Posted by Bill Taylor on July 16, 1997 at 20:42:24:
Aloha kakou,
I wholeheartedly support the study of Hawaiian spiritual systems - the Hawaiian people are beautiful, loving, generous people who have a whole lot to teach our planet.
I apologize in advance for offending anyone here, but .......
You will never find a Hawaiian calling their spiritual system "huna," which merely means "hidden." Their spiritual beliefs were/are completely woven into the fabric of their lives, and there is no Hawaiian word for their religion or their religious practices. "Huna" as a religion is a totally haole ("foreign") construct, originally popularized by Mr. Long.
Also, beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. There are a lot of people around claiming first-hand knowledge of "Huna" and claiming to have been trained by "Kahunas" (which just means "expert" - there are MANY types of kahunas). There is a lot of money these days in teaching about "huna," which very few (if any) Hawaiians will do. Serge King, for example, was NEVER trained by a bonafide Hawaiian spiritual leader. It is my understanding from a respected Hawaiian kupuna (elder) that he is under general kapu for continuing to make that claim. And, yes, I have taken a week-long course from him on Kauai. His material is OK, but I have my doubts about it's origin. You can only truly learn about Hawaiian spirituality from the 'aina herself (unfortunately).
Learn about Hawaiian spirituality from HAWAIIAN sources, not from haole interpretations of Hawaiian material. I've finally started doing that, and it DOES make a BIG difference. There is a lot good material available by mail from Hawaii. I would be glad to post a reading list and sources for the material if anyone is interested.
I love the 'aina with all my heart - I hate to see all of the garbage that's running around being passed off as "Huna."
A me ke aloha pumehana,
Bill Taylor