Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Pele's Island

If you live in Hawai'i then you have to accept that this is Pele's home.  She might decide to cover it with lava at any time.  This is a thing which happens.  If having your home covered with lava bothers you, then you should not live near a volcano.  It is vitally important not to piss off the Fire Goddess because when she throws a tantrum, the amount of lava getting flung about is really quite a lot larger.

I am still amused by the people some years ago who, before evacuating, set out an offering table for Pele with the best wine and white linens and a splendid feast.

The lava stopped a few feet short of their yard, parted around the house, and demolished the rest of the neighborhood.  There was a picture of it in a magazine.  :D
Tags: nature, news, spirituality
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  • 11 comments
siliconshaman

siliconshaman

November 6 2014, 01:33:41 UTC 6 years ago

Methinks someone should try asking the Goddess nicely to spare their town... who knows, she might and it won't hurt either way.

Besides.. how the heck do you divert a lava flow that size?
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

November 6 2014, 01:39:02 UTC 6 years ago

There are in fact rituals to ask Pele nicely not to raze your territory. They are probably more effective than lava barriers, which are very difficult to use.
siliconshaman

Re: Well...

siliconshaman

November 6 2014, 01:44:21 UTC 6 years ago

I've seen what a lava flow does to a barrier...I can believe the ritual would work better.
[if lava could laugh derisively it would have.]

Deleted comment

ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 6 2014, 06:19:58 UTC 6 years ago

And people who build houses in firechimney ravines.
catsittingstill

catsittingstill

November 6 2014, 14:17:39 UTC 6 years ago

What the picture didn't show, of course, was the splendid tables set out for Pele in the other yards.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

November 6 2014, 20:10:03 UTC 6 years ago

Not this time, but that image has in fact made magazines in the past -- usually when the lava goes around that house, as it sometimes does.
xiphias

xiphias

November 6 2014, 20:52:54 UTC 6 years ago

If I were Hawai'ian, I'd probably put out a table for Pele without expecting her to spare the house. Just out of respect, not as a suggested quid pro quo.

I don't see the point of negotiating with forces of nature, but I do see the point of respecting them.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 6 2014, 21:08:50 UTC 6 years ago

That's probably a hidden variable in which houses she chooses to sweep away or not.
xiphias

Re: Yes...

xiphias

November 6 2014, 21:13:44 UTC 6 years ago

See, I'd just assume that the hidden variable is simply the contour of the ground. And even though I think that which houses are spared and which are destroyed is only a matter of physics -- I STILL think it would be a good idea to prepare an offering.

Again, not because I think it would change my odds one whit. For me, my interaction with things bigger than me isn't petitionary -- it's based on awe and respect, not hope for personal gain.

Which isn't to say anything against petitionary prayer and offering, of course, which IS a significant part of my religion. Just not one that I personally do much with.
fayanora

fayanora

November 6 2014, 23:35:36 UTC 6 years ago

I am still amused by the people some years ago who, before evacuating, set out an offering table for Pele with the best wine and white linens and a splendid feast.

The lava stopped a few feet short of their yard, parted around the house, and demolished the rest of the neighborhood. There was a picture of it in a magazine. :D

I love stuff like that! True proof that Pele is real, which of course the muggles will insist is coincidence.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

November 6 2014, 23:43:58 UTC 6 years ago

Once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is divine favor. Especially in cases where the topography would -- by the rules of logic alone -- have routed the lava differently than it went. This is a thing which has happened more than a few times, although it's not common.

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