The Hawaiian way according to my Dad

Avatar for hulagirl_leilani
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Registered: 03-31-2003
The Hawaiian way according to my Dad
9
Thu, 05-01-2003 - 7:45pm
The board is slow now so I thought I would use up some of it's memory to talk story to you girls... ha ha ha...

Okay according to my Dad you have to take your shoes off before ya walk into a house out of respect for the homeowners by not bringing the bad spirits into their house via your shoes. Now I always thought that was kind of neat because that showed me my ancesters had some brains. Way back in the 1800's the white man first step foot on Hawaiian soil. And when they did they brought diseases into the environment that the Hawaiians were not immune to... so a lot of Hawaiians died from the common cold etc... way back when. Now the Hawaiians knew they were not sick until the white man came and let them into their huts. So according to my Dad that is how the custom came to be where by you take your shoes off before you walked into some one's house so you wouldn't make the home owners sick. Pretty cool ha.... Well it cool unless you have 50 or more people coming into your house like I did at Christmas time. You can imagine the chaos that created... and I loved it.... William demanded every one take their shoes off because I was feeling great and he did not want the out side bad spirits to get a hold of my little butt again... ha ha ha... That was so neat of him to do... because he use to think the Hawaiian way was nutty now he can see the reasoning behind our customs.

Okay ya want to hear another story told to me by my Dad... yeah? According to my Dad the Hula dancing is like sign language to the deaf. Every island according to dear ole Dad had their own language. Therefore inorder to communicate with other islanders they had to do sign language. Okay now the best way to get a man's attention is by showing them a woman. So they started making their women do sign language using their bodies to express what they wanted or needed to trade with them... Boy that makes perfect sense to me ... ha ha ha... So girls you learned some thing new today and that is Hula Dancing is just a form of Hawaiian sign language they use to communicate with each other between the islands... ha ha ha....

I have another one for you that my Dad told me when I was younger. On New Years, on your Birthday, and on anniversaries your suppose to clean out your house. Want to know why? sure ya do... Before New Years you clean out your house to get rid of the negative energy that has accumulated in it over the past year. This is suppose to help your entire family start fresh in the new year with positive energy. Before your Birthday comes your suppose to clean up your individual environment so you as a spiritual being could start a new with a fresh clean slate in life leaving last years sins behind. My Dad says that cleaning your house just before your birthday is like an individual rebirth. Before your wedding anniversary your suppose to clean the house to get rid of all the bad carma or feelings you might have between you and by doing so it gives you as a couple a clean start in life...

Don't ya just love the Hawaiian way according to my Dad? My point is this girls who knows if any of these stories are true or if any of these rituals do ya any good. But ya got to admit in a spiritual way these stories do make sense, and they give you hope for the future, and these stories do bring some sunshine in your life and makes you laugh. I think if the outcome of any event brings a smile on peoples face and makes them laugh who cares if the story is true or not... as long as it is not hurting any one in the process...

What do you girls think about customs, stories, and rituals?

Me I am glad to be Hawaiian and have these weird ideas, and customs because they make me feel more connected to life in some strange way by doing them... I know I am weird...


May warm tropical breezes warm your hearts and may your foot prints in the sand always leave happy tracks...

Aloha oye!

Hula Girl

Aloha,

Lei

 

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Registered: 11-12-1998
Thu, 05-01-2003 - 10:57pm
They make perfect sense to me, Lei! I love the imagery of your Dad's stories, too. I like the idea of cleaning out the house of bad kharma/spirits in order to start over new. What better times than New Year's or your birthday? Like I said...makes sense.

--Red

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 05-01-2003 - 11:48pm
I love "talk story" time with older relatives. We also keep

the "no shoes" custom, as the weather here is warm enough.

Have a great evening...

aloha,

cindy

p.s. I was just at the store and was reading da kine Hawaiian

kine greeting cards. One of them was called "The typical

local-style card". when you open it up, it says "Whatevahs!" lol.


~*~ Aloha to all .... ~*~

Avatar for hulagirl_leilani
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Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 12:27am
So you like the Hawaiian way too ha? I thought from time to time I would share some good Hawaiian stories with you girls. Now ya know where I got my story telling ability from.... ha ha ha... I am not as good as my Dad yet but give me a few years ha ha ha...

Good night dear Buddy,

Aloha,

Hula Girl

Aloha,

Lei

 

Avatar for hulagirl_leilani
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Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 12:40am
When William met my relatives for the first time I had to warn him to not laugh no matter how bizzarre the story is because that would be considered an insult by my family members. I was proud of William he hung in there and never laughed... he is pretty cool when it comes to respecting my hawaiian ways. Now he did have a hard time when my Dad started dishing out food for each person with out asking any one what they wanted. You know what I mean Cindy? I told William that he had to eat all the food my Dad put on his plate or my family would think he doesn't like their cooking and we will never be invited over again for a meal. Well his plate was piled so high that I did not think William was going to finish it all but he did. And when he did dear ole Dad who was giving him "stink eyes" all night went up to him and gave him a pat on the back. ha ha ha... so after that William was offically part of our clan... ha ha ha...

Aloha,

Hula Girl

Aloha,

Lei

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 1:21am
Leilani I think your customs are good. Just because we all don't do things the same way doesn't mean one way is better than another. Just means we are all different.

Hugs

Mary

                          &n
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 1:38am
Lei, my Tutus and Aunties act like your dad. When get

party, they tell Greg...I make da plate for you, Jr....

and whoa! Plenty!! lol.

Other times, its "You not leaving my house without

eating first!", even if we are just stopping by

fo drop off something.

aloha,

Cindy

p.s. baby birthday luau coming up on Saturday...and

we plan to eat!! Baby's name is Chloe Paige Kahanui.


~*~ Aloha to all .... ~*~

Avatar for hulagirl_leilani
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Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 2:28am
..........Duh!............

Aloha,

Lei

 

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Registered: 04-19-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 10:16am
g/morning hulagirl..



just reading about hawaii takes me there....i have so much

love for hawaii and envy u living there...my dream has always been to

own a home on the beachfront there... gee.. if i win the lottery maybe,

but i can dream cant i?? haha.. my home is decorated with many memories of

hawaii.. and i collect dolphins.. oceans scenes etc...i also have 3 tatoos

that i got every time i went to hawaii to visit my daughter when she lived

there...tatoo of a dolphin.. one of moon and star.. and a red heart sinking

into the ocean waves.. they all have hawaiian phrases written under each

one.. (i have a hawaiian book that explains what it means in english) any

way i wanted to share my thoughts with u on hawaii.. love oahu,, and maui,,

and the road to hana> such beauty.. i miss it all... thanks for sharing

your thoughts...

have a great weekend..

libby
Avatar for hulagirl_leilani
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Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 05-02-2003 - 2:15pm
I am glad you enjoy my writings about Hawaii. I think all cultures/rituals grounds us to the earth and one is not better then any other. It's fun for me to share my culture with you girls just because.. Libby I live in southern California and have taken Hawaii home with me...ha ha ha... Every thing in my house and yard has a Hawaiian theme to it. So I guess you can say my home is a home away from home... ha ha ha..

I am impressed that you have 3 tattos chick... that's great and the fact they are Hawaiian make them extra special to me.. I hate needles so I don't have any...

How you doing Libby I am following your quest for happiness in hopes it turns out better then you ever thought it could be... I am rooting for ya Chick!!

Mahalo for your kind words,

Hula Girl

Aloha,

Lei