On the island of Hawaii, also known as the ‘Emerald Islands’, Hawaiian Shamans known as Kahunas traditionally served as the conductors, conduits and psychopomps between realms.
Long initiated through nature into these roles, it was their life purpose to use their connections to higher consciousness in service to the larger culture, holding the space for their tribe members to enter into this state of ‘knowing’ themselves — when, and if, they were called to do so.
Hawaii has always been a magical place. Anyone who’s been there can tell you this. It has a certain other-worldly allure stemming from a rich, mystical history that’s undeniable and infectious. There’s a particular enchantment to the atmosphere, prone to strike even the most hard-nosed skeptic as possessing a persistent feeling of mercurial wonder. And this is what the Kahunas worked with.
Hawaiian Shamans, New Thought & The 7 Huna Principles
While much myth has grown up around the legend of the Hawaiian Shamans in modern day (and though there are said to be current practitioners, it is a point of contention) they did carve out 7 particular principles to be passed on to succeeding generations in the hopes of guiding humanity towards a more fully realized state of being.
In the early 20th century, with the rise of New Thought, there was an individual by the name of Max Long who linked the teachings of the Kahunas to a theory of metaphysics he was developing.
The result was the 7 Huna Principals, Long’s integration of the two.
1) IKE — The world is what you think it is.
This principle is essentially saying that our consciousness creates our reality. Our perception of reality is subjective and does not necessarily reflect the ‘true’ objective reality.
If someone thinks the world is full of deception, evil, and hatred, they will only focus their awareness on such matters and slowly become blind to anything that may contradict this perception.
Each one of us has the inherent power to transform our reality in any way we see fit. This power has the ability to transform not only one’s self, but those around them as well.
2) KALA — There are no limits.
In an infinite reality, there’s no beginning or end to anything, which signifies the limitless nature of all that is. Anything is possible and self-growth is not only likewise infinite, but the entire point. There is always a process of be-ing and become-ing underway.
The Hawaiian Shamans believed that there were indeed no limits, and therefore, the infinitely possible was not only probable, but assured, forever folding both outward and inward through an eternally expanding moment of now. Everything that can happen, is happening, and will happen, in its infinite forms.
At the center of this matrix was the individual — each one of us, in corporeal form — engaging it through the alchemy of decision-making, and learning to master it through acute observation of the cause & effect relationship therein.
Therefore, any limits we experience are self-imposed. Looked at closely enough, this is a concept so magnificent as to barely be contained by the 3D human brain.
3) MAKIA — Energy flows where attention goes.
Where someone focuses their attention, that is where a directed energy stream will go.
Quite simply, the more one can reach and maintain a genuinely positive mindset, the more helpful, kind and respectful they’ll be to their fellow human beings.
This, is turn, will spread from there. The same is true of un-checked and/or repressed negativity. It all starts with the self, exercising the power of perspective — consciously or unconsciously — through the limitless web of Kala, gaining Makia as it goes.
4) MANA WA — Now is the moment of power.
The power of ‘now’ is monumental. Existing and living in the present moment does away with the stress of thinking about ‘what-if’ scenarios or reliving painful memories in an endless loop.
All that is, is, and always will be, as such. There will be a continuous, complementary and comforting background ‘blanket’ of inner peace when someone learns to live in the ‘now’ moment more often than not, despite the natural (and necessary!) ups and downs they will inevitably encounter as they continue to live life on this plane.
5) ALOHA — To love is to be ‘happy with’.
Unconditional love (as in, ‘not dependent on conditions or specific results‘) is said to be the ultimate teaching at the heart of all the points in this list so far. It’s where the circle completes itself, the end encounters the beginning, and it realizes that it was in fact ONE essence all along.
When this happens, the illusion of relativity dissolves even as we remain within it, giving rise to the same appreciation and gratitude that birthed it as naturally and effortlessly as the trees that grow toward the sun.
Whether for a person, place, state of being or situation, this deep experience of “happy with” is a simple/profound feeling of interconnectedness with all that is, however it manifests itself.
And it is possible due to the true ‘sight’, or ‘knowingness’ the Hawaiian Shamans were said to possess, having imbued their vision with the feeling-tones of the heart, capable of ‘seeing into’ and understanding levels of reality and meaning in even some of the most ostensibly painful, tragic and unexplainable situations.
6) MANA — All power comes from within.
The Hawaiian Shamans believed that the individual is one of the greatest ‘power plants’ in existence — that the mind is far more powerful than the limits modern science has imposed on it, and holds the ability to create, destroy, restore, shift and change both our subjective and objective realities.
They held that anything is possible if we are able to raise the intrinsic faith that knows this, before and beyond the mind. Our beliefs create our experience of the world, manifested across time inside of the present moment.
Realizing this, the inner power that each individual holds not only allows them to begin mastering their inner state of being, but also grants them the opportunity to demonstrate this power to — and proliferate it through — others by the persistent, silent cultivation of satisfying, symbiotic relationships.
7) PONO — Effectiveness is the measure of truth.
How effective a thing is in creating a positive and beneficial shift or change in someone or something (relative, of course, to what ‘works’ and what doesn’t in service to the larger and long-term well-being of the tribe as a whole) is a good indicator of the genuine nature of said phenomena, regardless of how material it may or may not be, or the value judgments placed upon it.
This results in a far more reliable reflection between truth and falsehood — or rather, between truth and the ignorance of truth — than the ‘normal’ tools of perspective the individual gained through enculturation before they were aware it was happening.
~~~
The seven Huna principles are a great introduction to the power of consciousness and, if returned to regularly as reminders (let alone put into practice) may very well hold the power to transform your daily life into something far more enlightening on many levels.
There’s such tremendous potential for each one of us to make a difference — not only in our own lives, but in the lives of every other person we know and meet.
The power is within you. This is what the Hawaiian Shamans taught. Express it, with love.
