A Glimpse Of Hawaiian Magic (夏威夷巫术)

I always interested in collecting magic spells. So when I was in Hawaii, I was able to catch hold of Nancy who was also a practising witch at that time. Though I was interested in learning Hawaiian magic, I was not in a good mood to learn new stuffs, added to that my stay was short. Perhaps the saying “you cannot teach an old dog new tricks” is true.

 According to Nancy, the orthodox Hawaiian magic training put much emphasis on meditation while performing visualization to absorb energy of nature such as sun, moon, sea etc. A magician should perform his/her routine practice during each full moon under open sky and normally by the seaside. When the first moon light is observed in the horizon, the magician should start his/her meditation until the first sun light is seen in the horizon. Regardless of what gender the person belongs to, he/she should remain naked during the meditation session.

The magician should also draw a circle around him/her for protection. He/she should also draw something similar to tantric concept of ‘mandala’ which is a pattern consists of square, triangle and circle. A big bowl of sea water should be put in the center of the ‘mandala’.

This magician must then sit in front of the ‘mandala’ and meditate until the moon light shines onto the bowl of sea water. At this time, the magician will start to prostrate to the bowl and chant mantra. In between chanting, he/she should raise his/her hands towards the sky and shouted at the sky. After that, the magician should continue to meditate and imagining that his/her body is absorbing the moon energy.

I asked Nancy to teach me her mantra and she started to chant a very long mantra in local dialect; which interestingly speaking even Nancy couldn't explain the meaning of the mantra. According to Nancy, the dialect was of very old origin. As I could remember that the rhythmic mantra has a very short beat, there is a stress sounded like long ‘ah’ sound after every eight beats.

According to Nancy, after the meditation session; the magician should burn some packets of Hawaiian sea salt wrapped in ‘Lono’ leaves. It is very important that local Hawaiian sea salt is used. This type of sea salt grains that is coarser than the ordinary ones.

After the sea salt is completely burnt, the magician should remain seated to wait for the arrival of dawn. When he/she sees the first sun light, the magician should immediately pour the bowl of water away and then the ‘mandala’ should immediately be rubbed off. It is believed that bad luck would be fallen upon the magician when the sun shines onto the ‘mandala’.

It was said that Hawaiian magicians normally practise under open sky during dry season. In rainy seasons such as in December however, the magicians must continue their night rituals in door. The day activities remain business as usual for the whole month.

That was what I can recall about basic practice of Hawaiian magic, perhaps if I do visit Hawaii again; I could learn more.