Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 8, 1 August 2015 — Calling upon the gods [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Calling upon the gods

An old man, who lived in Hilo, never doubted his gods, Kāne and Kū. When he woke every morning, he'd say: "O Kāne, listen! 0 Kū, listen! I have awakened." As he prepared his meals he would say: "O Kāne! O Kū! I am preparing my food." Then, he would invite them, calling: "O Kāne! O Kū! The food is ready and 1 will eat, eome and eat with me!" When he had enough, he would say, "O Kāne, listen! O Kū, listen! I have had enough." He'd piek up

his 'ō'ō to till his potato patch and again, eall out: "O Kāne! O Kū! I am going to dig; let us go together. And, so it went, all day, every day, the old man calling constantly to his gods in everything he did. One day, he went fishing with his friends and his net got caught on sharp coral in the oeean. He called: "O Kāne! O Kū! I amgoing to dive to free my net!" and down he dove. His friends waited for him to surface, but he did not appear. They thought he was dead and returned to shore to tell his family. When the old man dove to get his net, the net and the coral disappeared, and he entered a beautiful country. He said: "O Kāne! O Kū! This is a wonderful land! I will look for the inhabitants of this plaee." He walked along and eame to a grass hut and heard a voice calling him. Happily, he hurried forward, saying: "O Kāne! O Kū! One of the

inhabitants is calling me, and I am going to him." Arriving at a hut, he saw two old men. He was entertainedgraciously and slept there that night. In the morning one of the old men said: "Look here ! We hear you constantly

calling our names. I am Kāne, this is Kū. It is really respectful of you not to invoke us on those occasions when you are relieving yourself. But you utter our names so continually on all sorts of occasions that we have grown weary. That is why

we have brought you here, to teach you what is appropriate. Remember us when you rise, eall upon us in trouble and when you go to sleep, meditate upon us. Now go, and when the right time comes, we will eome for you." They sent the old man back to his home. His relatives and friends were happy to see the old man and to hear about the beautiful land he had seen. Many years later, he disappeared, and it was said he went to live with his gods . . . Kāne and Kū. In the story, the old man called out to the gods, for everything! The gods clarified, eall upon us when you wake, when in trouble and in evening meditations. They did not reject him, they taught him, and in the end, brought him to them. This story tells when it is appropriate to eall upon the gods for their presence and assistance. Our 'aumākua provide guidance with the more the mundane, practical aspects of life. This mo'olelo was told by Lily Ahuna, a cousin of Mary Kawena Pukui. ■

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By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D.

We are taught to meditate upon the gods and eall upon them when we rise, are in trouble and go to sleep. Photo: KaiMarkell