Hoʻohokukalani is a Hawaiian
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
, mentioned in the ancient chants. She is described as a beautiful woman, who
became a consort to her own father. Her full name is given as Kahoʻohokuokalani-i-kau-i-kaheahea ("she who sets the stars in
heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and adorns the celestial regions").
Mythology
According to the myth, Hoʻohokukalani is the daughter of the god
Wākea (
Sky Father) or the expanse of the heavens
and his wife
Papahānaumoku
In the religion and mythology of the ancient Hawaiians, Papahānaumoku (pronunciation: ɑːpɑːˈhɑːnaʊmoʊku — often simply called Papa — is a goddess and the Earth Mother. She is mentioned in the chants as the consort of the sky god W ...
(
Earth Mother
A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or the ...
),
[Kamakau, Samuel (Hawaiian historian). 1868. ''Ka Nupepa Kuokoa'' (newspaper).] who are the deities of male and female creative energy. Wākea and Papahānaumoku (which means "to adorn the heavens with stars")
created the Hawaiian islands, and then, Hoʻohokukalani was born.
When Hoʻohokukalani grew up, Wākea was enchanted by her beauty, and he had a sexual desire for her, although she was his child. However, he could not sleep with his daughter because he was afraid of Papahānaumoku. He then ordered his
priest to take away Papahānaumoku.
When Papahānaumoku went away with the priest, Wākea and Hoʻohokukalani had sexual relations, and she bore a
stillborn son, called
Hāloa Haloa () is a Hawaiian mythological figure who was born of Hawaiian gods, and is the ancestor of the Hawaiian people. The title of a well-known chant about him and the creation of the Hawaiian Islands is also "Haloa".
Birth of the islands
Papahān ...
. The son was then buried facing the rising sun in the East. From this spot, ''
taro'' sprung.
The plant, which had heart-shaped leaves and was rather large, was named Hāloanakalaukapalili.
This plant was very important for the diet of the Hawaiians. Later, Wākea and Hoʻohokukalani produced another, living child, also called Hāloa, who was the first of the
Native Hawaiian People.
This is where the saying "mamo na Hāloa," or descendant of Hāloa originate from. It is a popular belief throughout the Native Hawaiian people that through their relationship to Hāloa, they are related to the
kalo (or taro) and are thus related to the rest of the world.
Sources
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Hawaiian goddesses