Kahunas of Hawaii: Healers, Mystics & Master Craft Peoples

By Zach Royer

Please cast aside any notions you may have from Hollywood movies or TV of what the term Kahuna represented in the past, and still represents today. They were not witch doctors, but some were ( and possibly are ) practitioners of dark arts.

The word Kahuna is derived from Kahu, which means caretaker. Also, huna means secret; so together, a Kahuna was the keeper or caretaker of secret or sacred knowledge. In other words, a Kahuna was a professional expert of a given field of knowledge and practice. They were much like the guild masters of Medieval Europe, or indeed the Freemasons, in that their expertise was kept away from the prying eyes of the general public, and thus was kept secret.

Beyond being the leading practitioner of his or her craft or profession, each also acted as the interface between his “guild” so to speak, and its Patron and or Matron Spirits. Prayers and offerings were regularly made to the Spirit or Spirits in order to solicit Mana. This would include asking for special powers or energies, and solutions to problems of a technical or spiritual nature.

The Kahuna nui advised his Ali’i on spiritual matters, and conducted rituals in order to invoke spiritual help and guidance. The Luakini was the principle Heiau, and thereby the largest and most elaborate, where these rituals would usually be performed.

The Luakini Heiau were the Heiau of the Ali’i and were dedicated to Ku as the patron Spirit of politics and warfare. Food offerings were presented at the Luakini for Ku on a regular basis, because it was believed that if a spirit was not fed on a regular basis, he or she would drift away. When it was deemed necessary, the gift of a man was offered to Ku. An enemy slain in battle, or a convict or slave were the most common of these rare gifts. Only a healthy man was ever offered, not a woman, child, deformed man, or one of old age.

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The following are some of the classes of Kahuna as practised in pre-contact Hawaii:

Kahuna po’o or Kahuna nui - High priest

Kahuna kaula - Prophet

Kahuna wehe wehe - Dream interpreter

Kahuna Kilo kilo - Reader of skies and omens

Kahuna a’o - Teacher of sorcery

Kahuna ‘ana ‘ana - Users of black magic

Kahuna kuehu - One who drove off evil spirits

Kahuna ninau ‘uhane - One who speaks to spirits

Kahuna ‘ea - One who could raise the dead

Kahuna hanau keiki - Midwife

Kahuna kauka ha’iha’i iwi - Bone setter

Kahuna lomi lomi - Massage expert

Kahuna la’au lapa’au - Herb doctor

Kahuna niho - Dentist

Kahuna haha - Diagnoses illness by feeling the body

Kahuna pa’ao’ao - Diagnoses chidren illness by using hands

Kahuna la’au kahea - Faith healing

Kahuna kaukaukalolo - Tattoo expert

Kahuna ho’o o ulu’ai - Agriculture expert

Kahuna imu - Cooking expert

Kahuna kalai - Carving expert

Kahuna kalai ki’i - Sculptor

Kahuna kalai wa’a - Canoe maker

Kahuna hale kukulu - House builder

Kahuna kumu hula - Leader of a hula halau ( hula group )

Kahuna haku mele ula - Makers of chants and music

Kahuna ho’okele - Navigator

Kahuna kela moku - Expert seaman

Kahuna ‘upena hana - Expert fishnet maker

Kahuna lawai’a kolau - Expert at catching fish with a net

Kahuna wanana ikeauokamanawa - Reader of weather signs

Kahuna lawai’amanu - Expert bird catcher

Kahuna ka’a kaua - War strategist

Kahuna papa po’o - Leader of the warriors

Kahuna lawelawe iwi - Cares for the bones of the dead

Kahuna kukei’i wana’ao - Expert story teller

Kahuna hui - Led functions and ceremonies for Ali’i

In fact, there were 40 kinds of craft making Kahuna alone! The power and social position of the Kahuna, at least those involved in religious practices, largely ended when the Kingdom Of Hawaii officially abandoned the ancient religion in 1819. This was done under the reign of Liholiho ( Kamehameha II ) under pressure from his key advisors, including his Kahuna nui.

The reasoning behind this seems to have been one of the results of contact with the Europeans, starting with Captain James Cook in 1778. The Hawaiians did not look upon the Europeans as being superior beings, but as a people who had been blessed with fascinating materials and technology. It was contact with these first European “visitors” that resulted in the rapid drop in the population of the Hawaiian people due to introduced diseases such as smallpox, measles, Hansen’s disease, whooping cough, influenza and gonorrhoea. Some sources estimate that the Hawaiian population was 300,000 when Cook arrived in 1778; by 1853 their number was 71,019. It is possible that some the Hawaiians, including some of the Kahuna healers, saw the Europeans’ God as more powerful than their own Akua ( High God, also known as Io, ) because the Europeans did not suffer as much from these diseases.


