Did you know the tale about the first taro plant and the real meaning of Aloha?

Aloha!

Probably, many of you have heard the word "Aloha" for saying "Hello or Goodbye" in Hawai'i, however, this ancient word has a deeper meaning rather than just a greeting word. 

Even though there are different conceptions of what this word means, I will like to share one Hawaiian tale that appears to be interesting, as this story also represents the existence of the taro plant, a staple of the Polynesian diet. 

The story begins with the prime Earth Mother; Papa and the Sky Father; Wakea. From their union, a male child was born but the baby died after birth, he was then buried by his parents. From his dead body grows a shoot that Wakea names Haloa, this shoot becomes the first taro plant. 

Papa and Wakea gave birth to another male child and to honor his sibling, they named him Haloa and he becomes the prime ancestor of mankind. 

Image source: https://www.pinterest.se/pin/345580971376794852/

For me, this tale represents the connection humans have with Nature. "Plants are a source of food and they produce the oxygen we breathe. The gift of life passes from a human to the plants and then back to humanity" [1]. 

If we look at the meaning of Haloa it means "long breath" and if we look at the literal meaning of Aloha, it comes from: 

Alo (meaning presence or sharing) 

Oha (meaning joy, life, breath) 

So the deeper meaning of Aloha could be as "Joyfully sharing the breath of life". 

However, don’t you find interesting that Aloha and Haloa are re-spellings of each other? 

Also, if we derived the acronymic meanings of Aloha, we end up with: 

A, akahai, kindness 

L, lokahi, working with unity 

O, oia'i'o, truthful honesty 

H, ha'aha'a, humility 

A, ahonui, patient perseverance 

"Kindly I work with unity, truthfulness, and humility. I am patient but I have perseverance."

Aloha is represented by Nature and Nature is represented by Aloha. Where else but in Nature is the spirit of Aloha easier to experience? 

As from the time this article is written, I am in Saudi Arabia, a place where dessert weather perseveres. You could say Nature didn't favor this country, however, I can tell you that if I focus my attention on the "Aloha spirit", it did. I am at the shore of the Red Sea writing these words and I can tell you that looking at this landscape is energizing and inspiring. It allows me to focus in the present moment. 

In addition, according to ancient Hawaiians, when dancing traditional hula, we pursue "THE ALOHA SPIRIT". Through all the hula steps we are connecting our soul to nature and nature connects with us. 

That is the reason why many Hawaiian songs are performed honoring Nature. 

You could watch a hula dance video below, where this connection with Nature is expressed through the hula dance moves: 

In module 1, we are learning the hula 'auana song "Ka Uluwehi o Ke Kai (Plants of the Sea)", so now that you know the meaning of Aloha, you could be aware that this word is part of all, and that all is part of us. 

For the joy of sharing the breath of life, 

ALOHA! 

Luisa Emilia

References:

[1] https://www.huna.org/html/deeper.html

[2] https://makanacharters.com/what-does-aloha-mean-the-locals-guide-to-kauai/

[3] https://www.to-hawaii.com/aloha.php