Background ⓒ 2013 Dark Natasha, "The Return of Quetzalcoatl"
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Lūʻau o ka
Moʻowahine Nahesasa
Lū'au of the Serpent Spirit Woman Nahesasa
Nahesa is a completely fictional character of my own invention, having no basis in Hawai'ian culture or mythology. 'cause Hawai'i doesn't have snakes. But it was fun and works great to marry Lū'au and Year of the Snake together!
You, too, can craft a story about Nahesa, or about her people nā kānaka, or the spirits and gods, or invent your own Hawai'ian myth, and we'll tell your story on the mic at the party! You'll also get a special charm from Nahesa and Hi'ikua as thanks!
Here's Nahesa's background
Short Version
Long ago, when the sun forgot to rain and the springs ran dry, a clever healer named Nahesa dared to seek the water hiding deep in the earth. She braved the caves, faced the trials of the mischievous serpent spirit Pohāhina, and gave up her soul to stir the sleeping spring. The earth shivered, the water sang, and her kānaka were saved. And Nahesa? She so impressed Hi'ikua, Pohāhina's boss, that she made Nahesa mo'owahine of the spring—part woman, part serpent, all sass and sacred power—a reptile spirit guarding the spring and its secret pools, and whispering to the rainclouds to ensure her kānaka would never want for water.
If you bring her a song, a dance, or a drink... she just might bless your night.
Nahesa's Origin
In the time when the islands still listened and the winds still whispered, there lived a wahine named Nahesa, haumāna a ka kāhuna nui, a healer of deep knowledge, with a keen wit, and a beautiful voice that could sing, soothe, and sass. She dwelled at the edge of a sacred valley where the cliffs curled like sleeping lizards, and flora and fauna alike drank from a spring so pure that the flora glowed, and every voice brightened that snaked a sip, even the birds. The spring was called Wai Kūpuna.
Most say Nahesa was just a great human; a few claim she was born of wai and paʻakai—water and salt. She tended to the sick, the lonely, and the lost, with her unique blend of humor and healing whispers. When the rains failed or the rivers ran muddy, it was Nahesa who found hidden pools and brought life back to nā kānaka. They said she could smell water underground and feel it singing through stone.
Wai Kūpuna was a blessed spring for many generations, but not all spirits were kind to nā kānaka, and one became jealous of Nahesa's gifts.
One season, a malevolent spirit brought forth a great drought—so fierce the taro leaves curled and the fish slept belly-up. Nā kānaka begged the gods to bring them rains, but the skies did not cry. They begged the spirits to open the spring, but the earth remained selfish. The kahuna nui, named Kuapōhaku, divined that the drought was punishment, and to appease the spirits, one must descend into the cave of Keʻelua, to find and treat with the oldest and most sinister of the moʻo, named Pohāhina, who controls Wai Kūpuna's source.
The kahuna nui's warning was weighty and fearsome. When none other dared enter, Nahesa stepped forward. Kuapōhaku presented her with a hue wai, carved in moonlight and filled with blessed spring water from precious waning reserves. "Go then, and save nā kānaka."
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi vs English
wahine woman
Nahesa Play on nakesa, snake
haumāna a ka kāhuna nui
student of the high shaman
Wai Kūpuna lit. ancestral waters; here, the name of a spiritually potent spring
wai water (fresh), giving life, wealth, spiritual vitality
pa'akai lit. "hardened sea", aka salt, used for preservation, purification, and healing
Nā kānaka The People
kahuna nui The big kahuna/ high shaman
Kuapōhaku lit. a person of strength who can be reliable and responsible; here, the name of the kahuna nui
Ke'elua lit. "the second"
mo'o lizard/serpent spirit, water guardian (feminine: mo'owahine)
hue wai water container made from a coconut
Nahesa's Hānau Hou
Carrying only the hue wai and a kukui torch from the candlenut tree, she entered the cave and descended a league before finding Pohāhina's dark and dismal lair. Pohāhina was a serpent as long as ten canoes and black as midnight lava, barely visible in Nahesa's torchlight. She wrapped herself around the cave’s columns and hissed a greeting, spite seeping through her words,
“Why do you sully my slumber, succulent soft-blooded one?”
