Pele – Hawaiian Goddess
Dear Friends,
I came across this very interesting article about this powerful red goddess from a huge volcano in Hawaii. Her name is Pele – Goddess of Fire. Her poetic name is ‘Ka wahine `ai honua’, the woman who devours the land, and she is both creator and destroyer. She is very active. She throws molten fountains into the air, governs the great flows of lava, and has been known to reveal herself throughout the island of Hawaii. I share this with all of you in respects to Pele.
Pele the Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano. Click to enlarge
It is said that whenever tourists take things (stones, dirt, etc.) from that area, she will cause them to have bad dreams or some disasters in their life until they return the items back. The tourism board in that area get hundreds of parcels a year from tourists mailing things they have taken and requesting them to place it back in the area. The Hawaiians have special rituals to her and pray to her as she is known to be very quick and effective. Of course we do not need to pray to her as she is not an enlightened being as far as we know, but it is nice to know about her and such myths and legends to expand our knowledge. We also now know not to simply take things from Mount Kilauea. It’s important to respect special divinities, land gods, elemental spirits. This post is to introduce you to the beautiful and rich culture of Hawaii. You can do more research on your own on this. Do enjoy.
If you’ve been to Hawaii and have some personal stories on the Goddess Pele, do share at the comment section as I would love to read more about it.
Tsem Rinpoche
According to legend, Pele lives in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater Kīlauea
The Legend Behind Hawaii’s Goddess of Fire
Ancient Hawaiians honoured various gods and one of the most famous is Pele, the Goddess of Fire, also know as the goddess of volcanoes and creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Pele is still very active today in a continuous eruption since 1983 of the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island. Click to enlarge.
Lighting up ancient Hawaiian legends, Pele (pronounced peh-leh) the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, dance and volcanoes is a well-known character. Otherwise known as ka wahine ai honua, the woman who devours the land, Pele’s home is believed to be Halemaumau crater at the summit of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. However, all of Hawaii lays the setting for her stories, so that to this day, any volcanic eruption in Hawaii is attributed to Pele’s longing to be with her true love.
Pele is renowned for her passionate and fiery temperament and many people who visit the islands will hear stories of her power and destruction. One of six daughters and seven sons born to Haumea (an ancient Earth goddess) and Kane Milohai (the creator of the sky, earth and upper heavens), Pele’s siblings include Kane Milohai, Kamohoalii, Namaka as well as 13 sisters with the same name – Hiiaka.
Behind the Legend of Pele
There are as many versions of how Madame Pele came to Hawaii as there are lava rocks on Hawaii Island. One common legend says that Pele – who was born in Honua-Mea in Tahiti — was sent away by her father because of her difficult temper and for seducing her sister, Namakaokahai’s, husband. She found her way to the Hawaiian Islands where legend after legend bubbled up around her countless lovers, infidelities and feuds and heated outbursts.
Another well-known story spins a web that Pele’s older brother Kamohoalii (the king of sharks) provided Pele with a large canoe which she and her brothers took and sailed away with – eventually coming to Hawaii. When she made landfall in the islands it was on Kauai, where she was attacked by her sister Namakaokahai and left for dead. According to legend she was able to recover and escaped to Oahu where she dug fire pits, including the crater today called Diamond Head. She traveled through the island chain to Molokai and on to Maui where she is said to have made Haleakala volcano.
Upon discovering Pele had survived, Namakaokahai traveled to Maui and the two engaged in an epic battle near Hana, where Pele was torn apart by her sister and became a god, finding a home on Mauna Kea on Hawaii Island. There she dug her final fire pit, the Halemaumau Crater at the summit of Kilauea, where many believe she resides to this day.
And yet another tale tells that Pele was married for a short — and violent — time to Kamapuaa, the god of water. This story says that Pele rerouted Kamapuaa from their home in Helemaumau and angrily chased him, with rivers of lava, into the Pacific Ocean. This story is meant to symbolize the violent and explosive experience of a hydrovolcanic eruption, though Hawaiian eruptions are much more peaceful. Pele’s loyal followers believe that the frequent eruptions of lava on Kilauea is a reminder that Pele is alive and still at home here.
