See below poem for pronunciation help. 4-9-2021 |
When Gods Speak Halema'uma'u - legendary home of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. The crater lake of Kilauea where she swims in boiling lava to cool herself down after a temper tantrum when missionaries first dared to walk the shores of her islands and they tried to pry her people away from her to new gods. Missionaries spoke of a vengeful god. Madam Pele claimed insult, sent fiery winds to blow down and destroy their closed-in churches. The new gods didn't know the ways nor the power of an angry Pele. They paid the ultimate price for their insurrection. Pele spoke and many listened. But their ears tried to listen in two directions. One cannot listen to two conversations at once. Words become garbled and confusion tore the people in a tug of war that could have no winners. Time passed and Pele grew to have an uneasy truce with the new gods. She is the far more visible and yet, the quiet one still speaks volumes. Time and again, will Pele speak, will she unleash her temper if only to remind her people of what, in their hearts, they know. Leaving them to have a goddess of their heart and gods in their minds. But when Pele speaks through her volcano who listens then? Pele - Pay-Lay Halema'uma'u - Ha-lay-ma-uu-ma-uu (uu as in you) the apostrophe in the Hawai'ian language is called an okina, it is the briefest of pauses. |