Nahesa bowed her head slightly, lowering her eyes, “Oh great Pohāhina, guardian of Wai Kūpuna, I beseech thee eat me not, 'A'ole 'ono ko'u koko—hamuia, me ka hao 'ino." (My blood is not tasty—tainted with hard wicked iron). Pohāhina recoiled at the idea with a hiss. Nahesa smiled and continued, "I come not for pride, nor glory, .. nor light," she smirked, lowering her kukui torch to the ground between them. "Only that the spring sleeps, and nā kānaka thirst.” She set her hue wai next to the torch, opening it to reveal torchlight dancing on the silver surface of the water.
Pohāhina paused briefly, impressed, but then hissed at the light, dousing it with a jet from the spring, leaving Nahesa in pitch darkness. She constantly tasted the air around Nahesa, as they exchanged many silver-tongued words, until at last he tested Nahesa with three trials, agreeing to waken the spring if she passed:
To find a hidden pool in the darkness,
To calm a stone struck with flame,
To offer something more precious than her own life.
The first she achieved with only her nose and feet, smelling and feeling her way to the pool. The second, by blending the water with her voice of soothing song. The third, by placing her own shadow into the root of Wai Kūpuna, binding her soul to it forever.
Pohāhina was sated by her deeds, but still refused to open the spring. For days Nahesa was trapped, at first resigned that her sacrifice was for naught, but she grew bolder, making a nuisance of herself with barbs and bad jokes to sway Pohāhina to fulfill her promise, even resorting to hours of terrible puns. But still she refused. That is when Hiʻikua appeared, the mo'owahine hui, serpent goddess of this island's mo'o, and disciplined Pohāhina for her petulance. Hiʻikua then opened the spring, but Nahesa remained bound to Wai Kūpuna. Hiʻikua, recognizing her dedication, decided she would be a great mo'o for the spring, and chanted, "Lilo i moʻowahine, kiaʻi o Wai Kūpuna." Her words bestowed hānau hou, changing Nahesa physically and spiritually.
Scales the color of moonlit moss poured across her skin, shimmering faintly like dew on a palm at dawn. A luminous sheen blessed her form, as though the mana of the spring had inscribed itself upon her very body, bringing divine light to the cave. Her eyes turned to jade. Her breath smelled of fern and storm. And from that day, she coiled near the spring as its eternal guardian—neither woman nor beast, but divine protector, Mo'owahine Nahesasa, the serpent spirit guardian of Wai Kūpuna.
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi vs English
hānau hou rebirth, born again
kukui candlenut tree, a source of flammable oil
Pohāhina Name of the ancient mo'o in the cave, from po (dark) and hahina (dim)
A'ole 'ono ko'u koko—hamuia, me ka hao 'ino.
My blood is not tasty--tainted with hard wicked iron
Hi'ikua The invented name of the serpent god of mo'o, from:
hi'i To carry, to cherish, to hold
kua Back (body), behind, support
Lilo i to become
kiaʻi o guardian of ...
hānau hou rebirth, born again
Nahesasa Invented name, extending Nahesa for her new form
The cave she inhabits is now named:
Ka'ekolu the third
Other Stories?
Other Stories?
There's a lot more story yet untold. How did she first discover her healing talent? What about that time she was way too sassy and had to learn better bedside manners? How did she come to study under Kuapōhaku? Who were her supposed parents, or what's the deal with that salt/water story? Who bestowed her human gifts? Maybe it was some demigod who had a bone to pick with Pohāhina? What was said in that exchange she had with Pohāhina? Did Nahesa have any siblings? Did her expertise with healing make some of her kānaka a little more wreckless? How did nā kānaka feel about her ascension, her hānau hou? She was their best healer, how did they manage without her? Who took her place? What sort of interactions did they have with her after? Were they scared of her? Where the kids scared of her? Now that she can talk to the sky and the wind, what did they say? What new powers does she have as mo'o?
Write something. Or draw something. Bring it to the party, and Nahesasa will give you a special gift.
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