Pele Parables
Pele is often portrayed as a wanderer and sightings of the familiar and popular goddess have been reported throughout the island chain for hundreds of years, but especially near volcanic craters and near her home of Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
In these sightings or visions she appears as either a very tall, beautiful young woman or an unattractive and frail elderly woman usually accompanies by a white dog. Those well-versed in the legend, say that Pele takes this form of an elderly beggar woman to test people – asking them if they have food or drink to share. Those who are generous and share with her are rewarded while anyone who is greedy or unkind are punished with their homes or other valuables destroyed.
It is said that Pele takes the form of an elderly beggar woman to test people.
The Goddess of Volcanoes
If you visit Hawaii only once, the one myth of Pele that you will likely hear and should take heed of is one surrounding the curses she inflicts on those who remove lava rocks from her island home. While many — including some kamaaina (local residents) believe that it is only legend, to this day thousands of pieces of lava rock are mailed back to the island from travelers over the world who insists they’ve suffered bad luck and misfortunes as a result.
It is said that if you want to protect yourself and your family from the lava flow, you have to pay your respects to the Goddess Pele.
According to local legends, if you see a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair or an older woman with long, white hair, you must greet her with aloha and offer her help or respite. To really get on her good side, however, you have to visit her at Halemaʻumaʻu crater and give offerings of food, flowers, and gin. Apparently Pele is a fan of gin.
Photograph of Kilauea, the home of Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele, in eruption.
Hawaii is a state of the United States of America. The Hawaiian archipelago lies 2,390 miles away from the United States mainland.
There are eight main islands in Hawaii. The Kīlauea volcano, home of Pele, is situated on Big Island.
Hawaiian dance accompanied by chants or singing preserves and perpetuates the stories, traditions and culture of Hawaii.
The research for this article was done by Joy Kam. Source:The Legend Behind Hawaii’s Goddess of Fire
For more interesting information:
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- Wenatchee
- Red Face
- Burmese Temple & Floating Heads
- Snake Spirit
- 10 Creepy Mysteries You Haven’t Heard Of
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Interesting article about this powerful red goddess Pele who is the Hawaiian volcano deity and the creator of volcanic landscapes . According to tradition, she is embodied by the lava and natural forces associated with volcanic eruptions. In Hawaiian religion, Pele is the goddess of volcanoes and fire and the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. There are a number of folktales that characterize Pele’s origins. She is the most famous in all of the Hawaiian myths. There are thousands of divine beings in Hawaiian religion, but Pele is the best known and also considered the sacred embodiment of a natural element. There is an ancient Hawaiian legends behind it. Interesting read.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
In a lot of mythology or legend, very often we see female energy being portrayed as a very powerful energy. In Buddhism, there are many female deities as well such as Tara, Vajrayogni, Marici, Namgyalma, Lomo Gyonma, etc.
Female energy is very protective, loving and caring. Pele, the female goddess, even though she is fierce but it is out of her love for her land, for every single thing on her land. As a guest, when we visit a place, we should not take anything as we wish unless there is a permission to do that. We have to respect people but we also have to respect our environment and unseen beings.
Whether one believes in such beings or not, it is only common courtesy to have respect for nature. Malaysians in general respect life forms living in the jungle when going jungle trekking, hill and mountain climbing, playing in rivers and waterfalls. It is best to leave things as they were when we intruded the jungle, rivers, hills and mountains; and to bring out what we have brought in, like leftover food and drinks. To relieve oneself in the rivers is a no no. Nature does not need humans to pollute her environment or disturb life forms residing there. We would not want others to invade our home, same goes for nature dwellers when we encroach into theirs
I always belieave of Nature spirit existing. So we cannot simply take thing for grated and respect the nature whatever we go.Such Pele story at Hawaii to protected the Hawaiian yet people easy to offen her by taking thing at Mount Kiluaea.
