to the natives of hawaii pele is as natural as the ocean that crashes on the shore the air that
whistles through the trees and the larvae that spits out of the volcano this is what they've come
to accept as their norm they believe that she has the right of way so when she comes they just move
even to this day in hawaiian culture it's believed that gods are part of nature and can be seen in
natural events therefore there have been several reported sightings of the goddess paintings
images and stories around the existence of pele but who is this goddess join us as we find out
according to the hawaiian religion pele is the goddess of fire lightning wind destruction and
volcanoes she is also regarded as the creator of the hawaiian islands
many refer to her as madame pele or tutu pele as a sign of respect of all the thousands of deities
and gods present in hawaii pele is one of the most well-known and revered of them all she is
both the creator and destroyer throwing molten fountains into the air and dictating lava flow
it was believed that she used her power over the volcanoes to create the hawaiian islands
and to this day she has been known to reveal herself throughout the beautiful
islands she made herself legend has it that she still resides in the most active volcanoes
in the world living in the summit of killoya volcano in halim umau crater
surprisingly she wasn't originally from hawaii so here's how she made it to hawaii pele was born in
honoa mia a part of haiti to ken huayani the ruler of the heavens and homeya the goddess of fertility
and childbirth she had five sisters and seven brothers there are various stories about how pele
was exiled from her hometown and sent to find a new home for herself one of the variations has it
that she was exiled by her father because of her bad temper and destructive nature but the final
straw was a fight with her elder sister namaka okaya meaning eyes of kaha'i or namaka for short
who was the sea goddess whose husband she had seduced there had also been instances where namaka
had warned her parents of pele's ambitions and that she would end up burning them all
pele left her homeland with her brothers and her most beloved sister hiyaka and hiyakaika
poli-opele who their mother had entrusted to her in egg form pele's eldest brother kamu aliyah the
king of the sharks provided the great canoe which they journeyed over the vast expanse of the seas
their journey which led them to hawaii wasn't a hitch-free one as they had to battle pele's
bitter elder sister namaka they bought through it all and arrived on the island of hawaii where her
beloved sister hiyaka was eventually birthed this made her the first god of the pele family to be
born in hawaii upon their arrival on the islands of hawaii one of her brothers kane milo hai stayed
on moku papapa which was just a reef to build it up and make it habitable for human existence
on nihua pele left ken apua after their visit to lehua feeling pity for keen apua pele picked
up her younger brother and gives her dividing rod powa to pick a new home for him pelle then
enjoyed hiyaka to make friends with the people of puna but what she didn't expect was for her sister
to become best friends with a girl named hopo a friendship that made pele jealous her arrival
to the islands of hawaii was met by several mighty volcanic eruptions pele went to several islands in
search of a place to live but her sister would constantly use the sea to flood the sites she
chose for a home before finally finding refuge in the volcanoes of kiloya after settling in
kaloya pele traveled to a neighboring island and fell in love with the chief named lohiao
after her time at the village pele sent her beloved sister to fetch the chief she gave hiyaka
powers which she would need to overcome obstacles along the way pele also gave hiyaka a 40-day
deadline when hiyaka arrived at the home of lohiao shii discovered that the young chief had died
of a terrible heartbreak caused by his longing for pele hiyaka was able to capture his spirit
and use the powers her sister had given her to restore him back to life meanwhile pele had grown
impatient thinking hiyaka had stolen the love of her life she was enraged and wanted to hurt
her sister just as much so she sent a stream of lava to kill hopo hiyaka's best friend eventually
when hiyaka brought the young chief to kiloya she saw that hopu was dead and covered in stone
and she knew her sister was responsible for it hiyaka spitefully embraced lohia whom she had
come to love in pele's view and this further made pele mad pele then covered lohio with lava as well
both sisters saw that their anger had led to the death of the people who meant the most to them
so pele remorsefully brought logio back to life and told him to decide who he would choose
of course he wasn't going to pick the ill-tempered goddess who just killed him so he chose hiyaka yet
pele gave them both her blessing when the maka eventually found that pele had survived her
previous attacks and settled in hawaii she went to maui to fight her sister the mighty battle came to
an end near hana moi where namaka had succeeded in tearing peli apart legend has it that her
bones remain as a hill called kaiwi o pele but her spirit found home in an eternal fire pit she dug
at the summit of the keloya volcano it's believed that she has lived there happily ever since
now away from how she came to hawaii and her family feuds
let's look at her involvements in recent times
after the official abolishment of the old religion in 1819 in the summer
of 1823 english missionary william ellis toured the islands in search of locations
for mission stations after a long and tiring journey to the killoya island with little food
ellis had no choice but to eat the wild berries he found growing on the island
the berries were that of the ohia lehua tree which was considered sacred to pele
usually natives would make prayers and sacrifices to pele before eating the berries also the natives
also see the volcano crater an active lava lake as a sign that pele wasn't pleased with the violation
an urban legend has it that pele would come in the form of a beautiful young woman or an elderly
woman with a small white dog and always wearing a red muumuu to warn locals of impending volcanic
eruptions people claimed she would walk along the roads near killoya but would instantly vanish
if passerby tried to assist her much like the vanishing hitchhiker legend whoever comes across
her in such a circumstance is then obliged to warn others or suffer misfortune in the next eruption
the hawaiian people also believe that the wrath of pele would fall on anyone who takes anything
as a souvenir from her island or eat the berries that grow on her island every year numerous small
items are returned by post to the national park service by people who had heard on the side of
this legend and are seeking the goddess's forgiveness it's believed that this curse
was invented in the mid-20th century to deter tourists from taking things from the island
also there's the tale of pele and ohia lewa tree which shows that pele wasn't always bad
there's a particular tree that can withstand the volcanic eruptions on the island the ohialehua
tree this tree is set to close its leaves and pour for it to survive the harsh conditions
the tree has beautiful red flowers that are food for some native birds it's believed that
pele transformed two lovers into the tree so that the lovers would be together forever the
killoya volcano remains one of the most active in the world and has regularly erupted for decades
sometimes it could become overly active and the lava stream leaves neighborhoods in danger
in may 2018 killoya erupted so violently that the surrounding communities were forced to
evacuate some of the residents made offerings of flowers and tea leaves and the cracks on
the roads in front of their homes as a method of appeasing the goddess hawaiians see pele
as a symbol of adaptability resilience and power of the island's indigenous culture
the fire she sends creates and destroys the land itself but also forms new volcanoes
that erupt and cover the ground with lava and then form a pristine expanse of land
pele is not just a representative of the physical aspects of the hawaiian islands but also of the
fiery passion of hawaiian culture and it's a wrap for the myth of pele the goddess of killoya
let us know in the comment section if you believe if any of these is true
if your opinion is pele a good or evil goddess don't forget to like the video
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