This morning, I was trying to remember my first hi`uwai and couldn`t. Talking to my Mom, we agreed it was most likely on Kaua`i the first time I visited Ke-ahu-a-laka with my kumu, Pulu`elo Park. That was well over twenty years ago! Growing up in hula, we would hi`uwai every year or so and it was usually in preparation for an `uniki or ho`ike. We would always sit and meditate on the beach until the sky lightened and Aunty told us it was time to go in. Once in the ocean, we would hold hands and dunk three times. Then we would swim around and play. Those are some of my favorite memories of Aunty Pulu - in my mind`s eye I can still see her laughing and telling us "it`s not cold! Don`t say it`s cold or it will be...!"The first hi`uwai I did for myself was inspired by a friend. She had mentioned bathing in the ocean then going to fresh water streams to wash off the salt. I went by myself to Hunakai beach in Kahala then hiked to Waiakeakua in Manoa. The most profound cleansing for me was halfway up the waterfall where I swung out with the rope and sat quaking in the water. I felt like everything I needed to release was shaken off and swept away by the water.In December 2001, Aunty Pulu asked me to kokua with a hi`uwai for a group of ladies going through a difficult transition. It was the morning of the solstice, so I talked about how from that longest night, the days would only be filled with increasing light. I took the women into the waves and we got knocked around pretty bad. A piece of coral hit my leg and I started bleeding so I told everyone to release hands and follow me to the calmer place between the waves. We dunked three times and I told myself that when I did my next hi`uwai, I would go somewhere familiar and study the waves before I took anyone in. It seemed like a good idea to choose somewhere we could return to time and again as the years passed by.Our first hi`uwai as a new halau was at Kalama Beach 2 years later. In preparation for a huaka`i to Kaua`i, I wanted to perform at least three or four hi`uwai together as a halau before we went. It worked out beautifully because when we stood together in the water at Ke`e, the experience was awe-inspiring. The moon stood above us in the dawn light and when we went under we did it as one. (On a side note, after we payed our respects to the heiau, a gentle soaking rain passed over us and washed the salt from our bodies. My Mom said, "there`s Aunty Pulu visiting us!")It was around that time that I decided to mark the seasons by performing hi`uwai for every solstice and equinox. I chose Kalama beach because I am from Kailua and the name is meaningful to me. It is an inspiring and grounding thing to track the movement of the sun across the horizon. Over the years, my husband has figured that on the winter solstice, the sun rises on the right side of the right mokulua. The equinox sunrises occur a "shaka and a half"to the north of that point and the summer solstice is another "shaka and a half" away from that. This puts the summer sunrise at the center of Kailua bay from Kalama Beach. It`s amazing to think that from winter to summer, the sun tracks across the horizon a grand total of three shakas!Along the way, we have discovered that each hi`uwai is different in beautiful and profound ways. We`ve learned to gauge the sunrise by the way the sun reflects off the clouds. We`ve learned that it`s easiest to do a "from pitch blackness" hi`uwai at the winter solstice because the sun gets up so late. We`ve learned that it can be just as profound to do a pikai with spring water on the sand when the ocean is polluted from sewage spills. We`ve even branched out and taken huaka`i to the North Shore for the past two autumnal equinoxes to visit Kukaniloko and perform hi`uwai at sunset.Last weekend, we returned to Kalama Beach for the Spring equinox. We were blessed with the mana`o of our friend Andre who has studied Hawaiian cleansing ceremonies. Among many things, he shared that the term hi`uwai has been associated with a nighttime splashing ceremony at the opening of Makahiki and that ocean cleansing done at different times of the year is sometimes referred to as kapu-kai. He also described pikai and other ceremonies done with fresh water. What was common to all was the use of water to physically "wash away" our spiritual pilikia. The need to find avenues of healing is a universal one and regardless of what it is called, it has deep significance to me.
Aloha mai...I hope that you had another awe-aspiring kapu-kai...hi'uwai solstice last week. It is definately a cleansing way to celebrate the solstice. PLEASE let me know when you are back to Kauai.
It's Josh. I'm glad I found all of you again! I can recall my first Hiuwai with the Halau - at Kailua Beach. In fact, at an event in which I was an MC I talked of that experience. Funny how memories align across oceans. I hope everyone is well.
Comments
Aloha mai...I hope that you had another awe-aspiring kapu-kai...hi'uwai solstice last week. It is definately a cleansing way to celebrate the solstice. PLEASE let me know when you are back to Kauai.
Aloha to you and your 'ohana,
Lorilani
It's Josh. I'm glad I found all of you again! I can recall my first Hiuwai with the Halau - at Kailua Beach. In fact, at an event in which I was an MC I talked of that experience. Funny how memories align across oceans. I hope everyone is well.
Love from Seattle,
Josh