-ola, and have his life restored. Mai-ola was a god who had another tree. When Kalai-pahoa entered his tree on Molokai, Mai-ola entered another tree and became the enemy of the poison-god."

The priests of the poison-god were very powerful in the curious rite called pule-ana-ana, or praying to death. The Hawaiians said: "Perhaps the priests of Kalai-pahoa put poison in bananas or in taro. It was believed that they scraped the body of the image and put the pieces in the food of the one they wished to pray to death. There was one chief who was very skilful in waving kahilis, or feather fans, over any one and shaking the powder of death into the food from the moving feathers. Another would have scrapings in his cloak and would drop them into whatever food his enemy was eating." The spirit of death was supposed to reside in the wood of the poison-god.

A very interesting legend was told by the old people to their children to explain the coming of medicinal and poisonous properties into the various kinds of trees and plants. These stories all go back to the time when Milu died and became the king of ghosts. They say that after the death of Milu the gods left Waipio Valley on the island of Hawaii and crossed the channel to the island Maui.

These gods had all kinds of power for evil, such as stopping the breath, chilling or burning the body, making headaches or pains in the stomach, or causing palsy or lameness or other injuries, even inflicting death.

Pua and Kapo, who from ancient times have been worshipped as goddesses having medicinal power, joined the party when they came to Maui. Then all the gods went up Mauna Loa, a place where there was a large and magnificent forest with fine trees, graceful vines and ferns, and beautiful flowers. They all loved this place, therefore they became gods of the forest.

Near this forest lived Kane-ia-kama, a high chief, who was a very great gambler. He had gambled away all his possessions. While he was sleeping, the night of his final losses, he heard some one call, "O Kane-ia-kama, begin your play again." He shouted out into the darkness: "I have bet everything. I have nothing left."

Then the voice again said, "Bet your bones, bet your bones, and see what will happen."

When he went to the gambling-place the next day the people all laughed at him, for they knew his goods were all gone. He sat down among them, however, and said: "I truly have nothing left. My treasures are all gone; but I have my bones. If you wish, I will bet my body, then I will play with you."

The other chiefs scornfully placed some property on one side and said, "That will be of the same value as your bones."

They gambled and he won. The chiefs were angry at their loss and bet again and again. He always won until he had more wealth than any one on the island.

After the gambling days were over he heard again the same voice saying: "O Kane-ia-kama, you have done all that I told you and have become very rich in property and servants. Will you obey once more?"

The chief gratefully thanked the god for the aid that he had received, and said he would obey. The voice then said: "Perhaps we can help you to one thing. You are now wealthy, but there is a last gift for you. You must listen carefully and note all I show you."

Then this god of the night pointed out the trees into which the gods had entered when they decided to remain for a time in the forest, and explained to him all their different characteristics. He showed him where gods and goddesses dwelt and gave their names. Then he ordered Kane-ia-kama to take offerings of pigs, fish, cocoanuts, bananas, chickens, kapas, and all other things used for sacrifice, and place them at the roots of these trees into which the gods had entered, the proper offerings for each.

The next morning he went into the forest and saw that he had received a very careful description of each tree. He observed carefully the tree shown as the home of the spirit who had become his strange helper.

Before night fell he placed offerings as commanded. As a worshipper he took each one of these trees for his god, so he had many gods of plants and trees.

For some reason not mentioned in the legends he sent woodcutters to cut down these trees, or at least to cut gods out of them with their stone axes.

They began to cut. The koko (blood) of the trees, as the natives termed the flowing sap, and the chips flying out struck some of the woodcutters and they fell dead.

Kane-ia-kama made cloaks of the long leaves of the ieie vine and tied them around his men, so that their bodies could not be touched, then the work was easily accomplished.

The chief kept these images of gods cut from the medicinal trees and could use them as he desired. The most powerful of all these gods was that one whose voice he had heard in the night. To this god he gave the name Kalai-pahoa (The-one-cut-by-the-pahoa-or-stone-axe).

One account relates that the pahoa (stone) from which the axe was made came from Kalakoi, a celebrated place for finding a very hard lava of fine grain, the very best for making stone implements.

The god who had spoken to the chief in his dream was sometimes called Kane-kulana-ula (noted red Kane).

The gods were caught by the sacrifices of the chief while they were in their tree bodies before they could change back into their spirit bodies, therefore their power was supposed to remain in the trees.

It was said that when Kane-kulana-ula changed into his tree form he leaped into it with a tremendous flash of lightning, thus the great mana, or miraculous power, went into that tree.

