Ancient Hawaiian Tiki Gods!

In ancient mytic Hawaii, from fire spewing volcanoes too powerful crashing surf, ancient Hawaiians filled their amazing land and history with tiki gods. Ancient oracles of Hawaiian kahunas perched on volcano cliffs, carved wooden tikis peering through the rainforest, mystic caves along the cost and great tiki god temples of sacrifice were located amongst the Hawaiian tiki villages and islands. They were worshiped through human sacrifice, chants (for wealth, death or love), prayers, surfing and lava sledding (a sign of devotion whereby Hawaiians sled down a volcano at speeds up to 50mph!).

The Four Major Tiki Gods

Ku - Ancient Tiki God of War

In Hawaiian mythology Ku is one of the four great gods along with the other three ancient tiki gods, Kanaloa, Kane and Lono. He was the husband of the goddess Hina, suggesting a complementary dualism as the word "ku" in the Hawaiian language means "standing up" while one meaning of "hina" is "fallen down."

Ku is worshipped under many names, one of them is Ku-ka-ili-moku, the "Seizer of Land" (a feather-god, the guardian of Kamehameha). Rituals included human sacrifice, which was not part of the worship of the gods. Ku, Kane and Lono caused light to shine in upon the world. They are uncreated gods who have existed from eternity.

Lono - Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace

In ancient Hawaii, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. in agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (Ku, Kane and his twin brother, Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created.

Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Mahahiki was held. During the period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was a "kapu" (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (to organized campaigns ironically).

Kane - Ancient Tiki God of Light and Life

Kane Milohai, the father of tiki gods Ka-moho-ali'i, Pele (whom was exiled to Hawaii), Kapo, Namaka and Hi'iaka by Haumea. He created the sky, earth and upper heaven and gave Kumu-Honua the garden. He owned a tiny seashell that, when placed on the ocean's waves, turned into a huge sailboat. The user of the boat had merely to state his destination and the boat took him there. In agricultural and planting traditions, Kane was identified with the sun.

The word "Kane" alone means "man". As a creative force, Kane was the heavenly father of all men. As he was the father of all living things, he was a symbol of life in nature. He was alternatively known as Kane-Hekili ("thunderer" or "lightning breaking through the sky") or Kane-Hoalani.

Kanaloa - Ancient Tiki God of the Sea

Kanaloa is one of the four great gods in ancient Hawaii. He is the local form of a Polynesian deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities are known as "Tangaroa" in New Zealand, "Tagaloa" in Samoa and "Ta'aroa" in Tahiti.

In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers. For example, Kane was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those observed in Indo-European chief god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular yin-yang of Chinese Taoism. Interpretations of Kanaloa as a god of evil opposing the good Kane (a reading that defies their paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) is likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan.