The sky was gray and thick clouds rolled in the day before a large wedding was scheduled at He‘eia State Park. Many guests were arriving from Japan and the mainland.
Friends and family alike prayed and asked for the weather to clear and the sun to shine on this special day. The morning of the wedding I awoke to blue skies and the sounds of birds singing.
I could feel the excitement in my na‘au (insides, gut) as I prepared for the sacred ceremony. The couple expressed a great need for a Ho‘oponopono ceremony (to make right, put things in their proper order) as both had been in previous relationships including marriages. They shared with me that this was the most important part of the wedding ceremony for them as they felt the need to release the energetic connections from their past relationships in order to move forward with one another.
During the Hawaiian wedding ceremony, He‘eia State Park (located on the East shore of O‘ahu) filled with sunshine. The wind gently caressed our skin as the white clouds above offered shade and a cool breeze washed over the park.
I began the Ho‘oponopono ceremony to cut the AKA cords (energetic connections) of past relationships for this couple. This ceremony includes the use of the most sacred leaf to Hawaiians, the Ti leaf, pa‘akai (blessing salts) holy water, and prayer. The ties of the past are severed and cleansed from the beginning of creation until the present time.
After the AKA cords of past relationships were cut you could feel a lightness of spirit and you could see the weight had been lifted from the couple as they were connected energetically to each other only.
Most often, couples about to be married want to release past relationships and the energy attached to these past relationships. This is where a Ho‘oponopono ceremony is necessary. After the ceremony is conducted these energetic connections no longer serve a purpose or remain. The past is set free and it is time for new beginnings.
As the ceremony came to an end, He‘eia State Park was filled with ua mana (mystical rain), a sign that my work was completed and the ties from the past had been cleansed and purified.
I am so grateful to be able to offer this important part of the wedding ceremony as it is of great value to new couples, same sex couples or any couples renewing their vows who are searching for harmony and lokahi (balance).
Hawaiian energy is very strong and intense in sacred places such as Heiau. Heiau, or temples, usually consist of many pohaku (stones) placed in a certain arrangement, and often contain a pohaku block within, which is the ancient altar.
The first law of thermal dynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. The Hawaiians must have known this as they believed that while the sacredness of a place could perhaps be defiled, it could never be lost.
For example, on the island of Kauai there was a case concerning hotel toilets which consistently failed to flush. Specialists were called in to fix them, but try as they might they were unable to get the toilets to function. Finally the hotel moved the pavilion to a different location. Once this was done, the toilets worked just fine.
Energy extends to sacred places and the objects within them, such as pohaku. Pohaku hold a lot of power and seek to be in their proper place at all times. Many visitors have come to Hawaii and removed pohaku from sacred locations, only to experience a string of personal disasters upon returning to their home. At the Bishop Museum you will find scores of letters from visitors who have sent the pohaku back, imploring that they be returned to their home.
Although Hawai’i is not Mecca, Lhasa or Lourdes, the islands deserve to be recognized as the land of the gods and goddesses. The land is not just filled with sacred objects, the land itself is sacred and blessed. According to Huna, when one makes a journey they must first chant to the place to which they are traveling, because no one else will ever experience what they will experience there. Every experience mixes our own personal consciousness with the sacred power of the particular place. Here in Hawaii there are many powerful and mysterious experiences to be had.
A young lady booked a Lomilomi massage with me late in the afternoon at the Kahala Hotel and Resort Spa where I was employed as a massage therapist. We will call her Susi, she was twenty two years old and her sister was twenty three.
Susi and her sister were here on O’ahu for a Hawaiian vacation, they were so excited to experience all the mysteries of Hawaii. I began Susi’s Lomilomi treatment which included an Opu Huli adjustment. Susi was very athletic and seemed to be a very healthy young woman but I soon learned of her full story. I asked her if she had pain in her back and she began to explain. Apparently, she had taken a bad fall off a horse at her home in California. She was an equestrian and owned many horses. Just two years prior she fell from her prize winning horse and broke two of her vertebrae in her back. She told me she had visited many different types of physicians including chiropractors, orthopedists, and surgeons to name a few but no one had addressed her stomach or opu.
When I treated her opu I found it to be turned and twisted to the right. When I checked her leg lengths, one was approximately two and a half inches shorter than the other! No wonder she was in pain! As I gently adjusted her opu she relaxed and was amazed at how important her aligned stomach was to her healthy back. I explained to her simply and in a nutshell that, the stomach is connected to the back and by the opu being in proper alignment, back pain will diminish considerably. The opu treatment did not take more than 20 minutes, which is a lengthy opu huli treatment, most only take a few minutes, but when I was finished she cried and cried tears of joy. She and her sister were overwhelmed with gratitude and relief for her pain was simply gone!
When her treatment was completed, her legs were even! She said now her jeans would fit right and she didn’t have to get special orthopedic shoes made for her! She was thrilled. Thankfully, I did not have another treatment scheduled after theirs, so we sat and talked for almost an hour. They cried and were so grateful for the blessing and miracle of opu huli treatments. How simple yet complex.
The Hawaiians knew of the connection of our opu’s to our backs. They used opu huli to regulate fevers, treat babies with colic, and to soothe acid reflux. The Hawaiians were also aware that on a spiritual level, the opu carries the memories of the past, including feelings of resentment, fear, and anger. In cases where individuals were experiencing these types of imbalance, a Ho’oponopono would take place to cut the AKA cords of imbalance, disharmony and negativity from the beginning of creation until the present time. The opu, as is every organ in the human body, recognized by Hawaiians to be connected also in a spiritual way to our emotions and energies held there. By being aware of the connections and striving to maintain “lokahi” or balance, in all aspects of our life, the Hawaiians were ahead of their time.
In the end, Susi and her sister were filled with peace and comfort knowing the pain was gone. We hugged goodbye and said Aloha e (my love to you) and Ahui Hou (until we meet again).
I was overwhelmed with joy that I was able to make a difference in their lives and able to share the true gift aloha and of Opu Huli treatments.
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