Ke Ao Akua - The godly realm
1. vs., God, goddess, spirit, ghost, devil, image, idol, corpse; divine, supernatural, godly.
ʻakua
1. s., Among Hawaiians, formerly, the name of any supernatural being, the object of fear or worship; a god. The term, on the visit of foreigners, was applied to artificial objects, the nature or properties of which Hawaiians did not understand, as the movement of a watch, a compass, the self-striking of a clock, &c. At present, the word Akua is used for the true God, the Deity, the object of love and obedience as well as fear.
2. The name of the night when the moon was perfectly full; a akaka loa o ia poepoe ana, o Akua ia po; hence it would seem that the ancient idea of an Akua embraced something incomprehensible, powerful, and yet complete, full orbed.
While “akua” is commonly translated into English as “deity” , Western and Hawaiian ideas of what constitutes a “deity” differ greatly.
The following fall under the category of “akua”:
a deity, a spirit, mana, strength, knowledge, things without a source, a ruling ali‘i, a corpse, a ghost, a kauā (outcast of the despised class), and a devil.
While “akua” does denote “deity,” it is important to note that not all akua were actively worshipped.
The term has more to do with the more-than-human.
Akua are nature deities, representing the elements, natural phenomena, flora, fauna, and geographic features that characterize our island world: the sun is Kāne, the ocean is Kanaloa, the lava is Pele, the earth is Papa/Haumea, and the sky’s wide expanse is Wākea, and so on. Moreover, while some akua manifest as human, unlike the Christian God, this is not their primary form.
“Many are the gods of Hawaii. So numerous are they that in ancient times they were called na pua alii ‘uhane or “‘the chiefly flock of spirits.’
These gods are to be found not only in the heavens but also in the plants, birds, fish, rocks, and everything of nature, a god for every need of man.
And like their descendants, man, this host of gods has a hierarchy of importance, some gods outranking others.”
