O Na Kumu Akua

May 17, 2018

O Na Kumu Akua a Pau

 In this naturalistic worldview of our post - enlightenment culture, the idea of gods and goddesses, spirits, and shapeshifters are only held in fairy tales, myths, and children stories.  The modern western man has found himself comfortable in this matrix of the natural unguided process of science and nothing else.  There is no room for what we cannot see with our natural eyes.  There is no sacred (connection with God or gods), only the secular ( whatever club they chose to be a part of, and the “cult”ure attitudes and behaviors). 

 In many indigenous world views the world is saturated and highly active with spirits.  There is a yet another layer to what we can see with our natural eyes, the realm of the sacred.  In this realm there are powers, principalities, and forces manifested by free agents with unimaginable qualities (Iʻo, Kane, Ku, Lono, Kanaloa, Wakea, Papa, Pele etc.).  With many of the world tribes (such as the Babylonians, Canaanites, Egyptians, Sumerians, and even the greek philosophers)  and upon thousands of thousands of years many of the worlds tribes have come to known these forces, ideals,and powers and may have even found ways to harness, collaborate, and maybe even work with these unseen agents.  

  In Christianity,  most evangelical theology regarding Godʻs sovereignty and angels, these principalities and unseen forces are just extensions of Godʻs will.  As if these agents were just divine robots, extensions of this kind of god.  These gods, spirits, angels, whatever you call them are static beings without the choice of making their own will come to pass.  Some sects of christianity would even go so far as to say not only this is true, but that all of humanity shares this same kind of static, zombie like, notion of a highly controlling dictatorship.  In other words we are all robots, mechanically programed, made to do the bidding of a cold distant creator.  But is this true?

 In the Hebrew bible in the book of Daniel chapter 10.  We see interactions with angels/ spirit beings taken on human forms who are either cooperating with the will of God or battling against it.  In this chapter we see the “guardian” Michael battling the god of Persia and soon awaiting the god of Greece.  There is a kind of warfare that the natural eye cannot see.  It was an assumption in the Hebrew culture of the existence of other godʻs.  And that each supernatural being like humans had free will choice to participate or wage war against each other.  Here a different perspective is seen.  One where the world we live in is as dynamic as the personalities of the individual himself as well as this free will is extended to the unseen forces and “gods” as well.  

 We see more examples within scripture of free agents choosing their own will such as the Behemoth, Leviathan, Yam (in the Psalms), Rahab, “the serpent of the air”, satan, etc.  It would not be a far assumption to take this idea and project it to the different cultures and ancient stories of other gods, goddesses, and supernatural agents.

 In Hawaiʻi there is a pantheon of gods and goddesses (akua), guardian spirits (ʻaumakua), wandering spirits (huakaʻi pō), and a deep connection to the Kupuna ( ancestors and aliʻi).  It is a life of rich and deep connection to the ʻāina and the moʻolelo in which is passed down from generation to generation.  The awareness of the activity of the spirit world was woven into every activity through pule, oli, and aloha ʻāina.  Just as Daniel was able to familiarize himself with the guardians of the geographical territories the Hawaiian people (like many indigenous people groups) were able to recognize the imprints of these gods and goddesses.  Not only there was an awareness to this reality, Hawaiianʻs took it a step further through the Aliʻi.  Aliʻi were manifested gods on earth.  They were the representation of the powers and authorities that were required to maintain Pono (ballance).  Some Aliʻi were so sacred that if even their shadow were casted on you the consequence would be death.  The spiritual world was not even hinted as a joke to the Hawaiian people.  Much care, attention, and sacrifice was given that they would be in harmony with all of creation (seen and unseen).   

 With the coming of the Calvinistic Christians to Hawaiʻi in 1819, came many positive and negative impacts.  With Calvinistic Christians from the ABCFM  leaning more to a hellenistic Aristotelian view as God as an Infinite in power, knowledge, and size (omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent etc.), God became less personal and relational and more abstract and authoritative.  And all gods and goddesses were reduced to evil and wicked in the eyes of the uncultured missionaries.  With this hellenistic christianity hints of Gnosticism became yet another invasive species.  The idea of the physical being evil and only the “spiritual” is good, came many destruction of the sacred sites, places, and geographical locations.  Another school of thought that came with the missionaries were the “Apatheia” of Stocisim.  Where in Hawaiian worldview you are an active agent with the gods, the school of greek thought that influenced these missionaries came the idea of “gods providence”.  That whatever happened you could not change it, it is the natural, unstoppable will of god.  

 Here we start to see the sterilization of religion and spirituality and the split between the sacred and the secular.  Does one leave the complex dynamic interconnected spiritual world for a more straightforward, academic, greek focused religion?  While both alternatives donʻt seem very outdated these were some of the very questions the people of the past (and present) have to answer deep within.  Is it easier to stay objective and passive?  Yes.  It seems better to not event mention these types of topics at all.  But is it beneficial to for the spirit of a man to see beyond himself and into the realm of the unknown?  Yes, but only with guidance and council from the spirit of wisdom and the guardians entrusted to keep pono in their respective territories.