Sacred Places

 

(For those of you, who weren’t able to access the volcano videos in the last post, scroll down to the bottom of that page and click on “Read in Browser”.)

This post is the only other one that I will be doing on my recent trip, as my intent is not to do a travelogue!  In general, there was a lot of hiking involved in addition to identifying plants and birds that were new to me.  We went from the ocean on all sides of the Big Island, to our highest elevation of 4091 feet at the top of the Kilauea volcano, and through several ecosystems.  Miles and miles of old lava flows were seen everywhere we went.

Our local group leader, Kaika Nihipali-Wailani, was an award winning Hawaiian dancer and ceremonialist.  He came from a long lineage of native Hawaiians.  We visited 3 places in particular where he brought an offering for the spirits of those locations, and chanted in Hawaiian a prayer and asking permission for our group to enter. 

The first was at the bottom of the Halema’uma’u trail where it ends on the floor of Kaluapele, in the Kilauea caldera.   You can see that other offerings were left there in addition to the wreath of leaves that Kaika brought.  Fortunately, we were not near where the volcano would be erupting the next day.  (If you look carefully, you can see the steam coming up from the volcano above the top of the cairn and just below the horizon.)

The second location was the next day when we hiked down to the floor of the Kilauea Iki crater.  It was from here that we observed the great plume of smoke that signaled the start of the eruption.

There are many sacred sites throughout all of the Hawaiian Islands that were established and used by the original Polynesian inhabitants.  The forces of nature were revered as their gods.  Many of these have been lost to time, many carefully hidden and guarded, and others desecrated.   Many others have been preserved as National Historical Parks, and we had the honor of visiting one of these. 

Once we crossed over to the Kona side of the island, we were able to visit one of the most sacred locations on the western coast of the Big Island.  This was the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historical Park.  This 180 acre park was once the home of the royal grounds and a place of refuge for Hawaiian lawbreakers.  It was established about 450 years ago.  Captain cook, the first European to visit the islands, landed just north of there in 1779.

I could feel the spiritual energy and elevated life force, or mana, as soon as I started walking around.  We first walked down the coast a bit through what would have been a former residential area.  There were also numerous burials there in lava caves that had been documented but were off limits to the general public.  Waves were crashing onto the lava cliffs.  I can tell that I am in a special place when everything starts to slow down, as if I am walking through pudding.  I was feeling that there.

We turned back to go to the entryway to the royal grounds.   Kaika did another prayer and left an offering before we went in.   We were walking past what would have been ceremonial altars and platforms and royal residences.

After walking along the beach we encountered a magnificent megalithic wall that separated the royal grounds from the Place of Refuge.  The wall is up to 12 feet tall, 18 feet wide and 950 feet long and was constructed over a 400 year period.  It separated the Place of Refuge from the royal grounds.  The masonry was done in a way so that it could withstand earthquakes. 

The Place of Refuge was from an ancient Hawaiian tradition that would allow lawbreakers to avoid prosecution (death) if they could swim around the rough lava rocks to get there, being chased along the way.  Their crime would then be absolved by the resident priest.  Back then, there were many of these in existence in Hawaii, not only this one.

What interested me the most was the Hale o Keawe, which was a royal mausoleum that housed the bones of 23 Hawaiian rulers, including King Kamehameha’s great grandfather.  It is said that the mana exuded by these bones also gave power to the Place of Refuge.  Below is the reconstruction of the original temple on its original site.  Offerings are still left there on occasion.  All of the wooden figures are of Hawaiian gods and guardians of the site.  The bones of the rulers have long since been removed for safe keeping. 

I have to say that I could strongly feel the sacred energy of this particular place, even though many years have passed since the Hawaiian royals did ceremony here.   I hung out there for a bit just soaking in the mana. 

So this National Historical Park and the time spent with Pele and the erupting Kilauea volcano were the highlights of my trip.  Of course, there were hikes in the jungle, a visit to a Cloud Forest Preserve, and many new birds and wildflowers to photograph along the way.  Below is a very common orchid that was seen all over in the higher elevations.

And, good food and good company.  All in all, a great trip.

Kilauea Volcano

I just got back from a fabulous hiking trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.  What an adventure!  When I travel, I prefer physically active trips, as I have a hard time just standing there and listening to a lecture on some cultural site like a castle or museum.  I’ll do that for a little bit, but not for the whole trip.

This trip started out with a 3 flight itinerary to Hilo, Hawaii.  When I got there, I was pretty excited to see several of the astronomical observatories on the top of Mauna Kea from our hotel.  There was also snow on the top, which was an unexpected sight for sure.

