Geography/Culture: Polynesia: Hawaii. She arrived in Hawaii after human settlement.
Linguistic Note: Her name was pronounced (fopho:) P]LE, on the TV program Volcano Scapes aired in San Francisco 89/9/26.
Description: Shapeshifting red-robed Crone Goddess of volcanoes, volcanic fires, domestic fire, inspiration, magic and the regeneration of the dead; Commander of the lightning; Essence of earthly fire; She Who creates and submerges islands; She Who dances on the rims of volcanoes; Imbiber of gin; She Who lights cigarettes with a snap of Her fingers.
See also Goddess Anthology under Pele.
To Whom Sacred: lei, necklace of blossoms; the volcano Kilauea (She resides in Halemaumau, 'the fire-pit' of the summit); divining rod (which She uses to locate good places to create islands); a hula dance (kicking up little stones are a part of it -- it expresses the volcano erupting and the beauty of the flowing lava).
Offerings accepted by Her (generally placed in lava flows to please Her): gin (in small bottles); cut hair; sugarcane; flowers; white birds; money; strawberries. She may once have accepted human sacrifice.
Iconography: She is described as a wizened Old Woman.
Male Associates: She took several lovers, including the mortal Lohiau, ----, and Kamapua, ----, the hog god, inventor of agriculture.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• Daughter of Haumea, ----, below.
• As Commander of lightning She resembles The-Great-Woman-Who-Set-Fire-to-the-Sky, companion of Hina, Who is linked with Ina.
• Her mortal form is called Hina-Ai-Malama, Lady-Who-Eats-the-Moon.
• Pele is sometimes sur-titled: Madam.
• See also Laka, ----, below.
• She sometimes fights with Her Sister Namaka, below.

Geography/Culture: Polynesia: Hawaii.
Description: Ever self-renewing Goddess of earth, though She grows old She transforms Herself to youth again; First Ancestress of the island chiefs; She Who taught human women how to give birth; She Who owns the wild plants and Whose domain is the forest.
To Whom Sacred: morning-glory (the flowers are the shreds of Her skirts which remain clinging to the tree-trunks when She runs through the forest).
Male Associate: consort Wakea, ----.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• Her self-renewal recalls Estsan-Atlehi, Self-Renewing-One.
• Mother of Hiiaka, Cloudy-One, below.
• Perhaps Mahuea, ----, Mother of Hina, (Who is linked with Ina), is a variant.
• Mother of Namaka, ----, below.
• She is identified with Maori Papa, Foundation.
• Mother of Pele, {Fire-Maker}, above.

Geography/Culture: Polynesia: Hawaii.
Description: Goddess of flowers and gardens.
Male Associate: lover and eventual consort, Lohiau, ----.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• Daughter of Haumea, ----, above.

Geography/Culture: Polynesia. Hawaii and the Easter Islands.
Linguistic Note: The phonetic rendering of Her name was transcribed from a TV program on the Hula.
Description: Goddess of the dance and flowers; She Who invented the hula and gave it to humanity whence it has been handed down from the beginning of the world.
Costume, movement and chant all contribute to the telling of a myth.
To Whom Sacred: the hula, both sacred and secular (the true hula is not for entertainment, but communicates the principle of divine beings); the Halau, ('the hula hall', Her temple). The gestures of the hula all have a specific mimetic or symbolic import like Hindu mudras from which they are descended.
Male Associates: Her priest is called the kumu.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• There is a hula for Pele. {Fire-Maker}, above

Geography/Culture: Polynesia: Hawaii.
Description: Goddess of the sea; She Who is often belligerent.
It is said that She and Pele battled, or wrestled, across the Pacific, leaving traces of their combat behind as the string of Hawaiian islands.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• Also called Namakaokahai, ----.
• Older Sister of Pele, {Fire-Maker}, with Whom She is often at odds.