Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART SIXTEEN
Hi’iaka and her mortal traveling companion the woman Wahine were startled to see the ghost of the dead Prince Lohiau roaming the cliffs above Haena. The ladies hadn’t known that the object of their quest had taken his own life a few weeks ago over his long separation from Pele, the volcano and fire goddess. Continue reading
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Kauai
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FIFTEEN
The goddess Hi’iaka continued her journey to the island of Kauai accompanied by the mortal woman Wahine. Their mission was to reach Prince Lohiau of Kauai and escort him back to the Big Island to marry Pele, the fire and volcano goddess. Little did Hi’iaka and Wahine know that the lovesick Lohiau, despairing because he missed Pele so much, had taken his own life weeks ago.
Continuing to cross the island of Oahu the traveling ladies reached Kehuohapu’u Bluff, where a rough shrine stood to the fish-god Ku’ula. From there they moved on to Ka’ena Point, the peninsula on the western coast of Oahu at the point closest to the island of Kauai. Ka’ena Point was the jumping-off point for the spirits of dead Hawaiians when they were ready to enter the land of the dead ruled by the goddess Milu. Continue reading
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Kaliuwa’a Valley
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FOURTEEN
Hi’iaka and her mortal companion Wahine continued crossing the island of Oahu as their quest to reach Kauai resumed after their battle with the gigantic lizard-monster Mokoli’i. The ladies arrived at Kaliuwa’a Valley where Hi’iaka encountered another of the gods who had originally arrived in the Hawaiian Islands with the goddess Pele long ago.
Kauhi was the name of this ancient deity who ruled the rocky mountain peak that shared his name. Long ago Pele had assigned – some would say condemned – Kauhi to remain behind here serving as a sentry. The peak was often called “the watchtower of the heavens” and served as both home and prison to Kauhi. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWELVE
The rest of Hi’iaka and Wahine’s journey across the island of Molokai was uneventful. The goddess and her mortal traveling companion arrived in Kauna-ka-kai and from there secured passage to Oahu. The two men who crewed the ship were so awestruck by the beauty of Hi’iaka and Wahine that they left their own furious wives behind in their hurry to accommodate the pair of lovely ladies. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART ELEVEN
The goddess Hi’iaka and her traveling companion – the mortal woman Wahine – arrived in Kapua on the island of Maui, intent on finding a ship to take them on to Molokai as their quest to reach Kaua’i continued. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TEN
Hi’iaka and the mortal woman Wahine resumed their quest to reach Kaua’i by following the northern coastline of the island of Maui. As they walked they found themselves in a kaha – an area devoid of crops or animal life and in which the residents had to depend on fishing and on deliveries of food from long distances to survive.
Wahine was famished and tried begging some food from the inhabitants of the dry, stony area but they all curtly refused. The woman asked her traveling companion Hi’iaka to intercede for her with the recalcitrant villagers. Hi’iaka made the attempt but even her entreaties were rudely rejected. The goddess demanded to know why these people refused to grant any food to strangers traveling through their land. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART NINE
By nightfall Hi’iaka had secured passage for herself and the mortal woman Wahine in a craft bound for the island of Maui. That vessel set off the next morning. In some versions the boatman and his son refuse to take the ladies so Hi’iaka punishes them by using her powers to make their craft sink. After swimming to shore the two men were more than happy to take the ladies in their other ship. Continue reading
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*** *** *** **** *** A bridge over what remains of the Honoli’i River
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART EIGHT
We’ll begin this 8th installment at the village of Kohala on the Big Island. Hi’iaka’s traveling companion, the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e, fell in love with Paki’i, a mortal Kaholan man. She stayed behind to dawdle and canoodle with her new-found love while Hi’iaka and the human woman Wahine resumed their quest to reach Kaua’i.
Other versions of this epic instead state that Pa’u’o’pala’e stayed with the other two ladies until reaching the end of the Big Island. That was when she said goodbye and remained behind, supposedly because she was unable (for some undisclosed reason) to leave that island.
That being the case, the fern goddess either was or was not still with Hi’iaka and Wahine as they reached the Honoli’i River (barely a stream here in the present-day). The two ladies removed their clothing and, holding their outfits on their heads above the water they set out to swim to the other side. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART SEVEN
Hi’iaka, the fern goddess Pa’u’o’pala’e and the mortal woman Wahine arrived near Hilo. A very rickety bridge across a broad chasm seemed the only available path over the Wailuka River far below. The bridge was erected and guarded by Piliamo’o and Nohoamo’o, two evil sorcerors who had so thoroughly mastered dark magic that they had achieved partial godhood.
Regarded as actual deities by the locals, the sorcerors extorted valuables from the people who lived near Hilo and from anyone else attempting to cross their bridge. If anyone refused to pay the pair of sorcerors the price they demanded then the evildoers would cause one of the planks in the bridge to give way during crossing, plunging the victim to their death on the jagged rocks far below. Continue reading
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I.WHAT’S UP WITH YI? – Yi the Divine Archer from Chinese mythology deserves to be remembered in one breath with some of the other great heroes and monster slayers from belief systems around the world. Most people are only familiar with his feat of shooting down multiple suns that appeared in the sky one day, but this article will provide a light- hearted look at all of his fantastic adventures. Continue reading
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