My Journey with Hawaiian Culture

The product of a German hippie mother and a California surfer Dad, I was conceived in London, born in Los Angeles and raised on the North Shore of Hawaii.  My first solid food was in a laundry mat, when two big Hawaiian Mama’s snatched me into their arms, claiming I was too little and proceeded to feed me poi, mashed taro root, a staple Hawaiian food.  I took it well.

Hawaiians believe that the first human originated from the root of the taro. And that they actually come from the stars - the Pleiades. 

They have an ancient and rich relationship with the night sky as that is how the Polynesians found the Hawaii Islands in the first place. 

In 2008, I traveled to Kauai to study hula with a kumu (hula teacher) from a long lineage of kumus. Puna Kalama Dawson was the perfect teacher for me.  I knew little about the hula culture and had no idea that hula means the language of love.  It is not only a dance but a way of life.  It is about seeing all the elements, the sun and the earth as alive and singing, dancing and interacting with nature with respect, integrity, love and gratitude.  Treating the earth as your mother and your host.  

There are songs of love to welcome the rising sun, you ‘malama’ (nurture and take care of) land, you give ‘mahalo’ (thank you) for the breath of life and you are ‘pono’ (justice/integrity) in all of your actions.  The ancients also used ho’o’pono’pono for mending their conflicts, first taking responsibility by facing their enemy, saying “I love you, I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you”, then saying the same to your higher self, knowing that the only resolve ultimately is through forgiveness and self-forgiveness.  

In December of 2012, at the end of the Mayan calendar, through a series of coincidences, I found myself once again with my beloved kumu Puna in Kauai, pounding poi and preparing for the solstice for 3 weeks. With ancient Hawaiian chants that were not allowed to be shared until this certain time, and in full decorative garb, head dresses, shell necklaces, flower leis, as a 30 piece group, we sang, chanted and danced the "kumu lipo” at midnight on the beach, with an audience - in the pitch black.  This was solely for the Pleiades. We held ceremony until 4 am. This was held at a beach where the Dalai Lama has said that the souls of the earth enter.

I have learned that the Hawaiian’s never rush anything, as they call their timing “Hawaii time”.  Puna says every action and choice is all about your intention behind it and about balance.  That is why I always like to say, mahalo is my business - anything else is none of my business, an intention easier said than done, but at least it is my intention. 

The last 4.5 years I have spent ‘on the edge of the world’ - in Kalapana on the Big Island where the road ends, at the edge of Volcano National Park and where the lava has been flowing into the ocean for the last several years.  I can see the steam flowing down the mountain from my mailbox and live within The Kingdom of Hawaii, where the patriarch of a big local family, Uncle Robert, has dedicated a spot on the lava field by the ocean as a ‘starship landing pad’ welcoming all friendly life from outer space with aloha.  This is truly their way of life.

Art by Barry Wilkinson, Hawai'i

More on the power of ho'o'pono'pono:
http://www.presentlove.com/hooponopono/