The Relationship Between Hawaiians and Their Gods

The Relationship Between Hawaiians and Their Gods PDF

Author: Elisabeth Yorck

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2012-04

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13: 365616925X

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Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Literature - Oceania, grade: 1,3, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: The development of a people is based on three categories which contain the quality of food supply, the relationship to other peoples and the religion whereas the latter probably most influences the intellectual advancement. This is because man's intelligence increases when he observes the different aspects of nature and life which have an effect on him. To understand natural phenomena and to gain a relation to those he creates gods, ghosts and supreme beings. Thus his fancy and imagination develop expressed by songs and legends in which the people combine facets of life, death and nature with supernatural creatures. Literature and art evolve by and by indicating cultural progress. Although the Hawaiians had an oral culture and therefore no written language, their intellectual advancement developed fast because of their uncountable songs and legends they repeated at fireplaces and feasts.1 What kind of religion did the Hawaiians create that made them develop so fast? Which gods and ghosts did they invent to explain the natural phenomena they didn't understand or they filled with their imagination? Through summarizing the main Hawaiian gods and godesses below, I will give the necessary basis of knowledge to analyse the interpendent relationship between them and the Hawaiian people. This mutual influence abounds mainly in legends and songs, in worship and in the structure of the Hawaiian society. In conclusion, the results are brought together to decide how much the religion influenced ancient Hawaiian society and how distinctive the relationship between men and gods was. In doing so I will basically refer to Martha Beckwith's book Hawaiian mythology from 1940.

The relationship between Hawaiians and their gods

The relationship between Hawaiians and their gods PDF

Author: Elisabeth Yorck

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2012-04-12

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13: 3656168954

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Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Literature - Oceania, grade: 1,3, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: The development of a people is based on three categories which contain the quality of food supply, the relationship to other peoples and the religion whereas the latter probably most influences the intellectual advancement. This is because man's intelligence increases when he observes the different aspects of nature and life which have an effect on him. To understand natural phenomena and to gain a relation to those he creates gods, ghosts and supreme beings. Thus his fancy and imagination develop expressed by songs and legends in which the people combine facets of life, death and nature with supernatural creatures. Literature and art evolve by and by indicating cultural progress. Although the Hawaiians had an oral culture and therefore no written language, their intellectual advancement developed fast because of their uncountable songs and legends they repeated at fireplaces and feasts.1 What kind of religion did the Hawaiians create that made them develop so fast? Which gods and ghosts did they invent to explain the natural phenomena they didn't understand or they filled with their imagination? Through summarizing the main Hawaiian gods and godesses below, I will give the necessary basis of knowledge to analyse the interpendent relationship between them and the Hawaiian people. This mutual influence abounds mainly in legends and songs, in worship and in the structure of the Hawaiian society. In conclusion, the results are brought together to decide how much the religion influenced ancient Hawaiian society and how distinctive the relationship between men and gods was. In doing so I will basically refer to Martha Beckwith‘s book Hawaiian mythology from 1940.

Hawaiian Mythology

Hawaiian Mythology PDF

Author: Martha Warren Beckwith

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 609

ISBN-13: 0824840712

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Ku and Hina—man and woman—were the great ancestral gods of heaven and earth for the ancient Hawaiians. They were life's fruitfulness and all the generations of mankind, both those who are to come and those already born. The Hawaiian gods were like great chiefs from far lands who visited among the people, entering their daily lives sometimes as humans or animals, sometimes taking residence in a stone or wooden idol. As years passed, the families of gods grew and included the trickster Maui, who snared the sun, and fiery Pele of the volcano. Ancient Hawaiians lived by the animistic philosophy that assigned living souls to animals, trees, stones, stars, and clouds, as well as to humans. Religion and mythology were interwoven in Hawaiian culture; and local legends and genealogies were preserved in song, chant, and narrative. Martha Beckwith was the first scholar to chart a path through the hundreds of books, articles, and little-known manuscripts that recorded the oral narratives of the Hawaiian people. Her book has become a classic work of folklore and ethnology, and the definitive treatment of Hawaiian mythology. With an introduction by Katherine Luomala.

Hawaiian Mythology

Hawaiian Mythology PDF

Author: Sebastian Berg

Publisher: Creek Ridge Publishing

Published:

Total Pages: 83

ISBN-13:

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Hawaiian mythology represents a complex belief system and a pillar of Hawaiian culture. Despite their mysticism and being banned by the Christian missionaries until the 20th century, Hawaiian myths survived by oral narratives passed down through generations and are still thriving today. The songs and chants tell those curious how life on earth was created on Po from utter darkness, with the appearance of the spirit of Keawe. Later, the spirit evolved into different divinities, humankind, and other living beings. Due to this, it is believed that all beings share a kindred spirit and can use this for spiritual communication. According to Hawaiian lore, the ancient spiritual force (mana) inhabits even sacred words and inanimate objects. To this day, Hawaiian natives honor their religion regarding everything from animals to the smallest mountain rocks as their relatives.

