myths and legends the volcano goddess i

The Volcano GoddessIn olden times, Pele the fire goddess longed for adventure, so

she said farewell to her earth mother and sky father and set sail in her canoe, with an egg under her arm.

In that egg was her favourite sibling – her little sister, Hi’iaka, who was yet

to be born. As Pele paddled across the ocean, she kept the egg warm

until her sister finally hatched.

“Welcome, little sister,” said Pele and she continued paddling.

The ocean was so vast and the journey so long that, by the

time Pele had reached land – the island of Hawaii –

her sister was already a teenager.

Pele pulled their canoe onto the warm

sand and set off for Kilauea Mountain,

where she dug a deep crater and filled

it with fire, so that she and her sister

could live in comfort. But Hi’iaka

was the goddess of hula dancing,

and she spent most of her

time in the flower

groves, dancing

with her new

friend, Hopoe.

40

Myths and Legends

Pele loved her volcano home, but she needed to protect it from jealous rival gods,

so whenever she felt like exploring, she fell asleep and left her body as a spirit.

In this form, she could quickly fly across the sea to visit other islands.

One evening, the breeze carried the sound of joyful music across the ocean and

Pele decided to see where it was coming from. She took on her spirit form and

flew across the sea – a journey that would have taken many weeks by canoe.

At last, on the shore of Kauai, she found a colourful hula dance festival being

performed for the island’s chief – a handsome man called Lohiau.

Though he wasn’t a god, Pele fell in love with Lohiau immediately. She introduced

herself to him and Lohiau was so enchanted, he and Pele spent the whole of the

next week together, and declared their love for each other. But as time wore on,

Pele could feel her magic weakening. She had to get back to her sleeping body.

“I must go home,” she told Lohiau. “But I will send my sister for you.”

‘O’Connor was standing beneath

41

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When Pele returned, she found her

sister dancing among the flowers.

Pele begged her sister to sail to

Kauai Island and bring Lohiau

back to her.

“I will do it for you, dear sister,”

said Hi’iaka, “but you must vow

not to let your lava flow into the

groves while I am gone. Hopoe

and I love to dance there.”

Pele promised, but when she saw

her sister’s radiant and beautiful

face, she suddenly felt uneasy. “And

you must promise me, little egg, that if

Lohiau falls in love with you, you will

not return his affections. And you must

come back before forty days have passed.”

“Don’t worry,” said Hi’iaka, smiling, and she set off in Pele’s canoe.

Hi’iaka’s voyage was a troubled one. First there came a thick fog, and

then lashing rain, followed by strong winds. At one point, hungry sharks

surrounded her canoe, but she kept on paddling, determined not to give

up. Days quickly turned into weeks. At last, she heard the beautiful hula

music, which had attracted Pele to Kauai Island in the first place.

She made her way across the waves to the island, but was sad to find that

Lohiau had missed Pele so much, he had died from a broken heart. Hi’iaka

wasn’t as powerful as her older sister, but she did have some magic, so she

stood over the chief’s body and chanted until a brilliant rainbow appeared

above him. Moments later, life rushed into his body again.

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“Chief Lohiau,” said Hi’iaka. “I am here to take you to Pele. Will you come?”

Lohiau nodded eagerly and said goodbye to his people. The journey home was

easier and, with Lohiau’s help in paddling, a lot swifter. But by the time Hawaii

was in sight, Hi’iaka had been gone for much longer than forty days.

Because they were so late, Pele became convinced that her sister and Lohiau

had run away together. She was overwhelmed with anger and her rage swelled

through her body, causing molten lava to erupt from the crater and pour down the

mountainside, covering Hi’iaka’s favourite flower groves. Pele didn’t realise that

Hi’iaka’s best friend Hopoe was dancing there.

According to the legends of Hawaii, the volcano goddess Pele had many brothers who

came to live with her, including the gods of whirlwinds,

thunder and lava fountains. Her eldest brother was the god of sharks, and he lived

on a cliff on the side of Kilauea Mountain. Out of love

for him, Pele never allowed her lava or volcanic steam to

go near his home.