While in Hilo, I found out that the Kilauea Volcano, which had been erupting off and on since December 23 of 2024, was currently taking a break.  I was bummed, although my reason for taking the trip was not to see an erupting volcano.  I had booked way before this current eruption cycle started. 

I had visited the Big Island twice in the mid-90’s for spiritual conferences, and was very connected to Pele, the Goddess of Hawaii’s Volcanoes.  So I started talking to her the next day on our way up to the Kilauea Military Camp, which was to be our group’s lodging for the next 3 nights, inside of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  I explained that I really wanted to see the eruption and experience her power. 

The next morning, we did a long hike along the Kilauea caldera rim and then down into the caldera and back up to the opposite side. The one way elevation change was 425 feet, and it was fairly steep both ways.  The cinder cone from the latest eruption was a little over a mile away.  It was smoking pretty heavily.  To our amazement, brief flashes of lava could be seen coming out of its right side.  Wow!  Another eruption was starting!  I have often written about the magic of nature, and we were about to experience it firsthand.  I thanked Pele profusely. 

At lunch time, we ate at the Volcano National Park Hotel, a perfect spot to observe the volcano.  At that time the cinder cone was still smoking heavily and spitting out some lava.  This was not actually considered an official eruption at that point.

There was also an excellent overlook at the edge of the caldera a short distance from the KMC, so we trekked out there in the dark after dinner, and that’s when the real action started.

The next morning, we did another long hike to the bottom of the Kilauea Iki crater, which takes you along a different edge of the Kilauea caldera and down 450 feet into the crater next to the main one where the eruption was happening.  All we could see from there was a huge smoke plume, which was pretty exciting.

 

We sped up our pace so that we could get back to the Volcano Hotel observation area to see the progress of the eruption.  It was going full force now.  It was estimated that the height of the eruption at this point was about 330 feet.   Here are some photos and a video.  To view the videos, go to your browser.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving down to the coast to see the extensive lava flows and hike out to the Pu’uloa Petroglyphs.   They are located in a very isolated location, and it is not known why this spot was chosen for the over 25,000 rock carvings that are found there.

By the time we got back to the Volcano Hotel for dinner, bedlam had erupted along with the volcano!  There were cars parked all over the place along the roads, and the park police were directing the backed up traffic.  Apparently, once an eruption starts, word spreads down in Hilo, and people jump into their cars to drive up and look. 

The overlook of the hotel was packed with people.  Many were having cocktails, and it was quite the party atmosphere.  It was just getting dark at that time.  As we were eating dinner, I popped out several times to take photos.

Once we got back to the Kilauea Military Camp lodging, several of us walked out to that overlook to get a different angle on the eruption. 

Almost at the exact time when we left the area the next day, episode 9 of the eruption had stopped.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time!  I like to think that my inner conversation with Pele got her to show herself to us. 

Remember that the magic of nature is all around us all the time.  It may be a small thing like a butterfly drinking nectar from a flower, or a big thing like an erupting volcano.  Be observant  and allow that magic to speak to you! 

Update on the Earthbound Spirit

 

In my last post, I wrote about an earthbound spirit that showed up in my space spontaneously.  I now believe that I have some additional information about him! Last week, I worked with a long time client of mine.  After the session was finished, she asked if I could track two people that passed over about 2 years ago.  One was her brother, and one was a long time partner of hers.  As I have previously mentioned, I am happy to do that for anyone.  If the person in question did not go to the light, I send them through right then and there. 

So first I tracked her brother.  He did not go to the light, so I took care of that for him.  Then I tracked her long time partner.  He did go to the light, and when I looked further to see how far he had gotten, there he was, the same man that I had sent to the light a few weeks earlier!  He was also dressed in what I now know was a shirt and pill box hat of Kente cloth.  The photo at the top is what this fabric looks like. 

This all made sense, as the spirits who have come to me spontaneously are always connected to someone who is connected to me in some way.  The person who is connected to me is the middleman, so to speak.  I also do not check in on a deceased person on a whim.  I only do that if a loved one asks me to do so. 

Now, the only explanation that I have for the spear through his body that he showed me could be that of a past life injury and not something that happened to him in this lifetime.  Or perhaps an injury that he suffered in this lifetime that took the shape of that spear.  I do know that he was on the U S Olympic Team in track and field many years ago. 

These kinds of events always keep life interesting!  Seek them out.  There can be magic around every corner.  Have fun.