It remind me about land deity story to guardien their own places.
When Kechara Forest Retreat first started, rinpoche talking about conciousness community which including living around with the nature, animals and being unseen around us. Create harmony and peace while we are stay at the same place. Until now KFR team regularly make offering and puja to land deity here request them to make peace and not cause any harm when people living around them unawake offended them.
信仰是全人类所具有的普遍文化特征，宗教文化“普遍上”是精神上的一种寄托，所以一部分的宗教都具有神秘神话色彩， Pele 的故事不在于你信或你不信它， 重要的是我们必须尊重他人的宗教和文化及保护地球生态，“尊重”让我们学会谅解和包容个人的选择和自由，以便我们能够和睦相处和平共处.
This is the first time I heard about Pele from this article. It seems other than Chinese or Asian, western people also believe in myth and legend and worship to their deity. However, it doesn’t matter what colour of skin we have, different people have their own believing system. We shall respect that. From the article, it seems Pele is the deity that protect the mother nature of Hawaii, when we go to one place, we should respect their local believes, and their local deity, so that we won’t do any offence. I think, whether there’s local deity or not, when we go to other country, we should respect their place and the unique of their country too. We better don’t simply take anything without their local permission home, if we want, we might as well buy from the souvenir shop.
I have never came across Pele until I read through this article. Basically, we should always pay respect and not harm the nature or environment that we visit. We will never know whether it is spirit or deity that resides in that area. So, it is always best to pay respect and not simply take things from an unknown place.
The story of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess has remind me of Moana. Moana is an anime telling a similar story like Pele. It’s about an demi-god who stole a precious stone from an island which a goddess is residing on & “owned”. Such event create anger and disharmony within the goddess and she created disaster & suffering to others beings who live within the circle.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moana_(2016_film)
Everyone wish to be respected & deserve it. Hence, it’s essential for us to think and consider the outcome before carrying out any action.
I think Pele is the land god and guardian of Hawaii. Just like Malaysia has many land gods we called “Dato Kong”. Local people pray to the land gods and ask for protection so that to have harmony and peaceful life. They easily get offended when they are disturbed such as land or nature being destroy. They are not happy when people do not pay respect or make offerings to them.
Pele is a land god who protects the land and nature of Hawaii at the same she takes care of the people there. but because she’s a god with emotional, ego and jealousy hence she will be much pleased when people make offerings and ask for help. May Pele continue to protect the beautiful land and people of Hawaii.
It is an interesting read from Rinpoche’s blog, without travelling abroad, we can learn so much about other country’s culture.
Many people are envious of Gad’s life and wishing to be a God and live as a God, but in this article, Pele as a Goddess, showed anger towards someone and intended to kill him, this means that Gods are just the same like other sentient beings, have hatred, greed and ignorant, they too suffered from all these, that’s why Dharma practice should be our focus and our goal shouldn’t be becoming a God but it’s to gain enlightenment instead.
I found this video in youtube, I think it’s a song to Pele the goddess of fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6mU798o-qs
What I think Pele is a land God deity that protected the beauty nature of Hawaii. As this is a very good reminder to us that, we need to learn to love and respect nature. Thing that doesn’t belong to us, should returned, take care and protect. It’s almost similar in action of, cause and effect. If we spit, urine, pick and keep stones or shells, it’s consider disrespect especially in jungle as this will anger deities that has recited long time ago. In return, we will get diarrhea, sick, bad dreams or very bad luck befall us.
Therefore, whether is a legendary story or folklore, we should always keep awareness in our mind to pay respect and care for nature.
I have heard many incidents that people were lost in the forest, accident, fall ill and many weird things happen to them. Much later they discovered that those people actually offended the beings that resided there. We must always be conscious with our body, speech and mind and treat any places with respect at anytime. Open area such as forest, sea, hills and etc. may look nothing on our naked eyes but it could a resident. It’s just like people come to our house and we would want them to respect our place. Treat others the way as how we want others to treat us.
