Stone God Of The Mountain

Centuries ago, near the site of Honolulu, there thrust from the soil, a ridge of lava that had stubbornly refused to disintegrate. What made this ridge significant was that it held the shape of a man's face.

Many years later, but still in ancient times, there lived in the shadow of this face, a chief called Kamakau, which means "the afraid". He received this name as a child because of his sensitive and imaginative nature. He was very superstitious and sensed the supernatural in everything he saw and heard. He would avoid places in which he felt spirits inhabited and constantly heard the chatter of the menehunes. Thus, his companions gave him the name, Kamakau.

The Hawaiian culture is full of mysterious customs including sacred omens, oracles, chants, and prayers for good, evil and death. In all of these traditions, Kamakau held an unwavering faith.

One day, two chiefs, Inaina and Kokua, were hunting in the mountains of Oahu. With spears and snares, they sought the oo, a bird with rare yellow feathers which were used to craft the cloaks of the highest chiefs.

Tired, the two men stopped to rest and speculate. Inaina told Kokua of his desire for Kamakau's land. The soil was fertile there and he felt sure that the king would grant him the property if only Kamakau was disposed of.

In Hawaiian culture, the distribution of land was similar to that of the European feudal system. The King owned all the land and divided it among lesser chiefs to propagate and govern. The land could be retracted at any time, for any reason. For the most part, the chiefs were not disturbed as long as they carried out the will of the King.

Kokua suggested that Inaina have the unwanted chief prayed to death. They both agreed that his highly superstitious and fearful nature would work against him, causing his death to arrive swiftly.

There, they set a plan into motion. Kokua agreed to be Inaina's messenger in exchange for a small fishpond. Kokua's job would be to whisper hints to Kamakau's friends and acquaintances that powerful priests were praying him to death. Word would get back to Kamakau and fear would unsettle him into becoming a vulnerable victim.

After their hunting, Inaina went immediately to his family priest who suggested that they begin the process that very night. The priest then dispatched his private hunter to retrieve a physical aspect of Kamakau. The most desirable objects were a lock of hair or some spittle, which was secreted in a spittoon and well guarded.

The priest's hunter was a stealthy man, skilled in finding human sacrifices to be laid upon the altar before the gods for special rites. Now, this man made his way through the night to Kamakau's village, melting into the shadows, invisible in the moonlight

It happened that on this night, Kamakau and his men had partaken of a drink made from the awa root. They had stayed up late into the night drinking the drug until Kamakau had finally settled down onto a mat and rolled near one of the walls of the hut.

The hunter exploited his good luck, skillfully working a hole into the grass of the hut and using his bone knife to cut a chunk of the chief's hair from his head. The task successfully completed, he began to rise, but one of the chief's retainers approached.

Silently, the hunter slipped back into the darkness against the hut and could clearly see the other man outlined against the night sky. In his hands, the man held a calabash which was recognizable as the chief's spittoon.

Not about to let this opportunity pass, the hunter sprang up and strangled the retainer as the spittoon thumped softly against the ground without spilling a drop. Both prizes were handed over to Inaina's priest before the sun sent it's first rays above the horizon.

The next morning, a cry arose from Kamakau's village as the body of the retainer was discovered and the spittoon was determined missing. When Kamakau's men came to his hut to tell him the disastrous news, they were dismayed to find that the chief's head had been disfigured. A great fear settled over the village and Kamakau's priests were summoned at once. At the temple, prayers and incantations against the unknown enemy were uttered.

Kokua arrived not long afterward to comfort Kamakau. After a formal greeting, he began lamenting the coming death of his friend., for the only reason a man's hair and spittoon would be stolen was that someone intended him mortal harm Presently, Inaina arrived to comfort Kamakau as well. Before the day had passed, people murmured the dire portent throughout the village. Kamakau was being prayed to death by a powerful, mysterious enemy. His fate seemed determined.

Before long, Kamakau began to falter. His strength drained from his limbs until he could scarcely move. He languished, refusing to eat, and eventually fell into a stupor. His people kept a vigil outside of his hut. They felt certain he would not live to see another day. Inaina and Kokua were a part of this vigil, laying under a tree a short distance away. There, they had a measure of privacy as there was only a little girl playing nearby.

The two devious chiefs talked of their success. In a voice amplified with it's boasting, Inaina talked of the power he had in killing Kamakau. Unbeknownst to the two men, the little girl overheard them. Even more importantly, the girl was none other than Kamakau's youngest daughter, Aloha. She was called such because she was her parents' little darling.

Aloha sped to her father's sickbed. She shook him, called to him and kissed his face and hands. As her tears fell on his feverish skin, Kamakau awoke and sat up. Through the doorway of his hut, he caught sight of a spectacular sunset. The sun sent the last of it's rays through the clouds to beam upon the land in a warm glow. Bathed in this light which accentuated the strength of his brow and heavy features, was the face in the mountain. He stared with fierce eyes, ever vigilant. His lips were firm and confident. Behind him, the full glory of the sunset blazed in the sky.

Kamakau was enraptured by this vision and he imagined that ten thousand good spirits had gathered in the heavens to protect him. Vitality flooded into his limbs and he jumped up with his will intact once more. Outside, he greeted his people and announced that the power of the stone god of the mountain was stronger than that of his enemies.

In ancient times, many men fell to the fate of being prayed to death. This involved the use of poison or of fear so strong, that it could break the will of the victim. Kamakau's superstitious nature made him a good candidate for the latter. It also served to renew his spirit and ultimately saved his life.

Stone God Of The Mountain
By Genesis