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When Hi’iaka saw what had happened, she cried out in sorrow, “Sister, no!”

Chief Lohiau put his arms around Hi’iaka to comfort her. When Pele saw this, she

believed that they had fallen in love. In a fit of jealousy, she surrounded them

with a towering circle of flames, but Hi’iaka used her powers to protect Lohiau.

They escaped to their canoe and sailed back to his island, where they really did

find love and, together, they spread the tradition of hula dancing.

Because of her impatience and envy, Pele had lost her favourite sister and the

man she loved, so she hid away in her crater, where she still lives today, erupting

every now and then to remind the world of her power.

Have a go at making

up your own hula

dance, inspired by

the characters

in this story!

MOVE IT!

© storytimemagazine.com 2017

hawaii summer fun pack!

Celebrate summer with our Activity Pack inspired by Storytime Issue 36’s Hawaiian legend,

The Volcano Goddess.

StorytimeTM


The Volcano Goddess is a myth about Pele – a fire goddess who set off on an adventure across the sea and discovered the island of Hawaii. She made her home in a volcano and lived there with her sister, until she fell in love with a hula-dancing island chief. Read it in Storytime Issue 36.

ABOUT THE STORY

IN YOUR PACK: 10 Facts about Hawaii. Get to know the geography and culture of the amazing location that inspired this issue’s myth.

Explosive Volcanoes. Explore the science behind the myth and find out what makes volcanoes erupt.

See Inside a Volcano. Ever wondered what a volcano looks like from the inside? Sneak a scientific peek here.

Make a Volcano. Pretend you’re a volcano god or goddess and try this fun and easy science experiment!

Hawaiian Party Time. Learn about the music, food and celebrations of Hawaii, try a tropical recipe and make your own floral lei.

Ocean Maze. Can you navigate your way through shark-infested waters, like Pele’s sister did? Find out in this tricky puzzle.

Hawaiian Word Search. See if you can spot the Hawaiian-themed words in our grid.

Colouring and Drawing Pages. Put your artistic skills to the test on our colouring and drawing pages.

Postcard from Hawaii. Write a postcard from this tropical isle and send it to a friend.

The Great Big Hawaii Quiz. How much can you remember about Hawaii? Pit your wits against our quiz!

Storytime Magazine: Hawaii Summer Fun Pack


Hawaii is the 50th state of the United States of America, but it’s over 2,300 miles away from the American coastline.1

Hawaii is made up of eight big islands and over 100 smaller ones. They stretch for over 1,500 miles in the Pacific Ocean.2

The largest of the eight islands is called Hawaii Island or Big Island. It is twice the size of all the other islands put together.3

The capital of Hawaii is Honolulu, which is on O’ahu Island. 4

Hawaii’s nickname is the ‘Aloha State’ – Aloha is Hawaiian for ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.5

Kilauea volcano, where the goddess Pele lives in our story, is on Big Island. It has been erupting for over 30 years.6

Mount Mauna Kea on Big Island is the tallest mountain in the world, measured it from the sea floor. It’s double the height of Mount Everest!7

The Hawaiian alphabet only has 13 letters – A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W and the ‘okina (an apostrophe). An ‘okina can change the meaning of a word. Ko’u means ‘softwood tree’, but kou means ‘my’.

8

Hawaii is famous for its white sandy beaches, but it also has green, red and even black beaches. The black sand is caused by lava flowing into the sea.

9

As well as volcanoes and beaches, Hawaii is famous for surfing, pineapples, coffee, hula dancing, and its amazing marine life!10


10 FACTS ABOUT HAWAII

KAUAI

MOLOKAI

MAUI

HAWAIIOAHU

NIIHAU

LANAI

KAHOOLAWE


In our story, the goddess Pele lives inside Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island. When it erupted long ago, people used to blame Pele, but now science can explain what volcanoes are and how they erupt. Find out more here.

A volcano is an opening in the surface of the earth – volcanoes are often, but not always, mountains.

There are three types of volcano. An active volcano erupts a lot. A dormant volcano hasn’t erupted for a while, but could erupt at any time. An extinct volcano probably won’t erupt ever again.