The strange death which came from the god Kalai-pahoa made that god and his priest greatly feared. One of the pieces of this tree fell into a spring at Kaakee near the maika, or disc-rolling field, on Molokai. All the people who drank at that spring died. They filled it up and the chiefs ruled that the people should not keep branches or pieces of the tree for the injury of others. If such pieces were found in the possession of any one he should die. Only the carved gods were to be preserved.

Kahekili, king of Maui at the time of the accession of Kamehameha to the sovereignty of the island Hawaii, had these images in his possession as a part of his household gods.

Kamehameha sent a prophet to ask him for one of these gods. Kahekili refused to send one, but told him to wait and he should have the poison-god and the government over all the islands.

One account records that a small part from the poison one was then given.

So, after the death of Kahekili, Kamehameha did conquer all the islands with their hosts of gods, and Kalai-pahoa, the poison-god, came into his possession.

The overthrow of idolatry and the destruction of the system of tabus came in 1819, when most of the wooden gods were burned or thrown into ponds and rivers, but a few were concealed by their caretakers. Among these were the two gods now to be seen in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

Note.—See Appendix, page 259, Chas. R. Bishop.

XV

KE-AO-MELE-MELE, THE MAID OF THE GOLDEN CLOUD

The Hawaiians never found gold in their islands. The mountains being of recent volcanic origin do not show traces of the precious metals; but hovering over the mountain-tops clustered the glorious golden clouds built up by damp winds from the seas. The Maiden of the Golden Cloud belonged to the cloud mountains and was named after their golden glow.

Her name in the Hawaiian tongue was Ke-ao-mele-mele (The Golden Cloud). She was said to be one of the first persons brought by the gods to find a home in the Paradise of the Pacific.

In the ancient times, the ancestors of the Hawaiians came from far-off ocean lands, for which they had different names, such as The Shining Heaven, The Floating Land of Kane, The Far-off White Land of Kahiki, and Kuai-he-lani (purchased is heaven). It was from Kuai-he-lani that the Maiden of the Golden Cloud was called to live in Hawaii.

In this legendary land lived Mo-o-inanea (self-reliant dragon). She cared for the first children of the gods, one of whom was named Hina, later known in Polynesian mythology as Moon Goddess.

Mo-o-inanea took her to Ku, one of the gods. They lived together many years and a family of children came to them.

Two of the great gods of Polynesia, Kane and Kanaloa, had found a beautiful place above Honolulu on Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Here they determined to build a home for the first-born child of Hina.

Thousands of eepa (gnome) people lived around this place, which was called Waolani. The gods had them build a temple which was also called Waolani (divine forest).

When the time came for the birth of the child, clouds and fogs crept over the land, thunder rolled and lightning flashed, red torrents poured down the hillsides, strong winds hurled the rain through bending trees, earthquakes shook the land, huge waves rolled inland from the sea. Then a beautiful boy was born. All these signs taken together signified the birth of a chief of the highest degree—even of the family of the gods.

Kane and Kanaloa sent their sister Anuenue (rainbow) to get the child of Ku and Hina that they might care for it. All three should be the caretakers.

Anuenue went first to the place where Mo-o-inanea dwelt, to ask her if it would be right. Mo-o-inanea said she might go, but if they brought up that child he must not have a wife from any of the women of Hawaii-nui-akea (great wide Hawaii).

Anuenue asked, "Suppose I get that child; who is to give it the proper name?"

Mo-o-inanea said: "You bring the child to our brothers and they will name this child. They have sent you, and the responsibility of the name rests on them."

Anuenue said good-by, and in the twinkling of an eye stood at the door of the house where Ku dwelt.

Ku looked outside and saw the bright glow of the rainbow, but no cloud or rain, so he called Hina. "Here is a strange thing. You must come and look at it. There is no rain and there are no clouds or mist, but there is a rainbow at our door."

They went out, but Anuenue had changed her rainbow body and stood before them as a very beautiful woman, wrapped only in the colors of the rainbow.

Ku and Hina began to shiver with a nameless terror as they looked at this strange maiden. They faltered out a welcome, asking her to enter their house.

As she came near to them Ku said, "From what place do you come?"

Anuenue said: "I am from the sky, a messenger sent by my brothers to get your child that they may bring it up. When grown, if the child wants its parents, we will bring it back. If it loves us it shall stay with us."

Hina bowed her head and Ku wailed, both thinking seriously for a little while. Then Ku said: "If Mo-o-inanea has sent you she shall have the child. You may take this word to her."

Anuenue replied: "I have just come from her and the word I brought you is her word. If I go away I shall not come again."