Prayer was an essential part of Hawaiian life...
employed when building a house, making a canoe, and giving lomilomi massage.
Hawaiians addressed prayers to various gods depending on the situation. When healers picked herbs for medicine, they usually prayed to Kū and Hina, male and female, right and left, upright and supine. The people worshiped Lono during Makahiki season and Kū during times of war.
Histories from the 19th century describe prayer throughout the day, with specific prayers associated with mundane activities such as sleeping, eating, drinking, and traveling. However, it has been suggested that the activity of prayer differed from the subservient styles of prayer often seen in the Western world:
-
The usual posture for prayer...
sitting upright, head high and eyes open...
suggests a relationship marked by respect and self-respect.
The gods might be awesome, but the ʻaumākua bridged the gap between gods and man. The gods possessed great mana. But man, too, has some mana. None of this may have been true in the time of Pāʻao, but otherwise, the Hawaiian did not seem prostrate before his gods.
-
Heiau [temples], served as focal points for prayer in Hawaiʻi.
Offerings, sacrifices, and prayers were offered at these temples, the thousands of koʻa (shrines), a multitude of wahi pana (sacred places), and at small kuahu (altars) in individual homes.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten