Kahuna of Light: The World of Hawaiian Spirituality

A passionate call for a return to tradition from a native Hawaiian. * An authentic portrait of an endangered spiritual tradition. * Written by a descendant of the ancient Hawaiian priesthood line.

Raised in the remote Waimea Valley of Kauai in the 1950s and 1960s, Moke Kupihea was witness to a spiritual tradition about to be forever changed by Hawaiian statehood and the ensuing influx of non-natives from the mainland United States. Rejecting this new culture, with its emphasis on materialism and its lack of respect for the past, Kupihea turned more and more to the old Hawaii, the world of ancestral voices. He sought out the older men of the mountains and learned traditional Hawaiian hunting and herbalism. Most important, he learned the life stories of this vanishing breed. Over time, he came to understand that the world of ancestral voices still spoke, however faintly, and that learning how to hear these voices was the key for returning Hawaii to its proud spiritual past.

Kahunas of Light is Moke Kupihea's clarion call for such a return. In hauntingly evocative prose, Kupihea weaves his own story with the teachings of his ancestors and guides, delivering the most authentic picture yet of a culture deeply rooted in the ancient realities of myth, landscape, and family. His unique voice speaks for all indigenous peoples under siege.

Get an old-timer going, and stories of the past will come tumbling out for hours on end. These are really the stories of our past in that they tie us to our tradition. In Kahunas of Light: The World of Hawaiian Spirituality Moke Kupihea tells stories like an old-timer but with more polish. The stories of his past are the stories of his spirituality--of his ancestors on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, of his deep relationship with the land, and of the kahunas of his youth who shared their wisdom. Stories are the way Kupihea reconstructs the crumbling edifice of Hawaiian religiousness, linking generations through the ancient notion of the aumakua, or ancestral spirit. Although plodding at times, and often lacking a vigorous narrative movement, Kupihea reveals the meaningful days of his youth spent exploring cliff-side caves, rowing canoes in secluded streams, and coming face to face with the luminous spirit guides. He says that we can reclaim our past and our spirit--and shares how he has done just that. --Brian Bruya