touched by maui's mana

the kingdom of maui in the hawaiian islands is the most beautiful place i've ever been. going to maui is like falling in love! you can't stop smiling! and it just gets better.

it might start with the ordinary act of breathing, when you realize the air is perfumed with the scents of fragrant flowers, and that with every breath, you are inhaling the pheromones of tropical plants that are rampantly going mad for pollenation and reproduction! it can't help but make you feel foolish and happy.

or it might start with the feel of your skin on this island. the temperatures are moderate all the time, except when you go to the high elevations. in most places, there's no need for heating or air conditioning. people leave their windows open. it rains a lot (except on the dry side), but it is usually a misty rain, not thunderstorms. it can be warm, but not oppressively so. most of the time, it's very comfortable to wear flip-flops, shorts, and a tank top, or a swimsuit and pareo. you might take a hoodie or shawl with you, just in case you encounter a cool breezy spot. "balmy" is a word invented to describe the skin-feel of maui.

or it might start with your feet being on the ground of maui, which is part of the most remote island group in the world. it being a volanic island, with an "active" volcano (that hasn't erupted since 1790), you are standing on some of the newest earth on this planet, earth that comes up from the depths, from the mantle of our planet, the mantle that is so hot, it melts rock. you are standing on fresh, rich minerals. it can't help but have an influence.

or could it start with the rainbows? in my 3 weeks on maui, i saw rainbows nearly every day. they were especially prevalent driving between upcountry and the north shore. partial rainbows, full rainbows, double rainbows, sometimes with brilliant, dense colors... not to mention moonbows... i was lucky enough to see a full moonbow on christmas eve 2007 as one of lori's dinner guests on the deck of amara pagano's house in maui. moonbows are silvery white. they can only be seen when the moon is near full and low in the sky behind you, and precipitation is present in the direction you are looking. i felt extremely privileged to have witnessed that moonbow!

or could it start with the abundance of maui? the tropical climate, volcanic soil, and nourishing rains make it an incredibly verdant fertile place for plants. there's tropical fruit everywhere, so much that in places, it falls on the ground and gets run over by cars. no one could ever go hungry in maui--there's coconut, mango, pineapple, papaya, lilikoi, guava, citrus, avocado, cute and tasty little bananas, even exotics like rambutan, sweetsop, soursop, durian, breadfruit, and many more! just about anyone who owns property has fruit growing there, and many homes along the highways in rural areas have honor-system roadside fruit stands.

the love affair with maui could definitely start with its visual appeal. on a map it looks like a sea turtle seen from above, minus fins. on the ground, it is like being on the torso of a huge pregnant goddess, with the volcano haleakala being the hugely swollen belly, the west maui mountains being multiple breasts, and the central flat and narrow isthmus separating upper and lower body. from the ground, it is hard to avoid seeing mountains or volcano or both and hard to avoid seeing the surrounding sea. in some places you can see both north and south coasts. upcountry you can see both, and see the weather coming in as well. and if you're lucky enough to be atop haleakala at a clear moment, how blessed could you get, to be able to look down see all of maui and the surrounding smaller islands and look across the channel to see the big island and its volcanoes in the distance? i'm going back for that!

the energy in maui is definitely different. it's softer, subtler, more sensual, more giving, more vibrant, more alive.

and i haven't even said anything about the things you can do there. just being there is enough to change your energy, and on top of that, you can go to any of the 81 beaches, some with colored sand(!), where you can swim, snorkel, dive, sunbathe, and just feast your eyes on the restful oceanic horizon and watch the waves roll in. (speaking of which, pe'ahi, the wave that the surfers call "jaws", is at maui.) there are coral reefs with fabulously brilliant fish, turtle "cleaning stations", dolphins, and whales. there's surfing, windsurfing, boogie boarding, parasailing, hang-gliding... hiking in many environments from rainforest to lava cliffs to volcanic cinder cones... horseback riding (maui has many horses, and one part of it is dry, with cactus and mesquite, like so much of texas)... ziplines... you get the picture. it would take years to exhaust the recreational opportunities maui offers.

and then there's the road to hana. you cannot miss this if you go to maui! take a couple of hours to drive the 35 miles, curve after curve, following the rugged and verdant eastern coast, with frequent waterfalls and breathtaking views. stop often! this is the part where you get absolutely crazy in love, with your eyes crossed and tongue hanging out! be still, my heart!

then there's the culture. a beautiful poetic language coming back from near extinction. the accomplishments of people who explored and settled the pacific islands in canoes. it was a 30-day journey north for them to reach the hawaiian islands. how did they do it? how did they know where to find them, or even that they were there at all? navigation is a nearly lost art, now being revived.

the most important hawaiian word you can learn is mana. according to wikipedia, "Mana is a traditional term that refers to a concept among the speakers of Oceanic languages, including Melanesians, Polynesians, and Micronesians. It is an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects and that instills in the appreciative observer a sense of respect or wonder. In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept has attained a significant amount of interest; often understood as a precursor to formal religion. It has commonly been interpreted as 'the stuff of which magic is formed,' as well as the substance of which souls are made."

maui has wondrous mana. i'm going back.