May 26, 2022 — Flying home today. Till we meet again, beautiful Hawaii and spiritual guardian Pele. My lovely friend kahuna friend, Penni. Many thanks  to each of you. My heart is full.

Flying home today…

Flying home today makes the day short, so here’s the Artful Gents writing about Pele.

In an island chain whose existence is entirely due to volcanoes, it is not surprising to see the Goddess of Hawaiian Volcanoes, Pele, figure prominently in Hawaiian myths and stories. An ancient Hawaiian deity who continues to have special meanings in mainstream Hawaiian culture, Pele is Hawaiis fire goddess, ruler of fire, lightning, volcanoes, winds, and creator of all the Hawaiian islands. In addition to being recognized as the Goddess of Volcanoes, Pele is known for her strength, passion, jealousy, and capriciousness.    ^{Show Source Texts}

In addition to her role as goddess of fire and her close association with volcanoes, Pele is also considered to be the goddess of hula. The volcano goddess was born from the female spirit Haumea, or Hina, who, like all the other major gods and goddesses on the Big Island, descended from a Supreme Being, Papa, or the Mother of the Earth, and Waika, the Sky Father. The volcano goddess was one of the first seafarers to set sail for Hawaii, chased, according to legend, by her enraged older sister, Na-maka-o-kahai, as a result of the fact that Pele had tempted her husband, an angry older sister.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Even Na-maka-o-kahai was not able to push ocean waves high enough over Kilauea volcano, on the big island, to drown out the volcano goddesss fire, so Pele made her home on its flanks. Pele moved up the island chain in the order of their geological formations, finally landing on the Earths surface on the Big Islands Kilauea Volcano. Peles death led to Pele becoming a god, making his home on the Big Island, and digging his eternal fiery pit at Halemaumau Crater, at the top of Kilauea Volcano.    ^{Show Source Texts}

According to mythology, Peles mother was the Earth Goddess, Haumea, while her father was the Dream God, Moemoe. In another version of the story, Pele was driven out of her house by her infuriated sister, Namakaokahai, who was an ocean goddess. Another version says that Pele was chased from her home by her angry sister, Namakaokahai, an ocean goddess. Pele is constantly in dispute with her sister, Na-mako-o-KahaI, who is a sea goddess.    ^{Show Source Texts}

However, whenever Pele made a volcano, her sister (who was following behind) would smother the flames and extinguish them. Pele managed to get back on track after the injuries to Pele, escaping to Oahu and the other islands, where she dug some huge fiery pits, including what is now Diamond Head Crater and Mauis Haleakala Volcano. Peles essence was enflamed, and she dug in her home territory in search of a fire pit to live, but was unsuccessful, and continued on to Western Kauai. Unsuccessful, Pele followed Waimea Canyon on the southern side, dug for some time around Poipu, and then went to Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and eventually to Hawaii Island, where at long last she found a place to put her family to live on in Kilauea.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Pele moved southeast across the islands, finally arriving in her permanent home at the Halemaumau Crater on top of Mount Kilauea. Associated with volcanoes, lightning, fire, and winds, Pele is considered to be the Creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Small towns and whole forests have been leveled by Peles passionate, unpredictable, and turbulent temperament, and though the island feels the presence of Pele, legend holds that he dwells within one of the worlds most active volcanoes – atop Kilauea, inside the Halemaumau Crater at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. Described in ancient Hawaiian songs as the “She-Who-Shapes-the-Sacred-Land,” Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, is passionate, unpredictable, and erratic.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Otherwise known as Pelehonuamea, She Who Shapes the Sacred Land, Pele continued to consume the islands of Hawaii in fiery lava, even creating new lands in the process. You cannot visit Hawai i Island without hearing the name of Pele, because Pele is arguably the most prominent of all of Hawaiis ancient gods and goddesses. Often called Madame Pele or Tutu Pele in deference, she is a famous deity in Hawaiian mythology, and is noted both for her modern day existence and for cultural impact as a lasting figure of ancient Hawaii.    ^{Show Source Texts}

In accounts surrounding Pele passed on through Hawaiian mooelo (stories passed on verbally from person to person), one discovers that Pele — as with many of the ferocious deities and goddesses of other cultures, including the Hindu goddess Kali – plays a role of creator and destroyer. Pele is considered to be the rival to Hawaiis snow goddess Poliahu, as well as Hawaiis snow goddess sisters Lilinoe (the goddess of gentle rain), Waiau (the goddess of Waiau Lake), and Kahoupokane (the Kapa-maker, whose Kapa-making activities produce thunder, rain, and lightning). On various islands in Hawaii, Pele (pronounced PEH-leh) used her club to dig fire pits, forming the gorgeous Hawaiian volcanocraters. Peles fires created and destroyed the earth itself, creating new volcanoes which would explode, covering the earth in lava, then start the cycle all over again.    ^{Show Source Texts}

Cited Sources

• https://hawaiivolcanoexpeditions.com/love-and-revenge-from-the-hawaiian-lava-goddess-pele/ ⁰
• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/us/pele-hawaii-volcano.html ¹
• https://bigislandguide.com/legends-of-pele ²
• https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Pele ³
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele_(deity) ⁴
• http://www.coffeetimes.com/pele.htm ⁵
• https://www.royalhawaiianmovers.com/discover-pele-the-mysterious-goddess-of-hawaiis-volcanoes/ ⁶
• https://www.nps.gov/articles/pele.htm ⁷