The Seven Dawns of the Aumakua: The Ancestral Spirit Tradition of Hawaii

by Moke Kupihea

An extensive examination of Hawaiian spiritual tradition and its emphasis on ancestral spirits by a descendant of an ancient lineage of Hawaiian priests * Describes the time-honored intergenerational bond between a people and a land that embodies the heart of indigenous spirituality * A powerful and authentic portrait of a culture on the cusp of extinction In Hawaiian spiritual tradition, the sacred bond formed between the land and its people is perpetuated...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892811447
• ISBN13: 9780892811441
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Inner Traditions International
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful insight into Hawaiian spirituality

Moke Kupihea is a Native Hawaiian who grew up on the island of Kaua'i at a time when it still truly was the Garden Island. His stories of his childhood and young adulthood spent with kupuna (elders) is fascinating. He was fortunate to know several who passed on their wisdom to him. Anyone who has spent anytime on Kaua'i will love his descriptions of the aina, the land. He describes in vivid detail his treks through Waimea and beyond. His narratives of his long journeys help us to begin to understand that the way Hawaiians think about land and spirituality is fundamentally different than the way they are thought of in Western civilization. His spirituality springs from a closeness to the land that few of us can ever hope to have. The land is almost literally his mother, his nurturer, his guardian. He describes mystical experiences that even in the re-telling give the reader chicken skin. As the editor of Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: Traditions of Hawaiian Massage and Healing, I was blessed to receive permission from Moke to quote from this book a delightful description of the making of Hawaiian salt. This book is a must for anyone interested in Hawaiian spirituality from a Native Hawaiian perspective.