We’d sort of arranged with Joy to drive us to the Volcano National Park today, but when she hadn’t confirmed the night before or indeed early this
morning, we took it to mean that she’d stood us up again and slept a bit
longer. We both snapped out of it immediately though when we heard a feeble
calling of ‘Sarah!’ outside, which turned out to be Henry wandering around the
property looking for us, and so after just a bit we were in Joy’s car on the
way to see some lava. Joy dropped us and Henry off at the gate and we went to
the ‘Visitor Centre’ (which was SWAMPED with old white and Asian people wearing
leis) and asked a guy there where exactly to go. He recommended a route and so
we shortly were on a picturesque path through some unusual vegetation
heading for the ‘steam vents’.
Those were to be found in a savannah-like landscape, in the form of
sulphuric-smelling steam ominously rising from various holes in the ground, turning
everything in their near vicinity bright yellow. We wandered further until we came upon the edge of the actual
crater, looking down at a wide plateau with a vast hole in the ground further
away with more smoke coming out of it.
 |
| Still no lava though. |
Continuing on along the crater’s edge we
eventually arrived at the Jaggar Museum where we took some pictures and Sarah revealed an ever so tiny racist tendency towards all Asian people. We walked back
to the Visitor centre on a slightly different route going down through the
rainforest, along steep drops, gigantic ferns and luminously green moss-covered
rocks.
 |
| Pretentious 'Life&Death' composition - There were huge areas of completely white fern skeletons but also once in a while perfect spiral baby-ferns. |
Once we got back we decided to have a small lunch and some drinks in the
‘Volcano House’ so we enjoyed a pizza and cocktails with a view onto the
smouldering crater. We were meant to take the bus back at 6 so we had a couple
of hours in the bar, spent drinking, debating loudly about various topics and (but
that was mainly just me) admiring the incredibly green grass next to the
balcony. We headed off towards the bus stop in plenty of time but when the bus hadn’t arrived even half an hour after its scheduled time, we called up Joy to
pick us up, which she soon did and then drove us back to our house, where Sarah and I had an extremely funny rest of the evening.
Inspired by all the pictures and infos in the museum I decided to try my hand at drawing Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess:
Here's some information on her taken from my 'Pacific Mythology' book by Jan Knappert:
Pele is the Goddess of fire, and Goddess of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. Naturally her temperament is impetuos and passionate. She must never be crossed, of course, but to be loved by her is equally dangerous.
It also included this lengthy tale of much killing and resurrecting:
'One fine day Pele fell in love with Lohiau, the handsome Prince of Kaua'i, who was a master of drumming and graceful dancing. She appeared to him as a ravishing beauty, even lovelier than the girls of Kaua'i. They talked for a while in elegant phrases. Of course the prince fell in love with Pele and so they agreed to be married, even though he neither knew her parents or her homeland. After many happy weeks Pele suddenly decided she had to go back to her volcano. She promised her husband that she would come back, then flew away, invisible. After a month or two, Lohiau, refusing food, died of grief. Many people had ignorant opinions about his death, but one man, an old seer or prophet, Kaula, advised the people not to enquire further, since he said Lohiau's wife must have been a goddess who returned to the world of the immortals and had invited the spirit of Lohiau to join her there.
Meanwhile, Pele sent her faithful sister Hiiaka to fetch Lohiau's body. Hiiaka travelled to Kaua'i disguised as a mortal, only to find out that Lohiau had died and that his soul was imprisoned by the lizard women Kilioa and Kalamainu on a lonely cliff by the shore. Fortunately, being a goddess, hiiaka could penetrate the spirit prison and gather up Lohiau's life-soul. Then, abandoning her human form, she flew through the air to the death chamber with Lohiau's soul in her arms. There, in the funeral hall in the middle of the night, she reunited Lohiau's soul with his body. He woke up confused and was taken to the beach where, in the fresh breeze, he soon recovered. From there, Hiiaka and Lohiau travelled to Hawaii and fell in love. When Pele perceived this, furious, she decided to destroy the husband she had taken so much trouble to 'have and to hold'. She poured molten lava over him so that he became a pillar of stone and died.
Hiiaka then descended into the earth to the kingdom of Milu, the God of Death, to await the arrival of Lohiau's soul. However, his soul was hovering over the ocean and the islands in search for her. There it was discovered by the god Kane Milohai, father of the gods, who came sailing past in his miraculous ship. He caught Lohiau's soul like a bird in the air and returned it to the stone pillar on the mountain slope where, he knew, the prince's body was hidden. He removed the stone covering that concealed Lohiau's body and allowed the soul to enter its abode once more. As Lohiau regained consciousness he found himself standing on the slope of Mount Pele. Suddenly he saw the goddess standing before him. Even though he recognized her as his wife, he was ready to beg her for mercy, knowing that she had killed him once already. But Pele was an unpredictable goddess. She had not only forgiven her husband but was ready to give him away now that he was reborn. 'Do not fear me. I was your wife in your previous life. Now I cannot expect you to love me any more. I have been hasty and unjust. My sister Hiiaka loves you.'
She vanished, and in her place stood Kane Milohai, who said 'Here is a magic seashell which, if you put it in the sea near the shore, will become a ship. Board it and it will take you wherever you want to go. When you arrive, do not forget to pick it up. It will become a seashell again so you can carry it in the palm of your hand. You will find the one you love.
The god vanished and Lohiau placed the shell on the waves where it grew into an elegant yacht. He sailed to Kaua'i but landed on Oahu along the way. This was the will of destiny because Hiiaka, too, was there. The king of Oahu was holding a 'kilu', a song competition. When it was Hiiaka's turn to sing, she sang a song of her own composition, praising Lohiau. When she had ended, Lohiau, who had been watching among the hundreds of spectators, quickly began to sing a hymn in praise of the goddess Hiiaka. Reunited, they set sail for Kaua'i in the miraculous ship.'
(Just realized this legend doesn't actually involve Pele that much, but I thought it was pretty cool anyway. If only I had time to illustrate the entire thing)
Pele is the Goddess of fire, and Goddess of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. Naturally her temperament is impetuos and passionate. She must never be crossed, of course, but to be loved by her is equally dangerous.
It also included this lengthy tale of much killing and resurrecting:
'One fine day Pele fell in love with Lohiau, the handsome Prince of Kaua'i, who was a master of drumming and graceful dancing. She appeared to him as a ravishing beauty, even lovelier than the girls of Kaua'i. They talked for a while in elegant phrases. Of course the prince fell in love with Pele and so they agreed to be married, even though he neither knew her parents or her homeland. After many happy weeks Pele suddenly decided she had to go back to her volcano. She promised her husband that she would come back, then flew away, invisible. After a month or two, Lohiau, refusing food, died of grief. Many people had ignorant opinions about his death, but one man, an old seer or prophet, Kaula, advised the people not to enquire further, since he said Lohiau's wife must have been a goddess who returned to the world of the immortals and had invited the spirit of Lohiau to join her there.
Meanwhile, Pele sent her faithful sister Hiiaka to fetch Lohiau's body. Hiiaka travelled to Kaua'i disguised as a mortal, only to find out that Lohiau had died and that his soul was imprisoned by the lizard women Kilioa and Kalamainu on a lonely cliff by the shore. Fortunately, being a goddess, hiiaka could penetrate the spirit prison and gather up Lohiau's life-soul. Then, abandoning her human form, she flew through the air to the death chamber with Lohiau's soul in her arms. There, in the funeral hall in the middle of the night, she reunited Lohiau's soul with his body. He woke up confused and was taken to the beach where, in the fresh breeze, he soon recovered. From there, Hiiaka and Lohiau travelled to Hawaii and fell in love. When Pele perceived this, furious, she decided to destroy the husband she had taken so much trouble to 'have and to hold'. She poured molten lava over him so that he became a pillar of stone and died.
Hiiaka then descended into the earth to the kingdom of Milu, the God of Death, to await the arrival of Lohiau's soul. However, his soul was hovering over the ocean and the islands in search for her. There it was discovered by the god Kane Milohai, father of the gods, who came sailing past in his miraculous ship. He caught Lohiau's soul like a bird in the air and returned it to the stone pillar on the mountain slope where, he knew, the prince's body was hidden. He removed the stone covering that concealed Lohiau's body and allowed the soul to enter its abode once more. As Lohiau regained consciousness he found himself standing on the slope of Mount Pele. Suddenly he saw the goddess standing before him. Even though he recognized her as his wife, he was ready to beg her for mercy, knowing that she had killed him once already. But Pele was an unpredictable goddess. She had not only forgiven her husband but was ready to give him away now that he was reborn. 'Do not fear me. I was your wife in your previous life. Now I cannot expect you to love me any more. I have been hasty and unjust. My sister Hiiaka loves you.'
She vanished, and in her place stood Kane Milohai, who said 'Here is a magic seashell which, if you put it in the sea near the shore, will become a ship. Board it and it will take you wherever you want to go. When you arrive, do not forget to pick it up. It will become a seashell again so you can carry it in the palm of your hand. You will find the one you love.
The god vanished and Lohiau placed the shell on the waves where it grew into an elegant yacht. He sailed to Kaua'i but landed on Oahu along the way. This was the will of destiny because Hiiaka, too, was there. The king of Oahu was holding a 'kilu', a song competition. When it was Hiiaka's turn to sing, she sang a song of her own composition, praising Lohiau. When she had ended, Lohiau, who had been watching among the hundreds of spectators, quickly began to sing a hymn in praise of the goddess Hiiaka. Reunited, they set sail for Kaua'i in the miraculous ship.'
(Just realized this legend doesn't actually involve Pele that much, but I thought it was pretty cool anyway. If only I had time to illustrate the entire thing)
No comments:
Post a Comment