Why do Hawaii visitors send sand and stones ?
Hawaii, where volcanic landscapes meet vast ocean expanses, is home to one of the most famous legends about the goddess of fire, volcanoes, and love, Pele, revered by Hawaiians for centuries. According to legend, she punishes those who violate her peace. She is believed to be jealous of her territory, and misfortunes await those who take sand, lava, or stones from the volcano. Tourists, wishing to regain their former life and luck, bombard Hawaiian post offices with parcels containing their souvenirs.
Pele is the goddess of the volcano in Hawaii
Pele (Pele-honua-mea), according to Hawaiian mythology, is the goddess of volcanoes and fire. She lives in the crater of the Kilauea volcano. According to one version, she appeared when she was looking for a place to live, being exiled by her sister from her homeland, and according to another, the desire to travel led her to the islands.
She wandered for a long time in search of a suitable place, digging holes with her hands, but everywhere, she came across water that washed her away. She was on fire, and she needed another place to hide. So she reached Hawaii, where she found the top of Kilauea. Scientists confirm the strangeness of her route—the places where she stopped and dug holes correspond to the location of the path of volcanic activity in the past.
The goddess settled in a pit that became a crater. One day, she heard music and had fun. She flew over to the people dancing downstairs at the festival in her astral form. She saw Chief Lohiʻau and fell in love with him. Taking the form of a beautiful girl, she began to dance with him, charmed him, and then lived with him for a while. But she had to go home, and she promised to send someone from her family to pick him up.
She sent her sisters to get Lohiʻau, but all refused, except for the younger Hiʻiaka. Pele sternly said that she had to meet for 40 days without touching or falling in love with the leader. But the journey was long; the spirits did not want to let their leader go to the goddess, so they did not meet the deadline. Pele felt that her sister had not kept her word and had fallen in love with her fiance, although that was the case.
Out of anger, Pele killed Hiʻiaka’s real fiance, Hōpoe, and then sent lava of fire and magma to Lahova and Hiʻiaka. Unlike the earthly leader, the sister escaped from the fire, resurrected Lohiau, and began living together. Pele was also not left alone; she found the demigod Kamapua and gave birth to a son, who later became the progenitor of all the island’s chiefs.
It is forbidden to take stones and sand: how the law was turned into a legend
For Hawaiians, Pele is not just a deity but a symbol of their culture, history, and identity. The veneration of Pele is connected with a deep respect for nature and its forces. Hawaiians understand that volcanoes can bring destruction and new lands where life can grow.
There is a belief that Pele observes people and seeks to remind them of the rules and teach them that everything in life is interconnected. Gifts taken without asking, such as stones or sand, can cause the goddess to be displeased. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. One of the most popular legends about Pele is related to the prohibition of taking anything from her kingdom. There is an opinion that if a tourist or a local takes a stone or a grain of sand with him, it will bring him misfortune.
Modern culture often ignores such traditions, but many realize that Pele can turn his anger on those who decide to ignore this prohibition. There are many stories about tourists who, upon returning home, faced a series of bad luck: job loss, destruction of personal relationships, or accidents. In the end, many choose to send the items they inadvertently took away to Hawaii, hoping to appease the goddess in this way.
A keepsake as a destroyer of a tourist’s life at home
The increase in the number of tourists to the islands has consequences. Unlike them, Hawaiians respect their traditions and sincerely want their cultural heritage not to be forgotten. However, persuasions and requests do not help tourists. Each of them tries to take a pebble with him as a souvenir or pour sand from the crater of a volcano into a bottle. Tourists take away a lot of natural materials, so a law prohibits taking anything from the territory of national parks and protected areas.
The appearance of Pele’s curse is attributed to a typical invention that caused tourists, fearing the deity’s wrath, to stop taking pebbles home from Hawaii. It is not known for what reasons, but it began to work. This may be an ordinary coincidence or suggestion. Still, people began to complain that everything started to collapse for them – they lost their jobs, businesses closed, loved ones left, they went bankrupt, and other misfortunes overtook them in the saddest form. Only later did they realize that Pele’s curse was not just words, and they sought to send the souvenirs they had taken back to Hawaii.
Larry Bell, the owner of a plumbing company in Denver, spoke about the destructive power of the curse. He didn’t believe in various superstitions, but life forced him to. Like many tourists, he brought back a piece of lava from his trip. And then the problems started. At first, my daughter had health problems. Then he divorced his wife, the business had to be moved to another place, and his health was shaken—he needed heart surgery.
It’s hard to say whether it was the result of a curse or the usual difficulties of life, but when they suddenly pile up, and before that, everything was going well, it’s hard not to believe them. And there are many such cases. There is a website for Pele tourists who share the problems that befall them upon arrival home.
Souvenir Return post office
There is a belief that Pele observes people and seeks to remind them of his rules and teach them that everything in life is interconnected. Taking her gifts without permission is forbidden because this may displease the goddess.
Realizing their deed, tourists send parcels with their souvenirs back to Hawaii. The postal service says it receives them every day. The parcels contain letters asking them to return the sand and stones to the volcano. However, some of these packages are stored in a warehouse because the place from where they were taken is not specified. Some tourists fly by themselves to return to the sand and stones and regain their former tranquility.
Some are brought to the volcano or the coast by a volunteer organization that cares about the heritage of its culture. The volunteers carefully wrap the stones in unique plant leaves and prayerfully give them to Pele. It is believed that everything created by the goddess has energy, and by taking an object, a person encroaches on her power. Instead, he destroys his harmony.
Any tourist can check whether there is a curse, but hardly anyone wants to risk their well-being. Unaware of the superstition, Clark and the girl decided to visit a landmark in Hawaii, Pele Volcano, and couldn’t resist grabbing a couple of lava pebbles. They recalled that it was hard to resist looking at it – it was oily and crunchy in their hands. Upon their return, they showed her off to the crew and were surprised by their behavior. Everyone recoiled from them and asked if they didn’t know about Pele’s curse.
The young people were surprised and did not believe that something could happen because of two small stones. But for some reason, from the second day, everything started to go wrong – the car did not want to start, the model turned out to be completely different from the one in the photo, or a wave almost washed away the photographer. As a result, to avoid even more trouble and seven years of reckoning, the young people went to the post office and gave away their souvenirs.
Pele’s Glory in Hawaii
Park rangers in Hawaii regretfully note tourists’ ignorance. Hawaiians believe each stone has its own “mana,” purpose, and name, so they should lie where the goddess Pele, nature, put them, and there will be harmony in the world. Ordinary tourists don’t get into this spirit; they take stones and throw them at the feet of the car, showing ignorance. But it’s even worse when they go up to the crater to see the greatness of Pele, and then they stuff cigarette butts into the cracks between the stones.
They have no idea how much they are destroying themselves with their actions and don’t even need to take stones for this. Hawaiians are confident that Pele will have his say and everyone will hear him. Recently, it has flooded a village off the coast, enlarging the island by 72 acres and creating a volcanic area in the water.
According to legend, Hawaiians still hold a festival honoring Pele, which she liked. They dance the hula, her favorite rhythmic dance, accompanied by music and chanting. According to the myth, she saw her younger sister Hiyaki’s friends performing it. Since then, the hula dance has been dedicated to the goddess and her sister, and songs and prayers have been conducted in their honor.
The Hawaiian Islands can genuinely be considered a paradise on Earth. This was the conclusion reached by Dr. Schaeffer, who agreed with the leaders and was instructed to return the goods lost due to the shipwreck.
