Aloha

I knew when I arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii 9 years ago that I wanted to share the spirit of Aloha. I even wrote it in a journal not really knowing what it meant. The island held so many memories for me and magical smells of plumeria and yet seemed to operate in an unfamiliar way. Today, I am still a student of this magical word that has so many meanings.

Quite simply, Aloha can be used as a greeting to say ʻHelloʻ and ʻGoodbyeʻ though to native Hawaiians and others it is more than just a word, it is a way of life. ʻAloʻ means in the presence of and ʻHāʻ means the breath of life.

I am greeting you as the breath of life, I recognise the sacred and divine within you.

Though the word is short, so much is conveyed and felt.

To Auntie Kela, a Hawaiian elder, Aloha is being who you are and sharing what you know. What a beautiful desrciption.

Another meaning of ʻHāʻ is the number four which is a sacred number representing the creative forces of the universe and the foundations of life.

Aloha asks us to recognise and accept the divine spark that is within all of us. At times we are too good at finding faults rather than the blessings in others and ourselves. Aloha requires us to forgive and drop all judgements about how things should be: to hold the polarity of acceptance and transmute the differences. Zac Bush MD calls this ʻHuman medicineʻ for this epoch and sees it as driving the change we want to see in the world. We are to forgive and transmute everything that is not held in the spirit of creation into the speed of light.

To the Hawaiians ʻAlohaʻ embodies deeply held beliefs about community, peace and the sacredness of all relationships. It embraces compassion, kindness, love, humility, patience and unity. When we approach every encounter, person or animal with the spirit of aloha the world will be a different place. We would know from the depth of our being that all are important for collective living and cooperation on planet earth.

Such is the significance of Aloha that a law was passed in 1986, spearheaded by Maui elder and linguist Pilahi Paki’s, to preserve this Hawaiian legacy as an acronym.

Akahai, meaning kindness, to be expressed with tenderness

Lōkahi, meaning unity to be expressed with harmony

ʻOlu ʻolu, meaning agreeable to be expressed with pleasantness

Haʻahaʻa meaning humility to be expressed with modesty

Ahonui meaning patience to be expressed with perseverance.

I humbly thank the Islands of Hawaii and their people for continuing to embody ʻAlohaʻ for this important time of the re-membering of our collective humanity and to all my teachers who have shared this spirit with me.

Further Hawaiian teachings and values Lōkahi blog.

Kilo Kilo: paying attention to signs.

I went out for a walk halfway through this article. I saw a field mouse. It was motionless by the side of the lane but I could see the abdomen rising and falling. I moved it into some bushes and hoped it would revive. I always take note of synchronistic encounters! I know that one of the power medicines of the mouse is its ability to focus on only what is in close and in front of it. Even though it is small and has many predators by focusing on these smaller details it is able to stay safe without worrying about what is further away. I will adopt the ʻmouseʻ perspective when my attention wanders and I begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed.