6.15.2018

Voices on the wind on the slopes of Mauna Loa

Informant: Female/35/Caucasian
Location: Ka'u, Big Island (slopes of Mauna Loa, up above Pahala)

I used to work for a wilderness therapy outlet for troubled teenagers in remote Ka'u, up at about 1800 feet elevation above Pahala town. The land was about 10 acres, surrounded by active farm/pasture land (former cane fields) and we had what appeared to be a nearby burial site -- lava rock cairns, three of them, in a beautiful bamboo stand (we would actually send kids there for their final mission, a three day solo camp with fasting -- heavy). On that edge of camp kids reported seeing lights, "aliens", etc. Probably just old ghosts. Many of these kids were in different groups, had never talked to one another, but had similar reports. The kids who occupied the little hale along the edge of the land there didn't like it - chicken skin - they had to face the camp and I think they often felt serious mana behind them on the path that went along the fence behind their hale.

Most of the property was covered with permaculture garden beds with little open-sided hales sprinkled throughout. We were totally off grid. Pitch black at night. We had one main bunkhouse on the Kona side of the land, and a big open-sided elevated hale in the middle. Our typical routine was to sleep two staff up in the big hale (for one kine break, not to be around farting teenagers) and two staff in the bunkhouse.

One night was really stormy, AND we had a kid coming in who was a serious flight/violence risk -- they often came in at night, if they were being escorted here against their will, which was often. The staff decided three staff in the bunkhouse would be safer, and that the remaining single staff person would sleep alone on the elevated platform hale. I drew the short straw on that one. 

I managed to fall asleep buried deep in my sleeping bag despite sideways Kona winds and heavy rain. In the middle of the night, I was awoken to what sounded like someone loudly barking "HEY YOU!" at me, maybe a foot or two away from my ear. I woke up with a crystal clear vision in my head of an angry heavy-set Hawaiian man, long hair tied back, only wearing a loincloth or small skirt of some kind of tapa-like material. I scrambled in the dark for my headlamp but no one was there. My heart was pounding out of my chest. As I sat bolt upright there in the dark, freaking out but justifying in my head that it was a vivid dream, I began to hear voices coming in from the west on the wind. The rain had stopped but the Kona winds were still blowing. It was women's voices speaking Hawaiian. Again, I had a crystal clear vision in my head as I heard this - two or three Hawaiian women sitting on a hala mat, pounding poi or something, chatting. The bunkhouse nearby was locked and silent.

I had never before experienced something like this, and never have since. Though I didn't "see" a ghost, per se, it was the closest thing I have had to a supernatural experience. A co-worker who had been there for years told me to carry some turmeric in my pocket (to ward off spirits?) and told me she had seen plenty of lights and weird things on the property. The land had been used for centuries by kanaka and maybe they just wanted to let us haoles know this was still their space. I have a deep respect and love for Hawaiian culture and the mana on the Big Island is the most powerful thing I have ever felt.

5.14.2018

Pele saves a life at Kilauea

Informant: Male/59/Caucasian
Location: Past Pahala on Highway 11 on the Big Island

Aloha. With it being Mother’s Day as I write this, and with all the stories of Hawaii in the news these days, I was reminded of a trip I took to the islands in which I had a couple of very strange paranormal encounters. I have been, in the past ten years, a paranormal investigator and have had many encounters with spirits and entities over my lifetime which is how I came to formally investigate these phenomena. Being half Scottish and the other half Viking with psychic skills, I can reliably say there is much more going on in the unseen world than most people will ever know. This story is one of my favorite encounters and I hope you enjoy it.

In the early 1990's, I took a series of trips to the Hawaiian islands. One of my favorite island visits was my trip to the Big Island where I spent a week exploring the island and taking in the sights. For several days, I made the 80 mile drive from Kona to the Kilauea and explored the volcanic vents, even witnessing the lava flowing across an old section of road at one point in my explorations.

I spent one day hiking across a significant portion of the upper crater area near Kilauea’s volcanic vent and saw the lake of lava for myself and decided to do as the Hawaiian people do and to leave a small offering of a candle and a prayer to Pele as a sign of respect.

Not being native to the islands, I was simply giving a tip of the hat to a force of Nature whose presence one can feel just by looking around at the living landscape that makes up the islands. Never did I imagine that this force and spirit might give me a tip of the hat in return -- twice.

After I left my offering at the summit of Kilauea, I hiked down into Kilauea Iki, a smaller volcanic cone next to the big lava lake and was standing at the actual vent where  Kilauea Iki last erupted in 1959. There was a sign there to be careful not to get too close which I, unfortunately, did not heed. I was trying to get a look into the vent and ventured just a little too close. My footing gave way and I began to slide straight down the hill into the chasm leading down into the vent. I had nothing to grab onto and was literally in the first moment of falling in.

The strangest thing happened at that very instant. I was literally shoved back by a very strong gust of wind, almost as if I had been snatched back. I fell on my back and held my camera in my hand and was a little shocked at what had happened. I slowly backed out and got to a safe spot and gave a silent prayer of thanks for still being alive. If I had fallen into that vent, I have no idea what would have happened… badly injured at the least and if I had fallen into the vent hole, I would never have been found. I had the strange thought at the time that  I had been saved by Pele and made sure to take no more chances at the volcano from then on.

I stayed that evening at the volcano well into the night to witness the lava glowing next to the sea and it was a sight I will never forget.  The eruption flowing downhill was spectacular in the sunset twilight and I was transfixed as forests burned away as the lava made it’s way down the mountain and drained into underground lava tubes and poured into the sea. You can’t imagine such a sight… It has to be experienced in person to fully appreciate the sheer spectacle of seeing these great forces at work.

The USGS/ranger/geologist who I happened to run into was very nice and she took me in to witness the flow from a short distance away. The heat and fumes were intense and we stayed for about 10 minutes before being warned to get out before lava encircled us. We were more than glad to exit, but got some amazing photographs of the activity.

The lava flowed across the road in slow motion, crackling and pouring out bubbling asphalt smoke as the road literally burned from the intense heat. I have never seen such a sight since and feel very privileged to have witnessed this amazing sight in person.  The USGS geologist/ranger who happened to be there was taking folks in to the lava flows was very informative and smiled when I asked her about Pele. She said she believed in The Goddess and had a number of strange stories of her own from her time on the island. She also made sure to impress on me how lucky I was to get this close to the lava flowing and said very few of the many visitors to the island get this kind of a chance. I did feel very lucky to have seen it with my own eyes. If I remember right, she said that one in every 5,000 visitors to the island gets to see what we saw.

After witnessing the lava at night and having given my offering to Pele up on the main volcano earlier that day, I slowly made my way back to the main road, Highway 11, and drove my convertible rental back to where I was staying in Kona.  Not long after I passed the area where Pahala is now, I had the music playing and was just enjoying my night drive back to the bed and breakfast I was staying at when I spotted a woman on the side of the road in the distance with my high beams on. There was no traffic that night and I was the only car on the road.

The woman kept walking up the grade next to the road. She was older with grayish hair and slightly stooped, moving slowly on the right side of the road, making a little room for me to pass her. I slowed and saw she wore a green and blue muumuu which covered her frail form. It was nearly 10:30 p.m. or so and the stretch of road I was on was such that we were far from any human habitation I could spot, other than the occasional macadamia farm. I continued to slow and became concerned for this woman being so far from any help in the dead of night. So I found a wide spot on the right just ahead of her and pulled off to see if I could offer this lady a ride.

As I passed her, I looked right at her and she looked at me and slightly smiled. She had very piercing eyes. I couldn’t see features of her face because there was only ambient light from my car side illumination as the evening was pitch black, save for the car and the barest sliver of a moon that was still up. Still, there was a brief moment of communication between us as I slowly passed her and look directly at her. I can’t imagine how I looked to her, but I think surprised was the emotion I was feeling. So imagine my amazement as I got out of the car after parking only twenty or so feet ahead of her and turned and said “Ma’am can I help you?” and was looking at empty space. No one was there.

I scrambled around and looked at both sides of the road and circled the car to see if she was hiding near it. There was NO ONE there! And there was no place she could have gone! No trees, hills or brush to hide behind. Just a wide flat spot and a field to the right that was wide open with a hill up on the right. And behind me was open space heading out some distance to the seashore. She literally had up and disappeared on me!

I stood feeling rather spooked and perplexed and realized that this was likely some kind of ghost sighting. It was early in my life where I hadn’t yet dealt with paranormal matters as an investigator, but had dealt with ghosts and spirits on a number of occasions due to my family history of living in some very haunted places.

I had that odd feeling of being laughed at and the sensation of being watched and yet was not scared. In truth, I hoped I hadn’t missed seeing the old woman and had left a real flesh and blood lady in the lurch out on that lonely stretch of Hawaiian road. In my heart, I knew she had never been there as a mortal woman. She was something else. I got back in the car and pulled away, feeling a mixture of emotions, but mostly being confused and a little spooked at what had looked like a real flesh and blood woman one second and then empty space the next.

Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes as well as the creator of the Hawaiian islands. Pele also carries a staff, which she uses to test if the ground is dry.  I did not see a staff, but it was night and she did appear to be hunched over when I saw her.  And she is well known to appear to we mortal folks as either a young woman or an older woman. I had briefly heard some of these tales of how she appears to people on my trips to the islands, but had never given them much thought beyond my respectful offering up at the volcano summit.

Having mentioned that Pele is the goddess of not only fire, but of lightning and wind, I cannot help but think that the wind that shoved me back from a nasty fall at Kilauea Iki was of her doing.

The next morning at breakfast, I mentioned my unusual sighting of the prior night and my near fall into the volcanic vent to my hosts at the bed and breakfast. They were an older retired couple and they looked at me in astonishment. I asked what was wrong.

“You’ve never heard about Pele on the road?” the husband asked. I shook my head. He smiled and said “Well…you must have done something right, because Pele herself appeared to you. Many people here have had that experience and the fact you stopped to help her was pleasing to her.”

I told him about my offering on the summit of the volcano and he and his wife plus the other guests smiled. We all agreed it was a really nice experience and I was left with a beautiful memory of the island, a mystical experience I shall never forget and and paranormal experience that I am but one of many to have had.

My only advice to those traveling to the Big Island is this: If you see a young woman or old woman along Highway 11 in Hawaii, all alone and needing a ride, stop and be nice to her. You may well be in the presence of a powerful Goddess who will likely give you amazing blessings if your heart and mind are in the right place.

And if you are at the Volcano National Park, leave an offering for Pele in the form of a bottle of gin, flowers or fruits. You’ll be creating good karma and giving Pele the respect She deserves.

I will return to Hawaii one day, now that I have retired. The people are amazing and the energy there is amazing. Mahalo!

3.23.2018

The Voice in The Bedroom

Informant: Female/ 29/Japanese - Puerto Rican ancestry
Location: Mililani, Oahu

The other morning I was getting ready for work when I heard a knock on my door. I said, "Come in," but nobody entered, and I didn't hear anyone leave. So I opened the door and nobody was there. Mom and dad were still asleep.

A couple of nights later I was asleep in my bed and I swear someone whispered in my ear. I couldn't make out what the voice was saying, it was too breathy.

Then last night I was trying to sleep in my bed and I rolled onto my side and heard someone sigh in my right ear. I was scared. But it was probably nothing, right?

Right?