Please start by clicking on the Arrow above and join Kumu John Keola Lake as he chants
'E HO MAI
Mahalo, Kumu John Keola Lake
" ... IN CONTEMPORARY native villages, one might posit today that all people actively engaged in the land—hunting, fishing, gathering, traveling, camping—are naturalists, and say that some are better than others according to their gifts of observation. Native peoples differ here, however, from the Gilbert Whites, the Darwins, the Leopolds, and the Rachel Carsons in that accumulating and maintaining this sort of information is neither avocation nor profession. It is more comparable to religious activity, behavior steeped in tradition and considered essential for the maintenance of good living. It is a moral and an inculcated stance, a way of being. While White and others, by contrast, were searching for a way back in to nature, native peoples (down to the present in some instances), for what-ever reason, have been at pains not to leave. The distinction is important because “looking for a way back in” is a striking characteristic of the modern naturalist’s frame of mind..." - Barry Lopez, excerpted from the article "The Naturalist" Orion Magazine, 2001
Sam Ka'ai Kanaka
Talkingstory about Kuleana (Responsibility)
This 29 minute video interview with Sam Ka'ai is a vital voice of the kanaka, the Hawaiian. It is important for it is the voice that reminds me to be humble; and he reminds me to know what I am responsible for. He speaks about 'Kuleana' in its essential meaning ... who are you?
What I share is what I have learned through experience, and through "collection" while on the journey. This workshop evolved from our personal spiritual experiences with Kaulana Mahina The Hawaiian Moon Calendar. Pete and I have been challenged with losses that left us with nothing as we'd known it: no home, no identity, no health. When we had nothing to count on, we slowly remembered how to count on the moon. With nothing, we found our way back to our true nature, that of spiritually evolving being ... or, Makua O'o.
Our journey reminds me of the value of the darkness, where some of the richest growth takes place. Mahina is lit only in the darkness yet is present even while the sun is bright. I am a Native Hawaiian woman seeded with traditions invisible and deep needing only the right timing to remember which tool, which combination of tools will serve not just myself, but the whole of creation. Physically, we find ourselves on an island again and perhaps that releases the newest timings, the newest opportunity. We share from the heart our lives as makua o'o, using the tools given us and invite all here to see the blessings of the emptiness, the 'ole.
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| Voyaging canoe Hokule'a's historic crossing; Arrives in Tahiti 1976 |
This voyage of sharing "COUNT ON THE MOON ... The blessings of emptiness", continues the legacy of my great navigator ancestors who used the sky, the wind, the ocean, planets, moon, sun and themselves as measurement of pono (harmony and balance). I remember a snippet of story I first heard as Nainoa Thompson, Master Hawaiian Navigator and Teacher described his early re-awakenings to his seed as navigator. Then a young man, he would launch the first of many voyaging canoes using the traditional navigational ways and affirm internal knowing. He said, that in the process of remembering to sail and navigate it was his genitals, that offered him a sense of wave movement that directed his course. Before their was a sextile and made-tools there was 'us.'
This link opens the reader to Nainoa Thompson's story. A vital connection to Wayfinding and another contemporary foundation for the work Pete and I share here.
The chant 'E HO MAI beckons to the gods to share their secrets with us. The sound of the words beat like a heart within us and we make space for the unknown. Prayer is always the way to begin. Our journey is one of wayfinding, integrating ancient wisdom that sustains with time with the Earth and her people now. We start with time and the Native Hawaiians' calendar.
Kaulana Mahina
'Ole Mahalo
This workshop focuses on the phases called 'ole (empty), and is called 'Ole Mahalo' which literally means thank-you for the nothing. There is a kaona or irony to the meaning for the value of nothing is so foreign in our thing-valued society. The value of the nothingness, is the spiritual call, the opportunity to see and feel the regular and persisting release and rest time -- seven phases, seven nights and days, found within the thirty phases of a moon cycle. These are called the 'Ole Moons or 'Ole Cycles.
There are 12 workshop sessions-posts presented in the first phase of new content. Work with these at a a pace comfortable to you. All of us will be new to the way this format of sharing on a blog operates. Patience and good humor will be really important to the venture.
Why begin on the NEW MOON?
Pete and I welcome you to this cyber-ark workshop, and invite you to breathe deeply and relax for a time during this NEW MOON of April, 2011. NEW MOON is a time when Mahina is furthest away from Earth, and her light is diminished though never unfelt. A new cycle of approximately 30 days begins now. We chose this time, this day and night to COUNT ON THE MOON in a group, gathering collective energy to remember who we are, to count the source of blessings and to count on them with consciousness.
STORYTelling through posting
This workshop began with the blessings of the Divine, Ke Akua, The Source, asking for the blessings,making space for the unseeable present as we have called in the opening 'oli. Each Post will be a story, an invitation to you who read and attend to its message. We make space for the wisdom. Though we are counting on the internet and words on a cyber screen, the invitation to hear the story and tell your own remains as if we were sitting together on a comfortable, warm grassy lawn, or in chairs around a round table with a favorite food or drink.
We have chosen this venue because at this stage of my life, I live with an illness (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities or MCS). I become very ill being with common chemicals and products so often found on laundered garmets, in hair and body products or in a public place. We are on a healing journey, and feel the positive changes happening with each decision we make to think and co-create with our Source. That source the Hawaiians call "Ke Kumu." Where once I gathered with people face to face, oddly, the cyber ark seems to serve the mission now. So with the blessings of the 'oli, onward we go.
We encourage you to listen to E Ho Mai (the chant) often during the month of April, and in particular listen and breathe with the message each morning. Feel the heartbeat of the message, and the blessings. Make room for the wisdom and notice ...
Please, feel free to comment, or leave questions on this and any other post.
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