Category: Spirituality

Nā Kūkikūki  ||  The Story of Kea’omelemele 

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In the story of Kea’omelemele, told by Moses Manu in 1885, Kalau’okōlea, the younger sister of Poliʻahu played a tune on a puʻa (gourd whistle) while Kulukuluokahiki was staying at the house of Poliʻahu on Mauna Kea. The night-time trilling enchants and delights Kulukuluokahiki and his party, and culminates in love-making. Kulukuluokahiki with Poliʻahu, and his men with the sisters Lilinoe and Kalauokōlea. In the chill of the frosty borderlands of Poliʻahu, the tune of the puʻa/hōkiokio warms the bosom and foreshadows the shared warmth to come.

But what is also remarkable to me is the mention in the mele of no less than four kinds of singing land snails, indicating how important these are in Hawaiian cultural foundations:

Moe ana ʻoe la hoʻolono iki mai
E piʻi kāua i ka hua lamalama
I ka lau ʻākōlea i ke kapa kāhuli
Kāhuli aku, kāhuli mai
Kāhuli lei ʻula lei ʻākōlea
Kolekolea, kolekolea
Pūpū kani oe maiau kēlā
Pololei leo leʻa kapa hau o uka
Mehana i kuʻu poli
Hiʻolani kēlā kolekolea

Lie there, and listen a while
as we two climb by kukui torchlight
Among the fronds of ʻākōlea ferns, the garment of snails
Land snails transforming, changing back and forth
Changing from a red lei into a lei of ʻākōlea ferns
Kolekolea land snail, singing in a whistling voice
Such a skillful, exquisite singing snail
Pololei snail singing joyfully at the edge of the upland snows
Warming my bosom
as I lie at ease amidst that chorus of snails singing.

Additional note:  kolekolea is the singing of the land shell, also considered another name for the kahuli.


Pololei is another snail name, often followed by the epithet kani kuamauna.  Kuamauna, which is a zone close to the summit of a mountain, suggests that the pololei is a high elevation snail, of the high montane or subalpine region, in this case, just below snow line on Mauna Kea!

Lāʻau Lāpaʻau || Garlic: The Most Effective Cure for Pneumonia, Coughs, Colds, Ear Infections

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Before the discovery of penicillin, no effective treatment was available for infections such as  pneumonia.  It wasn’t until 1928, when Alexander Fleming noticed that the “mold” growing in his petri dish was killing the Staphylococcus bacteria, that penicillin came to be. However,the excessive use of antibiotics in humans and farm animals can drive drug-resistant bacteria to thrive. It has been studied that bacteria have, now, been growing resistant to antibiotics that have been used time and time again. Not only that, many antibiotics are shown to have severe adverse effects, and have even led to death.

How to Use Garlic […]

Source: Garlic: The Most Effective Cure for Pneumonia, Coughs, Colds, Ear Infections

Discover your Celtic Tree Zodiac Sign & what it Means

Hālau ʻĀha Hūi LanakilaLeave a comment

Not everyone resonates with the characteristics set out in traditional Western Zodiac signs.

Fortunately, there is another way of discovering more about personalities and behaviours than simply looking at constellations.

The Celts hold an ancient belief that we all derive from trees, and our date of birth is interconnected with the qualities found in nature. They say that the season we were born in is pivotal to the formation of our individual tendencies and traits.  […]

Source: Discover your Celtic Tree Zodiac Sign & what it Means.

Hau’ōli aloha Pō’akōlu

Hālau ʻĀha Hūi LanakilaLeave a comment

Aloha a me ka maikāʻi oʻ kā kākahiāka, ī nā mea a pau ʻia ‘ōukōu kanaka a maikāʻi.  Kākou nō ma ka hānā hebedoma hapalua ʻala.  Mālāma nēʻe īmua, hula manāwa ʻua ʻaneane ʻaneʻi. Ī kā maikāʻi ‘o kā lā. Nūi ke aloha.

Hello and good morning to all you good people.  We are half way through the work week.  Keep moving forward, play time is almost here.  Have a beautiful day.

Hāʻawina Hawaiʻī ʻOīwi || Hawaiian Language Lesson

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