Highlights
Designed by DianaHansenYoung
Vintage
Digital download
Digital file type(s): 1 JPG
Width: 10 inches
Height: 8 inches
 
About this item
The story of Pele, creating the islands out of the sea with fire and rock, goes back to ancient times, and has been handed down in chant and song. The modern stories of the volcano goddess Pele have always fascinated me. She is the old woman in white on the Pali Highway, in need of assistance, or asking for a ride. She has been seen hovering above Kilauea and is as real as the islands themselves, part of the sacred aina. She represents the fire, beauty, and purpose of Hawaiian women; indeed, women everywhere.

Once, forty years ago, driving up the Old Pali Road, I slowed to inhale the gingers by the roadside, and to this day, I swear I saw a white form, hovering back in the trees. I don't believe in ghosts - but I cannot get that image out of my mind.

This digital download Is sized at 11" x 14" but you can change the size up to about 16" x 20", maybe more, without losing detail.

Ha‘ina ‘ia mai ka puana ‘eā
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawaiʻi ‘eā
Ha‘ina hou mai ka puana ‘eā
No Hi‘iaka nō he inoa ‘eā
‘Owaka i ka lani, nokenoke
Ē Pele ē Pele ē.

This is the end of my song
Pele is in Hawai‘i
Tell again the refrain
In honor of Hi‘iaka
Flashing in the heavens, on and on
O Pele, Pele