Legends
There are several traditional legends associated with Pele in Hawaiian mythology. In addition to being recognized as the goddess of: fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes Pele is also known for her creative power, passion, purpose, and profound love. She has numerous siblings, including Kāne Milohai, Kamohoaliʻi, Nāmaka and 13 sisters named Hiʻiaka, the most famous being Hiʻiakaikapoliopele (Hiʻiaka in the bosom of Pele). They are usually considered to be the offspring of Haumea. Her home is believed to be the fire pit called Halemaʻumaʻu crater, at the summit caldera of Kīlauea, one of the Earth's most active volcanoes; but her domain encompasses all volcanic activity on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. Every incident with a volcanic eruption in Hawaii it is said to be Pele's way of expressing her longing to be with her true love, in many stories a young chief named Lohiau, but she's a fickle and dangerous lover who sometimes kills her husbands.
Pele shares features similar to other malignant deities inhabitants of volcanoes, as in the case of the devil Guayota of Guanche Mythology in Canary Islands (Spain), living on the volcano Teide and was considered by the aboriginal Guanches as responsible for the eruptions of the volcano.Although Pele’s legend was long ago, many visitors to the volcanoes on the Island of Hawai’i report seeing a women resembling Pele or one of her close followers.
Read more about this topic: Pele (deity)
Famous quotes containing the word legends:
“Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)
“Therefore our legends always come around to seeming legendary,
A path decorated with our comings and goings. Or so I’ve been told.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“a child’s
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
Through the parables
Of sunlight
And the legends of the green chapels
And the twice-told fields of infancy”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)