We don’t do anything rude in someone’s place; we don’t take things away belonging to the owner of the place; we don’t misbehave as visitors at someone’s place; that is the the general rule. We won’t want to displeasure when we are actually visitor of the place. The problem is that many does not know or believe the fact there are unseen beings and usually they occupy places. So when those who are unaware, they might land themselves into trouble without knowing what they wrong they did. I have seen such cases in the past and it reminded me always to not do something unusual and unethical whenever we are at places like forest, waterfalls or other similar places. We might potentially offend some beings residing in the area and that is the last thing we want to do. So we should always exert caution whenever we are at the aforementioned places.
Whether they are legends, gods, goddesses or not, we should always respect nature and it’s surroundings. We shouldn’t just take what we want and think that it is okay. It’s like us going to someone’s house and taking something that does not belong to us. There are always do’s and dont’s irregardless of where we are.
In Chinese culture, the elders will always instill do’s and dont’s or some may call it superstitions but I guess there are some we just have to abide and respect. Eg. as kids parents often let their children pee in public during emergency but the elders will always teach us to say sentences like “I’m sorry for disturbing, please excuse me” and then let the child pee. It’s good to teach the younger ones about respect to beings and places.
Throughout times, we always hear of legends or mysteries of Nature Spirits and Land Gods who manifest themselves in many ways to the locals of the areas that they inhabit. Are they real? This is about believing in the energies of nature which creates beings that we may see or not see.
However, whether we believe in these legends or not it is to remember to show respect to beliefs of others and not aggravate any situation that is not pleasant to arise.
From my reading of this article, Pele seem to be a nature spirit with great emotional passion who had suffered “wrongs” from either her lovers or members of her family. As such it is important to respect her state of being aggressive towards anything which displeases her. This point of view shows clearly that Pele would test people by either appearing as a beautiful young lady or an old one who would request for food. If not granted food, the person would be punished for miserliness.
As tourists visit Pele’s mountain of abode, I hope that they will not extract any stones whereby if not returned will suffer bad luck or unwanted ill repercussions. This is shown by the numerous parcels returned to Hawaii yearly from such tourists.
We better not take whatever that does not belong to us, or we ask someone for permission just to be on the safe side. Similarly to our local land deities or land gods. We are not suppose to disturb them ,but respect them. Thank you very much Rinpoche and writers for this interesting story.
Pele the Fire Goddess is one of the most well known and revered in Hawaiian mythology. That is interesting for us to know some knowledge to understand better.She is a goddess of fire, lightning, dance, wind, volcanoes and violence.According to legand, Pele lives in one of the most active volcanoes in the world. There are as many versions and stories as told by the natives there.Yet no one came up with a proven story.Visitors who visit the islands will hear different stories of her power and destruction.Sounds interesting ,well hopeful some day i too can visit,see and hear it myself.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing .
I think a very safe rule of thumb is never take anything that do not belong to you.
I love the many legends of Pele as told by the Hawaiians. One of the stories i remember is the one telling how the violent lava meets the waters of the sea. The legend has it that Pele fought with her elder water-goddess sister, Na-maka-o-Kaha’i whose husband Pele had seduced.
Sometimes, Pele wins, and that’s when the molten lava encroaches into the sea. Other times, her sister, Na-maka-o-Kaha’i wins and that’s when the sea washes away the land of the Hawaiian islands.
That was told to us by a tourist guide on Big Island of Hawaii, on Black Sand Beach on our way to visit the Halema’uma’u crater near the Jaggar Museum. The artists of the island have beautiful depictions of the battles between the 2 sisters.
Visitors are reminded not to take any souvenir from the mountains, as stated in the article. The rangers really do receive packages of returned rocks and stuff. I guess it’s only polite not to take anything away. If everyone takes something, very soon there will be nothing left on the Hawaiian islands. The humans would not be pleased, what more the temperamental goddess Pele.