There are over 1,500 active volcanoes in the world! Most of them are located in a horseshoe shape in the Pacific Ocean. This area is known as the Ring of Fire.

Deep inside a volcano, below the Earth’s crust, there is hot molten rock and gases called magma.

The Earth’s crust is made up of big plates, which move around. Sometimes, they slide into each other.

When these plates collide this causes pressure, which builds up and squeezes magma up into the volcano.

When magma spews out of the volcano it is called lava.

Lava is super hot. It can reach temperatures of up to 1,200ºC (2,200ºF). As it flows down the volcano, it cools and hardens.

Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the world’s largest active volcano. It has been erupting for over 7,000 years!

FACT!The word volcano comes

from the name Vulcan, who was the Roman god

of fire. We think they should have been named after Pele!


EXPLOSIVE VOLCANOES!

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Find out what’s what inside a volcano, then see if you can make your own on the next page!


SEE INSIDE A VOLCANO!

ash clouds

crater

secondary cone

main vent

magma chamber

lava flowash


You Need:

Plasticine or modelling clay

Plastic cup or small bottle (a plastic cup is less fiddly)

Big Pyrex or plastic tray or waterproof plastic sheet

Washing up liquid (for bubbles)

Tablespoon measure

Red or orange food colouring

Bicarbonate of soda

Stirrer or spoon

White vinegar

1. Mould your Plasticine or clay around the plastic cup or bottle to look like a volcano shape.

2. Place it in the middle of your tray or sheet.

3. Pour 1 tbsp washing up liquid into the bottle or cup.

4. Add 1 tbsp food colouring and 4 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

5. Give everything a good stir.

6. Now pour in 250ml white vinegar and quickly stand back.

7. Watch your volcano erupt!

8. Wash out your cup or bottle and start all over again! What happens if you add less or more bicarbonate of soda, or more washing up liquid?

MAKE A VOLCANO!

TIP!Why not decorate your volcano to

make it look like a real mountain?

Watch a volcano erupt! This is a fun and messy activity you can do in the kitchen or

in the garden, but it needs adult supervision.


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HAWAIIAN PARTY TIME!

An important part of Hawaiian culture is the luau (pronounced loo-ow) – we call it a party! It’s a time when people come together and feast, dance and play music. Hold your very own Hawaiian summer luau!

The ukulele (a small guitar) was invented in Hawaii and is very popular at parties. Listen to some Hawaiian ukulele music here: beta.tunein.com/radio/Aloha-Joes-Ukulele-Island-s205522/

In our story, Pele’s little sister Hi’aka was the goddess of hula dancing – Hawaii’s traditional dance. Watch some hula dancers here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp5LLkJi1Lg then why not make up your own hula dance?

At a luau, everyone eats on the floor, like at a picnic. Favourite luau dishes include roast pork, chicken noodles, salmon, tuna and lots of tropical fruits, especially pineapple and coconut. Why not make these smoothies for your luau?

Pineapple, banana and coconut smoothies

• Peel, core and chop 2 ripe pineapples or use 3 large tins of

pineapple chunks. Pour them into a big bowl.• Chop up four small ripe bananas and add them to the bowl.• Pour half the fruit into a blender with one 400ml can of coconut milk and whizz everything together.• Pour the finished smoothie into glasses until they’re two-thirds full and fill each glass with crushed ice.• Repeat with the remaining half of your fruit.• This makes 4 to 8 smoothies, depending on the size of your glasses.

FAB FOOD

MUSIC & DANCING SPEAK THE LINGO!

Impress you luau guests when they arrive with these Hawaiian words:

E Komo Mai – WelcomeMahalo – Thank you‘Olu‘olu – PleaseKeiki – ChildrenAloha – Hello

Storytime Magazine: Hawaiian Party Time!


A luau isn’t complete without a lei. These are beautiful necklaces made from fresh flowers and they are traditionally given as gifts or worn at celebrations. The 1st of May in Hawaii is called Lei Day and each island has its own lei colour. In Hawaiian tradition, you should never throw away a lei, as it is a symbol of love from the person who gave it to you. Here’s how to make your own…

Print off our Lei Flowers Sheet in this pack. You can print off this sheet several times or make your own flowers from coloured paper.