The Kumulipo

The Kumulipo PDF

Author: Martha Warren Beckwith

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2000-07-01

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9780824807719

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The Kumulipo is the sacred creation chant of a family of Hawaiian alii, or ruling chiefs. Composed and transmitted entirely in the oral tradition, its 2000 lines provide an extended genealogy proving the family's divine origin and tracing the family history from the beginning of the world.

The Water of Life

The Water of Life PDF

Author: Rita Knipe

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 1989-08-01

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780824812423

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Mythology flows like a subterranean stream throughout Hawai‘i. Rita Knipe has selected a number of characteristic myths and mythological figures from the rich pantheon of Hawaiian deities. As she retells their stories, illustrated by Hawaii artist Dietrich Varez, the transposition of such primal drama to the pages of this book becomes poetic theater. The dramatic plots are myths and legends chosen from the oral traditions of unique island people, but the underlying themes and symbols are archetypal and eternal. Drawing parallels between Hawaiian mythology, universal patterns, and individual behavior, the author illustrates certain basic Jungian concepts and explains how we express them in the drama of our own lives.

Hawaiian Legends of Dreams

Hawaiian Legends of Dreams PDF

Author: Caren Loebel-Fried

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2005-08-31

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0824845242

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Moe‘uhane, the Hawaiian word for dream, means "soul sleep." Hawaiians of old believed they communicated with ‘auma-kua, their ancestral guardians, while sleeping, and this important relationship was sustained through dreaming. During "soul sleep," people received messages of guidance from the gods; romantic relationships blossomed; prophecies were made; cures were revealed. Dreams provided inspiration, conveying songs and dances that were remembered and performed upon waking. Specialists interpreted dreams, which were referred to and analyzed whenever important decisions were to be made. Having no written language, Hawaiians passed their history and life lessons down in the form of legends, which were committed to memory and told and retold. And within these stories are a multitude of dreams--as in a famous legend of the goddess Pele, who travels in a dream to meet and entrance the high chief Lohi‘au. Dreams continue to play an important role in modern Hawaiian culture and are considered by some to have as powerful an influence today as in ancient times. In this companion volume to her award-winning Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits, artist Caren Loebel-Fried retells and illuminates nine dream stories from Hawai‘i's past that are sure to please readers young and old, kama‘aina and malihini, alike.

Kingship and Sacrifice

Kingship and Sacrifice PDF

Author: Valerio Valeri

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1985-06-15

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0226845605

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Valeri presents an overview of Hawaiian religious culture, in which hierarchies of social beings and their actions are mirrored by the cosmological hierarchy of the gods. As the sacrifice is performed, the worshipper is incorporated into the god of his class. Thus he draws on divine power to sustain the social order of which his action is a part, and in which his own place is determined by the degree of his resemblance to his god. The key to Hawaiian society—and a central focus for Valeri—is the complex and encompassing sacrificial ritual that is the responsibility of the king, for it displays in concrete actions all the concepts of pre-Western Hawaiian society. By interpreting and understanding this ritual cycle, Valeri contends, we can interpret all of Hawaiian religious culture.

Hawaiian Folk Tales

Hawaiian Folk Tales PDF

Author: Thomas Thrum

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-04-14

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781532749438

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These Hawaiian stories tell the tales of gods and men, ghosts and goblins. One Hawaiian chant speaks of as many as "four thousand gods" of the Hawaiian people. The ancient Hawaiians, like most indigenous peoples, felt a deep connection with nature and explained everything from the creation of the Earth to the lava flowing from the volcanoes through the stories of their gods and goddesses. The four main gods (akua) are Ku, Kane, Lono and Kanaloa. Then there are many lesser gods (kupua), each associated with certain professions. In addition to the gods and goddesses, there are family gods or guardians (aumakua). The many gods of Hawaii and Polynesia were often represented by tikis. Tiki statues were carved to represent the image of a certain god and as an embodiment of that specific god's mana, or power. This is only a partial list of the many Hawaiian gods. To this day, they are revered and respected by many. Kane: Father of living creatures. Kane is the highest of the four major gods. Ku: God of war. Human sacrifices were made to Ku in ancient times. Kanaloa: God of the underworld and a teacher of magic. Ruler of the ocean. Complementary power and close companion of Kane. Lono: God of agriculture. Associated with fertility, rainfall, music and peace. Pele: Goddess of the volcanoes, as well as fire, lightning and wind. Hina: Goddess of Moon. Laka: Goddess of the hula. Kuula: God of fishermen. Papa: Fertility goddess. Earth mother. Poliahu: One of the four goddesses of snow. The rival of Pele.

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