"Proactive Prophecy: remaking the Past and changing the Future." During The
Prophets Conference ~ Caribbean, Dr. Serge Kahili King presents the
participants with the Hawaiian views on the nature of time and the Hawaiian
shamanic techniques for altering reality. Dr. King will be joining with
the other extraordinary conference faculty members to present sacred
ceremony at the ancient Mayan sites of Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Coba.
-Cody
Waiho wale kahiko (old secrets are now revealed)
Excerpt from "Urban Shaman: A Handbook for Personal and Planetary
Transformation Based on the Hawaiian Way of the Adventurer" by Serge Kahili
King, Ph.D.
"Throughout the years of suppression of Hawaiian culture by the
missionaries and the new American economic and political elite, the island
shamans continued much as they had during the centuries of suppression
initiated by Paao. Masters at blending in with their environment, they
either remained in the uplands out of sight, or mixed right in with their
peers as apparently perfectly ordinary folk. In both cases their skills
were inaccessible except to family, friends, and the very needy. The law
in Hawaii which made it a crime to be or to call oneself a kahuna had very
little effect on their activities.
The seeds of change among Hawaiian kahunas were sown by the social
revolution of the sixties and the sprouts of change continued to grow into
the seventies and eighties to the present. Like other peoples elsewhere,
the Hawaiians slowly began to feel again their pride in being Hawaiian, and
the bravest among them began to revive and improve upon the best aspects of
their ancient culture. Arts and crafts and dance and song in traditional
old and uniquely new styles became more popular, and somewhere along the
way the law against kahunas was taken off the books.
As Hawaiian pride
grew, so did the activities of Hawaiian kahunas. However, the suppression
by church and state had taken a serious toll in that there were very few
genuine kahunas of any kind left, and there were even fewer apprentices in
training. As proud of their heritage as the Hawaiians might be, the
churches had still made a deep impression by associating all kahuna lore
with black magic. Even those Hawaiians who dare seek out the healing
aspects of this great tradition do so with more than a little fear.
Nevertheless, their numbers continue to grow.
Today, however, the great healing, metaphysical, and shamanic traditions of
Hawaii are being kept alive primarily by the same race that almost
destroyed them completely. Without the audiences of white mainlanders,
even the few Hawaiian teaching kahunas would have virtually no one to
teach.
A Hawaiian kahuna friend of mine told me that the Hawaiians won't
return to the ancient Huna lore until enough whites say that it is good.
And another Hawaiian kahuna attending one of my lectures to hear what this
haole kahuna was saying ended up confirming what I had learned and giving
me his blessing for sharing it, while at the same time expressing the
strange feelings it gave him to hear this knowledge so openly taught after
so many years of suppression. On the other hand, there are some Hawaiians,
though not kahunas to my knowledge, who feel that Hawaiian sacred
traditions should only be shared with Hawaiians.
In a way it is both fortunate and unfortunate that kahuna wisdom-Huna-is
being taught mostly to mainland Caucasians today. Fortunate because their
numbers and interest and relative fearlessness ensure that the knowledge
will be maintained and enhanced; unfortunate only because the knowledge
could be so useful to the Hawaiians themselves in their modern quest for
self-esteem and self-determination. None of the remaining kahuna shamans I
know have any desire to teach, but at least some kahunas of the other
orders are starting to come forward and share their healing skills and
knowledge.
I do have great hopes for the few Polynesian apprentices I
have, yet we seem to be moving into a period of history where differences
are becoming less and less important. Hawaiian shamanism and the spirit of
aloha on which it is based represent a way of life with great value for all
of humanity. It is a coming together time for all, and the best use of all
shamanism, urban and otherwise, would be for the cause of peace, inner and
outer.
As an old Hawaiian proverb says: He ali'i ka la'i, he haku na ke aloha
(Peace is chief, the lord of love). May peace and love be our guide and
our purpose as we work on healing the world today."
When Serge Kahili King was fourteen he was initiated into the path of
Hawaiian shamanism by his father. At seventeen he was adopted as the
grandson of Joseph Kahili of Kauai, a "kupua" or shaman of the Hawaiian
tradition. In addition to his years of training with the
Kahili family, Dr. King spent seven years in West Africa being trained in
African shamanic traditions, and has made in-depth studies of other such
traditions around the world. Today he teaches people how to use shamanic
healing techniques and uses his knowledge to help others discover their own
creative power.
The Prophets Conference ~ Caribbean, March 15-22, 1999, Chichen Itza,
Tulum, Coba, and the beauty of Playa del Carmen.
Prophets Conference ~ Caribbean Information, send email request to:
prophets@greatmystery.org, or call toll-free: 1-888-777-5981.
