#Hawaiian Stars

[kilohokustoryteller]

The Pleiades, an open star cluster in the shoulder of the constellation Taurus, is known to the kilo hōkū, the Hawaiian astronomer, by several names: Ka Huihui a Makali`i (The cluster of Makali`i), Huihui kōkō a Makali`i Kau i Luna (The Net Cluster of Makali`i Hung Above), Nā Kā a Makali`i (The Bailer of Makali`i), Nā kōkō a Makali`i (The Net of Makali`i), Nā Wahine a Makali`i (The Wives of Makali`i), Ke Aweawe Makali`i (The Makali`i Stars Stuck Together), Ka Lālani a Makali`i (The Makali`i Line), Huihui (Cluster, Group), and Kūpuku (Clustered). 

In some traditions, the Pleiades is also called Makali`i, but there are also traditions which give that name to Aldebaran.What does such an abundance of names tell us? First, it tells us that the star, planet, or  group of stars is very important to a lot of people. The Pleiades is important to the traveler as a navigational feature. The variety of names indicates, I believe, the altitude and angle of the cluster, critical information to a navigator. 

One translation for Makali`i is “Eyes of the Chief,” and that was the name of the head navigator of Hawai`iloa, a great voyaging chief. If we look at the cluster when it is first rising above the horizon, it could look a bit like a woman standing upright. Or, perhaps it is a group of women, Nā Wahine a Makali`i. In either case, soon the sail of the husband’s canoe comes into sight, and Makali`i (Aldebaran), the navigator, sails into view. What better reason to journey forth than to find a wife? As the cluster rises overhead, the stars begin to look like a bailer, an important commodity, indeed, for those who spend their lives on the sea. In fact, a number of Polynesian legends center on magical women who take the form of a beautifully carved bailer floating in the ocean. Caught and courted by the right man, the bailer becomes a beautiful woman who agrees to marry him. And so the Makali`i line continues down to the sea. Makali`i and his wives rise a bit north of due east, and pass directly overhead on their way to the sea, where they will set to the south of due west. 

For the traditional farmer, on the Island of Hawai`i, the November 17 rising of the Pleiades marks the approximate start of the rainy season. Makali`i was not only a great navigator and steersman, but also an agronomist, an expert farmer. Indeed, we find that around the world, the Pleides is associated with farming. In Hawai`i, the evening rising of those stars is associated with the return of the all-important rainy season. 

Other chiefs also have had the name “Makali`i. Among them is the father of Kamapua`a, the pig demi-god, also associated with rain and fertility. At the other end of the spectrum is a greedy Chief Makali`i, who figures in a story from the Kona coast of Hawai`i Island. In this story, Makali`i is translated as “tiny eyes,” a euphamism for “greedy,” and refers to a greedy chief who taxed the people into poverty during a drought. In this story, `Iole, the Hawaiian rat, saved the people from starvation by chewing through Huihui kōkō a Makali`i Kau i Luna. The net burst open, and all the food which the evil Chief Makali`i had placed in it fell back to earth. 

Hidden within this story may be a record of the extreme El Nino conditions of 1640. But whatever historical events may be encoded into the story, for myself, when the net hangs over the western sea, I enjoy thinking of Aldeberan as the right ear of `Iole, ε Tauri as his left ear, θ1 and δ his eyes, and γ Tauri his pointy little nose. His body is to my left, and Orion’s bow makes his tail. If I look closely at the Pleiades, which `Iole also is eyeing, I see where our heroic little rat bit through the net so the food could fall to earth and feed all the people there.

[thresholdbb]

Flip this switch to make the walls fall

[shittyutmv]

Ello there

Can I give killer a shitty hawaiian button up? I think he would pull off the look

is it befitting ? killer by rahafwabas

[jone-slugger]

I'm just a girl...

...trying to make dinner.

[pikechris]

someone draw worf wearing this kind of outfit on risa

[xketsuekix]

most canon enstars

(just for fun cause this is how they are in my head)

[getthrawnin]

Are you ready for the summer? Grand Admiral Thrawn is! We’ve always promoted that Thrawn finds his Zen by surfing then having a tropical cocktail. Here are his latest images.

Read more here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/105230946?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

[axisplazaradio]

drink making is hard

[queen-breha-organa]

Temuera is in Hawai‘i filming Chief of War with Jason Momoa, and he’s out there bringing to life a complex part of Hawaiian history and politics, and this project will deal with all the nuance of culture and conquest and how civil war and cultural conflict change and shape our lives and how Polynesian culture endures and endures and I’m so happy for him but also he left us here alone with only David Filoni to write Mandalorian culture and I need him to come home right now because I’m so scared-

[dilbobloggins]

watching Alter Ego again and thinking abt tom paris <3

[bokatan77]

Hawaiian T-shirt Din Djarin... Hula-ing on the beach.

[anthyies]

guy who goes to frat parties to stand in the corner like the autism creature

[hooved]

[iloveeap]

compilation of my letterboxd reviews for the elvis movies

[dreamerwriternstargazer]

Horrifying my family by ordering a Hawaiian pizza with a twist

Pineapples, Turkey ham, pepperoni and green chilli

[coleydc58]

Jensen is in his grunge Era. I don't think he got a chance to have this hair, this look, and sing Foo Fighters songs back then. It suits him, and it makes me happy to think of people doing things they may have always wanted to. How often do we get a chance like that?