Pele Mask

PELE


I am Pele Honua Mea
Ka wahine ‘ai honua,
the woman who devours the land.

Feel the heat where steam dances
above the earthcracks  at Wahine Kapu,
between the rope folds of pahoehoe lava.

See the play of sunlight
on My ebony skin
a shimmering rainbow of color.

I am She Who shapes the sacred land.

I erupted in the ocean long ago!
In ecstasy I spewed my lava into the sea
in clouds of red, and black and white
I built the islands called Hawaii.

Honor me and my sacred mountain, Kilauea!
Take not one small rock from my body!
Honor  me or feel my wrath!

E nihi ka hele, walk softly!

You call me capricious, violent.
But my fires are the deep fires of Creation
Shaping  new lands:
Deep in the sea
I stir the great waters
I stir the air

Rising from the core of the Earth -
I, Pele Honua Mea
stir the cauldron of life!

Use My energy in correct action
Use My passion for righteous change
begin again in new and fertile ground!

Ignite!  Be transformed

at this time of the great change!
Arise and dance with me!

                    .......Mary Kay Landon

Making masks for the Parliament of World Religions performance, here at last is Pele, the Great Goddess who is the Spirit of Kilauea, the volcano of Hawaii. 

Pele has many native stories, and many contemporary stories of Her peculiar, as well as fiery,  manifestations as well.......

My feeling in making this mask was that She is one of the great Elemental builders of the planet, those great intelligent forces that bring forth the molten source of new lands and new life from the heart of the Earth.

I look forward to seeing the mask performed!

Pele

Here is a story dedicated to Pele, the Goddess of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.   It was written by a woman who is part Hawaiian, and once or twice was  performed by a fire dancer. Pele is a truly a Spirit of Placer, a  numinous force many feel they encountered  when they visited the great volcano.  She has many native stories, but in telling her story among contemporary people, what arose was that She was one of the  one of the great elemental builders of our planet, the very fires at the heart of the world that  create new land.

I am Pele Honua Mea!

Pele of the Sacred Earth.
I come from the fiery heart of the Earth.
I am creation,
I am molten fire!

I erupted into the ocean
many, many years ago.
I spewed  lava 
in pure ecstasy into the sea,
In ecstasy, I rose in  clouds
of red and black,
and the mountains
rose with me from the ocean floor
the islands you call Hawaii.

I gave these green and beautiful Lands.
Honor my sacred mountain, Kilauea!
Take not one small rock from my body!
Do not violate me!

Or feel my wrath!

You call me capricious,
unable to see that my fires
are the fires of Creation
shaping new lands.
Deep in the sea I stir the waters, 
I stir the air.  I stir the fires 
of newborn  life
as I rise from the core of the Earth.


Begin again
in new and fertile ground!
Be remade 
in this time of the great change!