Prod a hole through the centre of each flower and thread wool or embroidery cotton through each one.

Add beads between each flower if you like.

When you’ve finished, tie a knot in the two ends and wear your lei with pride!

DECORATIONS

Storytime Magazine: Hawaiian Party Time!


Hawaiian Party Time! : lei flower sheet


Storytime Magazine: Hawaii Summer Fun PackIn our story, Pele’s sister Hi’aka takes a dangerous journey across the ocean in her canoe and faces lots of obstacles along the way. Can you guide her through the shark-infested waters to reach the island of Kauai?

KAUA

I ISLA

ND

STAR

TOCEAN MAZE

SPOT IT!Can you spot 8 shark

fins in the maze? Colour in this picture when

you find them!


AlohaCOConUT HOnolulu HUla

kilaUEA lei luAU PEle

PINEAPPle SURfiNG UkuleleVOLcaNO

Storytime Magazine: Hawaii Summer Fun PackHAWAIIAN

WORD SEARCH

V z K G N I F R U S B W E A CT O I U D L M Q R R U E L D PB U L F K A D z B L J U I E KX R A C K U B M U I H F A Z IY X U E A N Q L W M K M A Y XI S E O C N O R H U K E H I TQ U A E H N O D I L Y U L E EF E L A O N P Z T R K W T C LA Z B H R O L O N U H G F G PY L S W G C H K L X J X R M PS G O K B G S E E U J Q O D AH S K H O Z L V X A A T N J EV Q V Q A E K F G Y W U I J NN S W K F F T M T K B G P S IQ C O C O N U T K B N E L E P

VzKGNIFRUSzzzAzzOIzzzzzzzUzLzzzLLUEzzACUHzIzXUANQLzzzENOzzzANOUEzzzOKLAzzHUPzLzLPzzOEUAzzzHLAEzzzAEUNzzzIzCOCONUTzzzELEP


HA! HA!What did Mr

Volcano says to Mrs Volcano?

I lava you!

Storytime Magazine: Hawaii Summer Fun PackDraw a picture inspired by Hawaii here – it could be an erupting volcano, surfers or hula dancers on the beach!DRAW IT!


did you know? Hawaii is home to two rare turtle species – the Hawksbill and the Green Sea Turtle.


COLOUR IT IN!

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tip! When you’ve finished, cut it out and stick the front and back together.

Storytime Magazine: Hawaii Summer Fun PackUsing everything you’ve learnt about Hawaii from our story and our pack, imagine you’ve been on holiday there. Write a postcard telling everyone about your island adventure. What will you say?

SEND A POSTCARD!



THE GREAT BIG HAWAII

QUIZ

Test how much you’ve learnt about Hawaii in our fun quiz! Circle your answers and check how well you did at the bottom of page 2.

1 The capital of Hawaii is…

A. O’ahu

B. Ha’iki

C. Honolulu

2 Which ocean is Hawaii in?A. AtlanticB. PacificC. Volcanic3 Hawaii’s traditional dance is called…

A. Hula

B. Luau

C. Limbo 4 A lei is usually made from…

A. Gold

B. Coconut

C. Flowers

5 The capital of Hawaii is…

A. O’ahu

B. Ha’iki

C. Honolulu PAGE 1



6 Which instrument is Hawaii famous for?A. BongoB. Flute

C. Ukelele

7 Which god inspired the word ‘volcano’?

A. Pele

B. Vulcan

C. Vishnu8 What is the world’s largest active volcano?

A. Kilauea

B. Mauna Kea

C. Mauna Loa

9 What is the mixture of hot

rock and gases called deep

below a volcano?

A. Magma

B. Lava

C. Mahalo10 Aloha means...

A. Hello

B. Goodbye

C. Love

Answers: 1c, 2b, 3a, 4c, 5b, 6c, 7b, 8c, 9a, 10a, b and c – trick question, aloha can mean allof these things!

PAGE 2

myths and legends the volcano goddess i

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