The Goddess Pele

Pele is a Hawaiian deity. She was originally meant to be a goddess of the sea, but due to her indiscretion about who she had a relationship with, was forced to flee Polynesia/Tahiti and sailed to the islands of Hawaii, where she took up residence. She is descended from the supreme beings, Earth Mother Papa and Sky Father Wakea. Her brothers include the gods of sharks, thunder, explosions, fire showers, and lava. Her sisters were Hi'iaka and Laka, both goddesses of dance. She is called "She Who Shapes The Sacred Land" in ancient chants, and she represents the dual power of fire - creative and destructive. The volcanoes of Hawaii that she controls destroy people and homes when they erupt, but they also create more land to live on. Pele, goddess of the volcano, is thus both loved and feared, depending on the circumstance.

Legends abound of her trysts with human men. Usually, she ends up destroying those she has relationships with, and often others in the process. One of the most famous stories describes her affair with a chief named Lohiau. After she left him, he died of a broken heart, but Pele's sister revived him and tried to bring him to Pele. Pele misunderstood and got suspicious of her sister's intentions, so she sent a stream of lava towards the lovers approaching her volcano. Her sister survived, although her grove was destroyed and her best friend killed; Lohiau was also killed. However, he was revived one last time, and Pele's sister ran off with him in revenge; they lived happily ever after. Pele was not quite so lucky; her fiery temperament left her alone. Of course, it wasn't for very long - she had plenty of other lovers to spend her time with.

When Christianity was brought to Hawaii in the nineteenth century, several chiefesses publicly defied her by eating her sacred fruit, in order to prove they had nothing to fear from the goddess. Still, to this day locals respect and fear her, and even tourists are educated about her. She has become one of the most, if not the most, famous of the pagan deities, and represents Hawaii and Hawaiian culture to many people. "Urban legends" abound about her, such as that she curses any tourist who takes home lava rocks from Hawaii, or anyone who otherwise disturbs her home, or that she often appears as a hitchhiker - sometimes with a little white dog - who hitches rides at night, and turns from young woman to old lady and then disappears. Or, she appears to people as a beggar woman; those who are kind to her are rewarded, whereas those who scorn her face ill fortune.

My feelings for Pele are mixed. When I first started doing the research, I was somewhat dismayed to find that Pele seemed to be so cruel and selfish in many of the stories that speak of her. She went from man to man, not caring whom she destroyed in the process, and still tended to end up alone. She didn’t seem to be much of a role model. And then, as I read more and more, I realized that despite her tendencies towards losing herself with men, she was nonetheless a feared and respected goddess. She is linked with both fire and water, which I can relate to because I am Pisces-Ares cusp astrologically. And she is not only a destroyer; it is her lava that actually creates more land. And she is also protective of what is hers - the Hawaiian lands and even the Hawaiian people (those that respect her, at any rate). She wouldn’t hesitate to unleash her fury on anyone that threatened what was hers. I don’t think Pele would necessarily be someone to emulate, but certainly if she showed up in the guise of a beggar, it would serve well to be kind to her. Reflecting on her makes me think about those who are endowed with power of any sort (or even just powerful emotions) really have to work hard to control them so they do not end up becoming destructive, but rather harness them in ways that are creative and beneficial.