Whatever the source of the stories or legends of the origins of Pele, we still have to be mindful of our actions on other people’s home or property. We have to respect their belief and culture.
I really do love the Hawaiian islands. There’s something there that makes you want to respect the land and nature. I cannot find the words to describe the feeling.
Thank you, Rinpoche for sharing about Pele and Hawaii.
这是一篇很特别的博文有关夏威夷女神～Pele的故事。非常感谢仁波切的分享，因为这是本人第一次接触与知道Pele女神的存在。
据说Pele女神在夏威夷是非常著名以及备受人崇拜。每当游客想从夏威夷那里收集或取走一些石块或泥土等等，Pele女神就会让他们发恶梦或陷入一些困难的情况，直到他们回来，然后放回去他们当时拿走的东西为止。除此，夏威夷人还特别安排的一些仪式来向Pele女神祈祷。因为他们相信Pele女神是非常快速和有效的回应。
虽然Pele女神或是当地的土神，山神等等都不是证悟者，但我们也必需要尊重他们。因为他们就像护法神一样，有重大的责任那就是保护他们的地区不受外界来的破坏或毁灭。
Wow, the goddess Pele seems very powerful! I have heard about all sorts of nature gods and goddesses, but I have not heard something like her before. She seems very nice but if offended, she can get people back, this shows that gods/ goddesses are unenlightened beings and therefore, the six worldly dharmas are still in them. They can be very happy with a certain people but at the same time, they can also inflict harm onto those who disrespect them.
I believe there are two possibilities. One, the story of Pele is made up just like the Greek Mythology and Egyptian Mythology. It has been said that they are simply made up by people that believes the earth is not naturally created but believes that there is a God who created all of earth. Those people who created all these myths wanted other people to think that weathers and nature are controlled by different Gods but all of that is not true.
Two, these stories might be real, considering that there still so many types of beings out there in the world. Scientists has even told us that information of ocean life that has been gathered for the past couple of thousand years is merely only about 25%, which means if there are still so many sea life left to be discovered, doesn’t it mean that there are also many possibilities of weird creatures out there in the woods?Honestly, I believe that Pele is just another land deity. Just like Rinpoche has said, “we do not need to pray to her as she is not an enlightened being as far as we know”. Because she is not an enlightened being, how can anyone expect her to be treat us with love and compassion?
This article is quite interesting to read. It is always interesting to learn more about other tribes or people’s culture. Thank You Rinpoche for sharing this article.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this article. What I learn is that there are nature spirits everywhere. We have to respect them because to them, we are the intruders. We intrude to their personal space and if we do not act appropriately, we might offend them. We have to be aware of these matters because if we offend them, we might me hurt.
Chris
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for the article. It really is an interesting read to learn more about myths and legends in other parts of the World.
Local deities or land gods are definitely around us. We have “Dato Gongs” in Malaysia and many people do pray to them. I have one tree in particular near our shopping mall Dataran Pahlawan and many do offer and pray to him.
I understand that the “Dato Gong” is supposedly Muslim and if we offered anything alcoholic or pork related, bad misfortune will befall on us.
Anyway, being Buddhist, I do give my respects when walking past the tree.
Thank you.
Dear Rinpoche, there is an active volcano named after Tara called “Batu Tara” in Indonesia. I wonder how it got its name.
http://www.tboeckel.de/EFSF/efsf_wv/indonesia_11/Batu%20Tara/Batu%20Tara%202011_e.htm
It’s interesting to read about Pele as there is so much drama in her life regardless of the various versions to her story. Regardless, it sounds like many people experience bad luck after taking something from Mount Kilauea. I’m not surprised as there are nature spirits around wherever we go. And it’s obvious that she doesn’t like it when others take a portion of her “property”.
In Malaysia, we have local land deities whom we also make offerings of peace and harmony when we construct a new building. As Rinpoche explained that because we invade the land deities’ space, it’s important that we make offerings to them so that they do not harm anyone on the land.
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing this interesting story of Pele. The first picture of Pele looks like Green Tara..
