Living Hawaiian Rituals: Lua, Ho‘oponopono, and Social Work

Living Hawaiian Rituals: Lua, Ho`oponopono, and Social Work

Richard Kekumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan and Lynette Kahekili Kaopuiki Paglinawan

The rituals in lua (Hawaiian fighting arts) and ho`oponopono (process for setting things right) teach us to respect mana (supernatural power) and to acknowledge, first and foremost, that there are higher powers that hold jurisdiction over us. These cultural perspectives play a powerful role in social work as they emphasize relationships, interconnections, and consequences. Since Hawaiians do not always respond well to Western approaches, we identified several practices associated with lua and ho`oponopono that social workers can use with their clients on their healing journey. On a collective level, we strongly believe much of the positive change we envision for our people will be achieved by learning about and living Hawaiian rituals.

correspondence may be sent to: Lynette Kahekili Kaopuiki Paglinawan, School of Social Work, University of Hawai?i at M?noa 1800 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawai?i 96822

H?lili: Multidisciplinary Research on Hawaiian Well-Being Vol.8 (2012) Copyright ? 2012 by Kamehameha Schools.

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H?lili Vol.8 (2012)

Wehena--Opening the Circle

The phone rang at 7:00 in the morning. The caller from Moloka?i asked if we could help his sister who was experiencing noho `ia, Hawaiian possession. This possession was shown by uncontrollable body movements--twisting of the head, kicking of the feet, and jerking of the hands. We said yes, come over. Fifteen minutes after we hung up they were at the front door. We had very little time to prepare and center ourselves for the rituals. The woman arrived incoherent and somewhat unconscious. Her husband and nephew carried her in from the car by holding her under her arms and the calves of her legs. The moment she was placed on our p?ne`e (couch) all the thrashing began. The ho`oponopono (process for setting things right) that we did was a combination of Hawaiian cultural practices, social work, and Christian rituals. Within 3 hours the woman was back to herself, and she could walk on her own. We explained to her that she had been visited by a deceased relative who had come to give her a message.

Before arriving at our door, the woman had received a powerful dream. In it, she

dreamed that a spiritual entity was coming for her unborn child. Several years

earlier the woman gave birth to a child, who died soon after. Recently, she expe-

rienced a miscarriage, and now she had another fetus growing inside of her. She

was afraid that the dream meant a spirit was coming to take the child away. The

fear put her into a catatonic state. As a mother, she

The ho`oponopono... that we did was

had a much closer connection to the deceased children than the father or the rest of the family had. But she never had a chance to express her feelings of loss--to

a combination of really cry her guts out.

Hawaiian cultural As we began the ho`oponopono, we tapped into her

practices, social work, and Christian rituals.

intense sense of loss, and the floodgates opened. She started to u?, to cry. This lasted for several minutes. Her crying was the racking, choking kind of wailing

sound that comes from deep within. Her mother was

there and her husband was there. They were shocked. They had no idea that she

had kept those feelings of loss of those two children within her all these years.

When they reflected on how they treated her--telling her that she would be okay,

that she was still young and could have more children--they realized that rather

than soothing her, their actions may have caused more harm by repressing the

feelings of loss and any unresolved guilt.

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Paglinawan | LUA, HO`OPONOPONO, AND SOCIAL WORK

Before going further, we had to stop her from thrashing around. We had the bowl

of Hawaiian salt water, and we did a p?kai (sprinkling with salt water to purify) of

her body by placing drops on her head and on her hands. Then we started praying

that any barriers be removed that were preventing this woman from being fully

healed. We also kept talking to her, asking her to say her name to determine if this

was a true Hawaiian experience of noho `ia. If she responded with a name other

than her own we would know that we were dealing with a spirit or entity other than

herself. We had to rely on her mother to confirm

this woman's name. She was brought to us without much background. Fortunately, she was able to give us her name. At first it was a whisper; then it grew in strength. We knew then that this woman was not

Knowledge of the Hawaiian life cycle helped us--the physical

possessed, that her problem was about unresolved grief. We completed the cleansing ritual, and within a few hours she was able to stand up, gather herself,

body through birth, marriage to another,

and use the bathroom.

children, death, and on

But the ho`oponopono was not over. We talked into the spiritual world.

to her about the `uhane (spirits) of the deceased children. We explained that they cannot find rest if she still called and yearned for them. She remembered that she had kept the piko (dried umbilical cord) of the previous child who had been born and lived a few months. Keeping the piko is called m?lama p?`olo, when you keep a bundle of parts of a deceased person. In a way you keep the deceased's spirit from moving on to the spiritual world of P?. This is where knowledge of the Hawaiian life cycle helped us--the physical body through birth, marriage to another, children, death, and on into the spiritual world. We helped her to recognize that she had to deal with the human part. Otherwise, what kind of life would they have in this dimension?