THE KAHUNAS OF OLD HAWAII KNEW THE SECRET TO UNLOCKING THE POWERS OF YOUR BODY, MIND, & SPIRIT

"Kahuna", like most Hawaiian words, has many meanings. Among the most sacred of its meanings is, "Keeper of The Secret".

The "secret" of the Kahunas of Hawaii is the key to POWER. Power to walk on red hot lava. Power to fuse broken bones instantly. Power to heal ailments of the mind, the body, and the soul. Power to make "magic" and power to create "miracles". Power documented by western scientists. Power so feared by the missionaries who witnessed it they taught the people of Hawaii the Kahunas were sinful and their power evil. An ignorance that robbed the Kahunas of much of their power to help their people.

Which is as it should be.

Why?

Because as long as humans believe power exists not in themselves but in others, humans will be controlled and enslaved by others.

Because the power to control and enslave others ultimately corrupts all who use it.

Because when power corrupts, all suffer - including earth itself.

The "secret" of the Kahunas is that they knew about the subconscious - which they called the "low self" - and the role it plays in all feats of power. A "secret" they knew hundreds of years before psychology even guessed at the existence of the subconscious. A "secret" they kept hidden so that they might use this knowledge for "good" and in some cases "evil". A "secret" many of the Kahunas of today - as well as most "healers", even those that work with the subconscious - do not fully comprehend.

• The Kahunas of "old" Hawaii knew, for example, that it is the subconscious that heals the physical being - which they called the "middle self" - and without the cooperation of the subconscious healing cannot occur. They had many ways of gaining the cooperation of the subconscious - including much of what is used in "modern" healing today. If a guilt complex, for instance, was present, the sick or injured person would have to make amends before the Kahuna could convince the subconscious to heal the body. The Kahunas also taught the people from birth onward to believe that certain medicines, plants, foods, drinks, objects, massages and other rituals held special "powers". The Kahunas knew this was not so - that the "power" was in convincing the subconscious it was so. A cunning and extremely effective way of tricking the subconscious into cooperating by thinking it had no power to resist.
• Tricking the subconscious is still used by many "healers", "therapists", and "motivational experts" today and is often employed in much of stage hypnosis. Such a practice ignores what the Kahunas of old Hawaii knew well: When the subconscious figures out it has been tricked, it can never be tricked in that same way again, nor are gains achieved by tricking, manipulating or coercing the subconscious likely to be permanent.
• The Kahunas called all acts of power gained through the subconscious alone "low magic", but knew certain feats - those they called "high magic", but what we would today call "miracles" - required a power higher than that of the subconscious. The Kahunas believed there was a higher power so far beyond the understanding of any human that "intermediaries" between that power and humans were necessary. They called these intermediaries the "high self" and believed prayers to the higher power passed to the "high self" which then sent the spiritual energy of the higher power to the "low self" for manifesting the prayer. Kahuna descriptions of the "high self" match what some today call the superconscious, others call the higher self or over-soul, and still others call spirit guides or guardian angels.
• The Kahunas knew the subconscious could block the spiritual energy sent to answer their prayers so knew even "high magic" required the cooperation of the subconscious.

The Kahunas knew a great deal about the subconscious, but there was much they did not know. They thought of the subconscious as spirit, which is correct, but it is mind as well.

There is a great deal yet to discover about the subconscious, but there is also a great deal known about it today by those who work directly with it

Still, precious few realize as profoundly as did the old Kahunas that the subconscious is the greatest ally or the greatest foe in achieving health, wealth, and everything else one desires.

Understanding of the subconscious - what it is and how it works and why it has such power - is important to gaining its cooperation without the use of tricks, manipulation, or coercion.


TEN IMPORTANT POINTS FOR INCREASING UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS

1. Spirit is the unseen essence of all that is. Like many rivers that flow from one source all spirit flows from one source and has been given by The Source creator energy and will.
2. Spirit created out the mind out of its own essence and used the mind to divide itself into MANY levels of spirit of MANY kinds and types of spirits.
3. Spirit divided the mind into many levels as well and designated the subconscious level of the mind to the carrying out of the will of spirit.
4. When spirit embodies in physical form its energy fields, including the energy fields of the mind, surround and interpenetrate that form.
5. Even before conception of the physical body, spirit "programs" its subconscious to carry out its will while in the body as well as to direct and control the processes of the body and its brain. This "programming" continues throughout the life time and "new programming" can conflict with "old programming".
6. When there is a conflict in "programming", the subconscious will carry out the "program" with the greatest energy attached to it. However, the earlier the "program" the more energy the subconscious gives to protecting it, which adds to the energy of "programs" created in response to early childhood experiences.
7. The subconscious records events as memory and stores this memory both in the energy fields of the mind outside of the body and in the "hardware" of the body and the brain. Thoughts and emotions connected with the "memory" are stored with the memory and are available for activation, if desirable, when the memory is activated.
8. The subconscious is the greatest "multi-task master" of all and directs, as well as controls, the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energies of the body, the brain, and the embodied spirit..
9. To change a "program" protected by the subconscious, it is usually necessary to go into the subconscious and convince it to change that "program". Often, this is only possible by addressing the level of spirit that created a "program" and convincing it of the importance of the desired change.
10. The quickest and often the only way to permanently change a subconscious program is through hypnosis - which allows access to the levels of spirit that created the "program" as well as the subconscious that protects it.

