Category Archives: Mythology

THE FINALE OF PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII

HawaiianislandsBalladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-EIGHT

As the previous installment ended Pele was furiously proclaiming that she would kill Prince Lohiau and destroy her sister Hi’iaka for falling in love (ish) while Hi’iaka was escorting the prince to the Big Island to become Pele’s husband. Hi’iaka had spitefully consummated her love for Prince Lohiau right at the base of Pele’s home atop Mount Kilauea. She had done this to punish the fire and volcano goddess for her savage slaying of Hopoe, the goddess whom Hi’iaka had placed in charge of her beloved forests of lehua trees.

Pele’s explosive temper was unleashed at the sight of her younger sister and her intended husband coupling publicly. As she caused a flood of lava to flow down the mountain and encircle Lohiau and Hi’iaka she had cried to all the gods in the Hawaiian pantheon that any of them who sided with Hi’iaka would be declaring themselves an enemy of Pele and would risk destruction or banishment.   Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-SEVEN

Pele and Hi'iakaBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-SEVEN

And so, as Hi’iaka’s revenge on her sister Pele, the volcano and fire goddess, she made sure that her first coupling with Prince Lohiau, the man both goddesses loved, took place right within Pele’s sight at the base of Mount Kilauea. All of Pele’s other sisters had gathered around her to see the beautiful man named Lohiau. The fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e and the mortal woman Wahine, whom Hi’iaka had sent on ahead, entered Pele’s tempestuous presence. 

Pele raged at the two women, demanding to know why the quest to reach and return from Lohiau’s home of Kauai had taken so long. Pa’u’o’pala’e, as a sister goddess, replied to Pele that no matter what had caused the delay Lohiau had arrived and was at the foot of Mount Kilauea with Hi’iaka.   Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-SIX

MolokaiBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-SIX

The ship carrying Hi’iaka, Prince Lohiau and Wahine arrived at Iloli on the island of Molokai. The generally barren nature of the area prompted the trio to remain with the ship’s crew when they soon put off for Maui. Continue reading

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MOSHIRI – AINU GOD

For Balladeer’s Blog’s article on other Ainu gods and goddesses click HERE 

Ainu mapMOSHIRI – Also called Moshiri-Kara. This Ainu deity falls under the global mythological category called Divine Geographers like Inugpasug from the Inuit pantheon, Khong Lo from the Vietnamese pantheon, Halmang from the Korean pantheon and Rapeto from the Merina pantheon in Madagascar.

Moshiri was dispatched to the Earth by Kando-Koro, the sky god and supreme ruler of Kamuikando, the heavenly home of the gods. Kando-Koro sent Moshiri down to form the amorphous mass of the Earth into separate continents, then form mountains, rivers, lakes and islands. Moshiri’s crowning and most important work of geographical structuring was the lands to be inhabited by the Ainu people. (Again we see that this type of ethnic chauvinism is a universal human foible) Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-FIVE

OahuBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-FIVE

With the conclusion of the hours of romantic jockeying during the kilu competition, Hi’iaka and Prince Lohiau’s growing passion for each other was evident to all. Princess Pele’ula, one of Lohiau’s former flames, was inwardly seething at her failed attempt to reclaim his heart.  

This might have caused trouble for Hi’iaka, the Prince and the mortal woman Wahine if not for Hi’iaka’s quick thinking. The goddess used her divine power to transport herself and her two mortal traveling companions far away from Pele’ula’s realm in what is now Honolulu. In their place she left three images of herself, Lohiau and Wahine, fooling the Princess and her subjects into thinking they were still there at the kilu festival until the illusions evaporated nearly an hour later.   Continue reading

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ANATBA AND KOLUBEH, GODDESSES OF CHILDBIRTH

Here are two goddesses of the Tupari people in what is now Brazil. FOR THE FULL LIST OF TUPARI GODS CLICK HERE

Tupari live near the Rio BrancoANATBA and KOLUBEH – The twin goddesses of childbirth, who began gracing humanity with children after they left the underground world. In Tupari myths the only way women can become pregnant is for these two deities to visit them at night and place a baby in the woman’s womb. Before the baby’s presence in the body of the mother it forms from the otherworldly “flesh” of Anatba and Kolubeh, sometimes linking them like the joints that link Siamese twins.

It is speculated that  Continue reading

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KHONG LO: VIETNAMESE GOD

Vietnam mapKHONG LOThis god was the primordial giant who separated the sky and the Earth, setting up columns to help support the sky similar to many other such deities in other pantheons. His breath is the wind and his voice the thunder.

When he saw that the propping up of the sky had “taken” he broke off the uppermost portions of the support columns and transformed them into stars in the sky (or in some myths into various mountain peaks or islands). Where he had dug out the Earth to build the columns oceans were formed. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-FOUR

Pearl Harbo areaBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-FOUR  

Hi’iaka, Prince Lohiau and the mortal woman Wahine guided their double-canoe into Kou (modern-day Honolulu). The goddess’ companions were unaware of the passions raging within Hi’iaka now that she knew her sister Pele, the fire and volcano goddess, had unleashed a lava flow on her beloved lehua forest at Puna. That betrayal had convinced Hi’iaka to repay her older sister in kind by yielding to her growing attraction to Prince Lohiau – the intended husband of Pele. Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-THREE

OahuBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-THREE

Following Hi’iaka’s triumph over the renegade shark gods named Kua and Kahole’a she decided that since she was already far up Mount Pohakea she would go all the way to the top and soak in the monumental view. In the waters below she saw the double-canoe in which Prince Lohiau and Hi’iaka’s mortal female friend Wahine were sailing along.

In some versions of the story Wahine – like Pele and Hi’iaka – is beginning to fall prey to Lohiau’s charms and begins rubbing noses with him. Causing her voice to be heard far below Hi’iaka warns the pair to cease and desist, since the prince is, after all, the intended husband of Hi’iaka’s sister Pele. Wahine and Lohiau separate and Hi’iaka uses her divine powers to extend her gaze all the way back to the Big Island. What she sees there fills her with alarm, dread and anger.    Continue reading

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PELE AND HI’IAKA: EPIC OF HAWAII PART TWENTY-TWO

KauaiBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.

PART TWENTY-TWO

Hi’iaka and her two mortal companions – the woman Wahine and Prince Lohiau, the intended groom of Pele – departed from Haena in a double-boat. They headed west around the island of Kauai and in some versions of this tale Hi’iaka left the vessel at one point, planning to rendezvous with Lohiau and Wahine at Mana.

On her inland detour Hi’iaka said a formal goodbye to another relative of her and Pele – the mountain god Pohaku. From there she traveled on foot through the sandy domain of the Menehune, the Hawaiian equivalents of elves and dwarves. The Menehune were delighted to see the goddess and accompanied her to the beach at Mana.  Continue reading

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