Library > Philosophy, Religion & Mythology > Mythology & Legends

Pele's Journey: Destination Kilauea

2000
This is the story of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, and how she settled in the Kilauea Volcano. Pele is forced to leave her birthplace in Tahiti because of family conflicts and voyages north across the Pacific Ocean on a canoe with a few brothers and sisters. On each of the Hawaiian Islands, she tries to dig a deep pit to hold her fires. But she is always unsuccessful. Only after a battle in which she is killed and turned into a spirit, does she finally find a place to house her fires and her family. Pele settles on the biggest island in the chain, the island of Hawaii, in the Halemaumau crater. Pele's home is Kilauea Volcano, where she remains alive even today.