Max Freedom Long Live Hawaii

Many people mistakenly think Huna was the religion in Hawaii or the "teachings of the Ancient Hawaiian people," but Huna actually refers to the Metaphysical Theory developed by Max Freedom Long, along with a number of respected Kahunas, which was primarily based on the Ancient Hawaiian Psychological, Religious, and Philosophical traditions of the Kahuna.

Huna does not refer to any specific practice ... like Hoomana, Hooponopono, Hula, Chanting, or Lomi Lomi ... but instead refers to the underlying assumptions upon which these individual Hawaiian practices are based.

In fact, over 2600 separate Hawaiian systems have been discovered and researched. And, even though they differ from island to island, from village to village, from clan to clan, from family to family, and from individual to individual, there are certain key principles upon which they do agree.

It is these most fundamental and universal principles, upon which all traditional Hawaiian Healing methodologies are based, that comprise Huna.

Huna may be called a philosophy or a system of psychology because it contains elements of philosophy, science, and religion.

During the last century investigations were made into native magic in Africa, India and other parts of the world. Spiritualistic phenomena have been certified as genuine and studied by recognized scientists. Spiritual and psychic phenomena have been generally verified and are gaining wider acceptance in the Western World.

But there was never any definite basic system, philosophy, theory, or psychological-religious science which would explain, even in the most general terms, the phenomena of the various fields until the publication of Recovering the Ancient Magic by Max Freedom Long.

He gave this general theory the name Huna.

Around 1880, in Hawaii, an investigation began which, after seventy years of research, produced a general theory that promises to provide answers for a host of puzzling questions.

This investigation was begun by Dr. William Tufts Brigham, long-time curator of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

In Hawaii there were, up to about 1900, many Kahunas, or native priests, who, although outlawed, worked among their fellow Hawaiians as healers or practitioners of the dreaded "death prayers." Some fire-walked over lava flows, a few demonstrated instant healing, and the young Dr. Brigham was fortunate enough to observe and study a case in which a boy, dead from drowning for sixteen hours, was brought back to life through a use of "native magic. "

Dr. Brigham came to the conclusion that, behind these and similar activities, there must be a single basic scientific system which explained all such "magical" phenomena.

He postulated ...

1. There must be some form or entity or consciousness which the Kahunas were able to contact through ceremony or prayer.

2. This "unidentified consciousness" could use an unidentified force or energy in such a way as to control temperature in fire-walking or make the changes in physical matter necessary to produce instant healing.

These conclusions pointed inevitably to a system of Metaphysics, so it was necessary to include research into the Psychic Sciences because this secret and mysterious system found working magic in Hawaii was not a matter of empty words and theorizing because it clearly worked.

In due time it was possible to explain a part of the basic theory and its methods of application. Because of the major contribution made by Hawaiian Kahuna ("keepers of the secret") preserving and maintaining these ancient practices, Max Freedom Long gave this new theory the name Huna.

Max continued doing research along with the Huna Research Associates until his death in 1971, when he bequeathed the organization to Dr. E. Otha Wingo, then professor at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where the Huna Research Associates are continuing the coordination of teaching, research, and practice of Huna today.

So why the confusion?

In the mid-1960's some authors, recognizing the popularity of Max Freedom Long's Huna, began promoting themselves as Kahuna. Other people began promoting a variety of Hawaiian and pseudo-Hawaiian belief systems by saying they were "the real huna" even though the word previously referred only to Max's work.

This trend is still going on today, but everyone using the word Huna got it from studying Max Freedom Long.

His most popular book was The Secret Science Behind Miracles, which is totally incomplete because he wrote it long before establishing the Huna Research Associates. But Max was fortunately able to produce more than 50 years of painstaking research himself, and the vast majority of it was never published in books.

So a deeper understanding of Huna and complete, workable system for producing miracles was passed on through the Huna Research Associates, who quietly continue studying and perfecting the system through a world-wide network, meeting annually to share, teach, learn, and explore new territories.

Nana I Ke Kumu!


Additional Links of Interest:
http://www.kahunaresearchgroup.org/history-of-huna
http://www.maxfreedomlong.com/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/ssbm/index.htm (The Secret Science Behind Miracles)
http://huna.org
http://www.ancienthuna.com/
http://www.hunaspirit.com/
http://www.hawaiiheart.com/huna.html
http://huna.blogspot.com/2006/09/huna-physics.html