Makua o'o (Elder-in-Training)

1. Keep a keen sense of observation … NOTICE, PAY ATTENTION 
2. Listen … with your whole body … LISTEN RESPECTFULLY 
3. Do your best in all things … LIVE LIFE WITH A PASSION 
4. Know that wisdom is found in many places … SOFTEN THE GROUND OF YOUR BEING
5. Question for clarity when making decisions … ASK
6. Practice patience and endurance … TIMING IS DIVINE
7. Engage in good health practices … CARE
8. Feel the heartbeat of the culture … SENSE YOUR PLACE, KNOW YOUR ROOTS
9. Believe in Ke Akua, for this higher power makes all life possible … WE ARE NEVER ALONE, ALWAYS LOVED

Aunty Betty Kawohiokalani Ellis Jenkins is my kumu, my teacher and the kupuna, the Hawaiian elder, who introduced me to the practice of Makua o'o. We first met in 1995 in Ka'anapali, on the island of Maui. "Aunty" was doing a training session at a resort just down the beach from the one I worked at. We were strangers, but, my cousin (also "Mokihana") knew "Aunty" and suggested I go meet her. "You're both teaching Poi Bowl." (a form of respectful communication based on our Hawaiian values of setting aside all grievances when the family, and friends, gathered at the table to eat 'poi.') Poi is a primary source of nourishment metaphorically and physically; there is no separation of meaning when it comes to poi, and true with so many other things Hawaiian.


The specifics of our first meeting have faded: it is not difficult for me to imagine walking down the beach from the Westin Hotel to the resort where Aunty was doing her work. The naupaka was probably lush and green, a few of the half-blossoms visible. The story of the shore-bound beauty yet to be known to me, I would later call on that story to tether me when Pete and I left the islands of my birth for more distant shores.

Hover over the Naupaka to find one version of The Legend of the Naupaka

The fact we met is true beyond doubt. How she shared the Nine Tools of the Makua o'o and how they have grown my life? That is process. That is the long story.

⇄

Once upon a time, a woman of O'ahu returned to her island home after many years in a place so different from that of her upbringing. As a girl there were times many people, including her family, thought she could not speak she said very little and hid when anyone came to visit.

The poem and mo'olelo that follows alludes to the life that would grow, as I grew ... a makua o'o, an elder-in-training who crisscrossed the ocean many times and for many reasons always leaving part of my heart here, or there. To some, the unfolding journey of being an elder can be contained and nourished well enough in one place. For others, the movement and encounters with people, places and cultures of others is essential to the whole-ing process.

The nine original tools of the Makua o'o are a beginning. The variation in its usage are many. The interpretation of each use a story in itself.

Moon Tattoos
© Copyright, 2012 Yvonne Mokihana Calizar

The shadows always intriqued her, even as a girlchild the patterns that happened onto her skin caused something different. Through the screened window the moon did not ask permission to tattoo her. While everyone else slept, this child made room for the moon and the shadows and grew the voice.

The wind's silent breezes changed the markings that floated onto her small brown arms. In the night 'brown' might have been any number of colors. The ink of moon's stains were always the same and wore itself on all pallets. But, it was the wind that made the tattoed dancers sway and change shape like hula changed the bodies of her aunties when they moved. She watched and let the shapes bathe their way into her blood, carried as messengers to the place where memories swam.

The snoring was such wonderful company for the shadows dancing now across her skin, on the tops of the pillowcases, and the punee filled with the rising and falling of sleeping bodies. When the moon bright light filled the night, her thoughts quieted. She rested that part of herself and came loose. No one watched her. No one wondered out loud why she never talked. And, the shadows loved the way she could be still while all the night through her smile was broad across her full face.

"Will she remember," the Silence asked as all there watched her. No voices necessary, among the Shadowed Ones, the Wind teased the etched patterns.

"Her comfort with the moon will be constant, but words will distract her from time to time," the Wind knew of such things and gathered himself into a gust.

"When there is no light for shadows she will find the light that lives just under her skin," the Moon whispered. "Then, her distractions will play with her broad face and tickle smiles and laughter from her."

As if to shake them from their speculations, the punee rocked with thunder, sending the quiet away like flies from a pot of stew. The girl laughed outloud with a sound unfamiliar to the family sleeping. Roused from sleep the man lifted his face from his pillowed nest, "Baby girl?" Pretending to be fast asleep, she pulled her thumb back to her mouth and kept her secrets.

If the life practice of Makua o'o inspires you, or rouses your curiosity, contact me to begin a conversation.