In Hawaii, I would venture to say that Pele is a Goddess that almost all people respect, regardless of their faith. However, most locals don’t know her family beyond her sister, Hi‘iaka.

It was only recently, through Leah, that I really came to know about the other powerful women in Hawaiian (and relatedly, Polynesian) mythology.

I learned of Haumea, Pele’s mother. And through my learning about Haumea, I learned of Haumea’s mother, the highest manifestation of feminine energy, Na Wahine (here’s the Hawaiian deity family tree).

Na Wahine, who also goes by the name Uli Uli, had been asking for months for me to make some kind of offering to her — ideally at Haleakalā, but she would have been satisfied for me to have made time during my last trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. Unfortunately, we were there for a wedding and weren’t able to make the trip I needed to make to do the ceremony and I’ve yet to find the time to make it to Maui.

And so, when Titus, who is on his own spiritual journey, said he was headed to the Big Island — I told him to make sure he makes an offering to Na Wahine while he’s at it. I didn’t expect anything more than just his mentioning in his own offering that I was the one who said to do it. Kind of like, hey Na Wahine, Monchalee is thinking of you and sorry she couldn’t make it. As it turns out, when Titus made his offering to Na Wahine, she accepted an offering from me as well.

I had given Titus a bracelet to wear temporarily, while he was going through a transition phase. It was a wooden beaded bracelet I’d gotten in Meguro, Japan at Daienji Temple when I went there to pray for assistance with passing an exam. Apparently, as he made his offering to Na Wahine, the bracelet fell from his wrist and into the lava rock in the darkness.

Not knowing the bracelet had been lost, I suddenly stopped feeling urges to make an offering to Na Wahine and instead, felt a strong push from Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Ra had agreed to wait until I went to Haleakalā so I could do a joint ceremony for Him and Na Wahine. It was only when Titus said he lost my bracelet and explained the circumstances under which he lost it that I knew Na Wahine had, indeed, taken the bracelet as an offering from me and felt satisfied that she had what she needed from me right now.

I hope that I make it to the Big Island or to Maui soon as I’d still like to make an offering in-person. I’m sure that our paths will cross again and this was not a one-time exchange.

Grandmother of Pele, Mother of Haumea, ultimate divine feminine, Na Wahine.

Originally written on June 15, 2017.