Tag Archives: Hawaii

Permalink to Farewell to Hawaii

Farewell to Hawaii

by Wahkeena Sitka|on May 16, 2010 |in Earth Based Spirituality, Healing, Self Knowledge |tagged , , , , , , , , , |5 Comments

Mermaid Dream Time - Painting by Francene HartToday I left the Big Island and spent the day in airports and on planes, flying back to Portland, Oregon. I sit here now, back in Portland, the city of Roses… Immediately I notice a lack of natural sounds in the atmosphere; the wind rustling, coqui frogs, the rustling of leaves and branches, the pitter patter of a drizzle… I miss the Coqui frogs like mad. I notice a lack of twinkling stars in the sky; they are lost here by the grey clouds blanketing the city. I wonder, where is the nearest beach? How do I get back to the magic?

It’s official, my heart has fallen madly in love with Hawaii. Like falling madly in love with a lover or beloved, only this time it’s with the way my entire being and body feels, when in the sunshine, on the sand, in the water, absorbing the steam from the steam vents. I am in love with Hawaii the way one feels when they have finally found home after a lifetime of searching and waiting for that feeling of home.

Not only will I return, but it is very likely that I will be cultivating and gathering all the necessary sundry check-list items in my life so that I can return to move there and settle down for…. indefinitely. I see myself moving there within the next few year. Not 100% sure it will be the Big Island; want to check out Maui and Kauai before I make a final decision. But I feel certain that Hawaii is my home, and I feel it in the cells of my body.

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Permalink to Aina and the Mana

Aina and the Mana

by Wahkeena Sitka|on April 14, 2010 |in Earth Based Spirituality, Life Force Energy, Self Knowledge |tagged , , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

Let me preface this first by saying: I’m not a native Hawaiian. I have not been studying Hawaiian spirituality for a long time. I have only been introduced to the words and concepts of Hawaiian spirituality recently. I’m a white chick from the mainland United States. I mean absolutely no disrespect, and my understanding presented here is primarily intuitive. I have been introduced to these words and concepts recently through others; through conversations with friends who have lived in Hawaii for a while, through books and online sources.

Last year I met up with Dreaming Bear, and we went for a journey out to the Applegate River area in Southern Oregon for an afternoon spent by the river. There he told me about the word ‘Aina’. He explained to me that ‘Aina’ is the Hawaiian word for the Land, and for the spirit of the Land and Nature. It was so lovely to finally have a word for something that I’ve always felt, but never had a name for in our American linguistics. I love the word Aina, as it gives a name for the energy of the land, and by giving it a name – it is as though consciousness is breathed into it. I spent that afternoon by the river, meditating upon boulders, bathing in the cold, clear waters and contemplating the nature of Aina; the great web of life interconnecting reality in what we know as ecosystems, small and large.

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