Hi’iaka came to me one afternoon.
Hi’iaka: “You need more light and healing in your work. You will need to learn to tap into Nature to pull the power you fantasize about (connecting with and using Nature’s power for workings – she nodded at this description).”
H: “You can connect to it, but not enough. Practice connecting more with Nature. (I thought of Taoism, the interconnectedness). Yes, similar. There are many things for you to learn.”
Me: “Like what, for example?”
H: “Calling forth natural spirits differently than you do. You do it through means that can’t be expressed well to others, nor taught well. This is one such thing. (I wanted another, but she was quiet about it). You will learn to break through barriers like a tree breaks forth from the ground, the way it breaks concrete over time, all of which comes from being anchored into the Earth itself.”
M: “How is this different from connecting with the magma below our feet?”
H: “Individual items can be done this way (a tree, a rock, a mountain). It takes a different type of connectedness to connect to them all actively. “
M: “Similar to Omnipresence?”
H: “No, not quite. This is an active skill, not a passive one. You aren’t surrendering yourself to connect, but tapping into what’s already there. You will see. We (we?) will teach you and you will teach others.”
I could tell she was going to leave and thanked her for coming. She then left.
Who is Hi’iaka?
In short, Hi’iaka can be numerous sisters of Pele with the same name, the number of which depends on the location and, most importantly, who was telling the story. The most commonly accepted identification is that she is Pele’s youngest sister and was dear enough to her that she was brought to Hawaii by Pele in an egg when she fled. Some of the stories say she was here before the Hawaiians arrived from parts of Polynesia and some say after.
Hi’iaka is considered the patron goddess of the hula and has been associated in the sagas with raising the dead and other magical acts. The driving app we used on Hawaii Island described her as being the Goddess of Life and Nature to Pele’s Destruction. When Pele has done her work, Hi’iaka is credited with returning Life to the affected area. Pele may be considered the Goddess of the volcano, but Hi’iaka is the patron goddess of all Hawaii. Despite this, she is not as well known outside of Hawaii and isn’t featured in more stories. This is likely due as much to her gentler temperament, when compared to Pele, as her acts are portrayed as more individual than, say, a mountain range you have to drive around.