She began to recognize that as long as she hung on to them they could not complete the journey into P?, the realm of the deceased beloved relatives. So perhaps that was what the vision meant. It was time to let the `uhane go. We were concerned about the current child she was carrying and said, "You have another baby inside you. You have to take care of yourself." Since she had not been to the doctor for any prenatal care, we told her the vision is right. "You have not paid attention to your body, and it needs to be strong in order for you to carry this baby to full term. Your doctor is the one who can tell you what your body needs. And you won't know this unless you go for a checkup." That was the social work aspect. So it was the

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H?lili Vol.8 (2012)

integration of Christian prayer, Hawaiian knowledge and skills, and social work that unlocked the grieving process that all humans go through, and helped the woman find peace.

Part of what we do in the school of social work is to begin to talk about cultural

trauma and historical trauma--the inequities that have happened to Hawaiians

throughout time--and their impact as a series of intergenerational traumas today.

Social work has to do with helping Hawaiians of today. How do we help Hawaiians

when we find that they often don't respond well to Western practices? We go back

to traditional practices and culture, which we feel are a more natural doorway for

them. So we've targeted different healing practices that social workers can use

when they work with clients. One especially effective practice

One of our tasks has been

is ho`oponopono, a process of prayer, self-scrutiny, insightful confession, repentance, mutual restitution, and forgiveness between involved parties in consort with the powers they

to train the next generation.

believe in. The ho?oponopono process addresses several levels at once: the cognitive level, which is about information gathering, the level of interpersonal relationships. Then we

go to a deeper level of the person to get at underlying issues

that often prevent people from fully moving on. That's where the kaona resides,

the hidden meaning that references patterns of thought and behavior.

The example of noho `ia we shared earlier provides perspective by illustrating how things from the old days might still be happening today. However, many Hawaiians are left without the appropriate measures to deal with seemingly strange Hawaiian happenings. The cultural committee of the Queen Lili?uokalani Children Center's purpose was to rediscover Hawaiian mental health practices of the ancestors that have relevance for today's Hawaiian familial relationship issues. Dr. E. W. Haertig would say that for a lot of Hawaiians the problems persist because the remedy is not available. If Hawaiians have these problems, these symptoms, what do you do about it? Even if they know they need a cultural practitioner to help them, who can they turn to? The knowledge of these practices is limited, fragmented, or even lost. Even in ho`oponopono, there aren't enough practitioners; so one of our tasks has been to train the next generation. Just like in lua (Hawaiian fighting arts), you have to train students for service toward future generations. It is important to find people who are committed and who will be able to carry and pass the knowledge on. If not, then our traditions will not be perpetuated. The knowledge will die off or become something that's kept only in a book.

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Paglinawan | LUA, HO`OPONOPONO, AND SOCIAL WORK

Richard Kekumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan

I grew up in Wai?hole, a country hick. I come from a family with six siblings and plenty more cousins. My t?t? man, my maternal grandfather, had special gifts, but unfortunately he died when I was in the fourth grade. I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with him. But my mama carried on the traditions. He was a pale keiki, a midwife, and a healer. My mama was the one my t?t? man relied heavily on as he was partially blind, and she became a midwife too. She learned other healing practices from him like `?p?huli ("turned stomach") and p?kai. She would share these rituals with me, but I never realized how important they were until later in life. My mama was a very strong person. If anybody would call for help, she'd be there. And a lot of the time she'd take me. So I learned the power of Hawaiian rituals from her. And from that perspective I was never afraid of spooks or strange cultural happenings.

The family was raised to gather our own food. So we'd do hukilau and lay net (moemoe). We didn't realize how we lived was different from other people. At that time, we didn't have electricity. My job was to do the kukui hele p?--to clean the glass, to cut the wicks, and to fill up the kerosene lamps. We got our drinking water from the upper part of the `auwai (ditch) and bathed in the lower part. It wasn't until the 1950s that the County brought the water pipeline to Wai?hole School. I went to Wai?hole Elementary and Intermediate. Then I went to McKinley High by accident. My cousin, who I was very close with, told me to use her family's address in Liliha so I could go to school with her at Farrington. But that year the boundaries were redrawn and I ended up at McKinley. But I don't regret it. In hindsight, I'm glad I went because McKinley helped me to get the skills I needed to succeed in later life. My dad worked at Pearl Harbor for 35 years and I wanted to become a machinist like him. I adored my dad. But at McKinley I was given the college entrance exam and much to my surprise, I passed. That was it. I had to go to university. According to my extended ?ohana (family), I'd be the first one to attend university.

I first studied in the Department of Agriculture but later I took a psychological test that said I was better suited for sociology. That's where I met Lynette. My grades were mediocre until I met her and settled down and started applying myself. Still I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in life. It was only when graduation was getting near that my advisor channeled me toward social work. So after my training I went to work at the Salvation Army Children's Facilities under Myron "Pinky" Thompson. The next year I worked for the Lili?uokalani Trust Child Welfare Department which later became the Queen Lili`uokalani Children's Center (QLCC).

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