Silence, Lunar Calendar

This place
By: 
Carol Silva
Sacred Silence

In ancient Hawaiian tradition, breaking the kapu of silence was a capital crime, for any sound was offensive to the gods 



Silence was demanded in the worship of the gods, especially of K¯u, the powerful god of war. ("Wood image of K¯uk¯a'ilimoku," Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai'i.) 


Bishop Museum

There was a terrifying silence in the temples of the war god, Kü, during the nights and days dedicated to his worship. Whether from inside or outside the temple walls, the slightest sound, even a muffled cough or a whimper, brought death to the transgressor. Noise offended the god and disturbed the prayer rituals his priests conducted in his honor.


Three nights and two days of each lunar cycle were set apart for the regular worship of Kü, in addition to services held during periods of escalating political conflict and battles. As the appointed time approached, Kü's priests would impose a restriction, a kapu of silence, upon the entire community. Once the restriction was in effect, an eerie, unnatural quiet descended on the people, stifling the normal patterns of life.


The worship of other gods also called for strict silence-during the Möhalu and Hua nights and intervening day reserved for prayer, and the two nights and one day set aside for the god Kanaloa, and for Käne and Lono together. There were four such ritual periods each lunar month that occupied a total of nine nights and five days. During these times of kapu, according to the native historian S.M. Kamakau, silence reigned absolutely. People kept quietly to their houses. They placed their roosters and hens in large gourds to subdue them, and took noisy hogs and even their children into remote, upland areas, where they would be less likely to be heard by the chief's henchmen.


The Hawaiian historian John Papa 'Ï'ï wrote of an incident involving the kapu that happened early in his life, when he was a servant in the court of Liholiho (Kamehameha II). Immediately after the priests had proclaimed the kapu, 'Ï'ï developed a tickle in his throat that was extremely irritating. Grasping his throat, he held back a cough until his eyes watered. Finally, unable to control himself any longer, he coughed two or three times, to the horror of the household. One fellow servant dug a shallow hole for 'Ï'ï to cough into, another rushed to fetch him a basin of water. All present were in a state of panic, fearing that the boy's cough had been heard and he would be punished for breaking the kapu. After several anxious minutes had passed without response from the priests or Liholiho's men, the tension subsided. Had Papa 'Ï'ï's cough been heard by the chiefs or the priests that day, he would have lost his life, as had his older brother for another infraction of the kapu while in the king's service.


There were everyday situations as well that placed a premium on one's ability to be quiet. Bird catchers, working high up in the forests, were noiseless as they snared honey creepers such as the 'i'iwi and 'apapane for their precious red feathers. These birds perched on lehua hämau, or "silent lehua," feeding peacefully on the nectar of the blossoms. As a general rule, silence was observed on any visit to the sacred upland areas of Laka, god of plant life, healing and hula.
In the ocean, too, silence had its place. Fishermen prepared for a day at sea with barely a sound. Even the women who gathered the pearl oysters, or i'a hämau leo, of Pu'uloa (today called Pearl Harbor) were careful not to utter a word, for one's breath was believed to ripple the shallows and cause the oysters to disappear from view.


In the ancient times, silence was prized by the gods and by humans, and it had an importance in life that was both sacred and practical.

REF: http://www.spiritofaloha.com/place11_01.html