I used to be a free thinker who do not believe in these type of “taboo” or stories..but start to learn to respect special divinities, land gods, elemental spirits and etc, when I learn more and more from my Guru H.E. Tsem Rinpoche.
Before Pele’s story, what I heard the similar story about taking the stones or properties from the sites land deities are residing would bring bad luck and etc is the Australia Ayers Rock.
According to a story: “…National park rangers receive at least one package a day of what have been called “sorry rocks” pilfered from the landmark, now known by its indigenous name of Uluru…” (Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1948843/Uluru-Tourists-return-stones-to-cursed-Ayers-Rock.html)
It’s nice and interesting to learn more about our environment and some local or cultural stories, here or in another part of the world. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing 🙂
All change, #change itself as counponents disintegration “old”in sth new is sufering.as #born #seekness #age #death. In Hawai contekst i like this sound : Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Over The Rainbow & What A Wonderful World – 1993 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z26BvHOD_sg
Just after posting remind me my 11yo’debate on biology school’ lesson, that living beeing 5points definition all fullfeel Mountains,so are alive , i had been very donkey in it!, i treat it very serious.And actualy defend all points..Of course system say sth.diferent in books.
When I was a child, I lived for 3 years on Oahu, because my father, who was in the military was stationed there. We used to have relatives visit and one place we would take them was the mountains to a tour where the tour guide discussed Pele. There were no active volcanos on Oahu, but they taught us there had been some, and that they used to sacrifice young women to Pele by throwing them into the lava. Also they taught us not to take anything from the area, as this would anger Pele. My parents are fairly agnostic and made fun of this— still they never took anything because I think there were enough stories that they realised it would be a bad idea. That’s good, because I was only about 5 or 6 years old so I wouldn’t have known better perhaps. I think Pele is a local deity or something so it is best not to anger her.
Dear Kelly,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us! I did a bit of research online after reading this post but did not come across any mention of sacrificing young women to Pele.
You are right, from a Buddhist perspective Pele is a local deity. Such deities are powerful beings, but just like us are bound by karma caused by our delusions, which can be classified into the Three Poisons – ignorance, attachment and hatred. Though these deities can grant us our worldly goals, through this we actually bind ourselves further into samsara by increasing our attachment. It better that we concentrate on taming our own mind, and on inner transformation along our spiritual path.
That being said, the Buddhas and enlightened masters have always taught living in harmony with our environment and the other beings who inhabit the earth with us. Therefore we should try our best not to offend them, in this case taking anything from the areas where Pele resides. I hope you enjoyed this post!
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for the interesting read. I enjoy reading myths such as this as it is interesting to learn about other people’s believes.
The first picture I saw reminds me very much of Tara with her right leg outstretched. 🙂
With folded hands.
Dear Rinpoche, I do not have any personal stories regarding Goddess Pele but I do remember one historical and rather amusing story about when the Hawaiians first encountered the Europeans and mistook them for God Lono.
A long white kapa banner honors Lono, the God of agriculture, and announces the annual celebration of the Makahiki Harvest Festival. Makahiki is a time to give thanks to the deities for the abundance of the year and ask for prosperous year to come. It was a time for hula and games that tested and trained the physical and mental abilities of warriors. Work and war were forbidden during Makahiki.
The first European Explorer arrived on Big Island and interrupts the climax of the Makahiki Festival. His great white sails reveal a similarity with Lono’s banner so the island inhabitants vowed reverence
and great respect, as they believed the God Lono had arrived in human form.
The European Explorer was bewildered but decided to play along as a God and enjoy his status but after a while, the Hawaiians decided to have his head because he could not demonstrate any powers.
He managed to escape but some of his crew were killed. Years later he returned, this time bringing with him gifts (to King Kamehameha). Among the gifts were cattle and Hawaii did not have any cattle at that time.
The Hawaiians did not know what to do with cattle and since it belonged to the King, they did not there touch them. As a result, after some time, the cattle population on Big Island grew so large that it became an ecological disaster. 🙂