BEGINNINGS
In ancient times was a family of Gods, including Pele and her 5 sisters and 7 brothers in Kahiki (the Hawaiian version of the spirit world). She was a hot-tempered girl who was quick to start a fight and her essence was fire. Her older sister Namakaokahai, or Namaka for short, was the exact opposite, loving the water. Pele and Namaka continuously fought, and eventually came to a horrible point after Pele seduced her sister’s husband. Pele’s father, the ancient earth god Haumea, exiled Pele in order to keep the peace. To help his sister, Pele’s oldest brother Kamohoalii, the king of sharks, gave his sister a canoe to travel over the seas.
TRAVEL TO HAWAII
Pele landed on the island of Kauai and tried to strike deep into the earth with her sacred o’o stick, used for digging deep trenches and holes. When Namaka heard where her sister landed, she traveled to Kauai to fight Pele. A battle ensued of legendary proportions, ending only when Namaka thought she was leaving her sister for dead.
FINDING A HOME
Pele recovered from that epic clash and went to Oahu where she dug several fire pits in anger. Her most famous fire pit on Oahu is what is known today as Diamond Head Crater. Afterwards she traveled to Molokai and then to Maui where she created the Haleakala Volcano.
When Namaka found out that her sister was still alive, she went to Maui in anger and tore Pele apart from limb to limb. Her bones remain on a hill in Maui called Kaiwiopele, or the bones of Pele, but her spirit became a god and journeyed to the Big Island where she made her external fire pit, Halema`uma`u Crater. Halema`uma`u Crater is in the summit of the Kilauea Volcano, the world’s most active volcano.
LEGACY
Described as "She-Who-Shapes-The-Sacred-Land" in ancient Hawaiian chants, Pele has become the most visible of all Gods. Legends are told of Pele traveling between islands and posing as a mortal. She is seen mostly as a beautiful tall woman and as an ugly frail old woman begging for food or help. Pele rewards those who help her when she is in the form of the old beggar woman, and she curses those who are selfish and do not help.
Her most powerful curses though are saved for those who steal from her home. Visitor’s to the Big Island that take home lava rocks experience horrible luck and Pele’s rage by fires at their home or business. Each year Volcanoes National Park receives numerous packages with lava rocks that visitors snuck off the island and send them back in hopes of relieving the curse.
