Power Stones - a Letter

by Cathy Kitcho - July 12, 1997

Power Stones
754 Ilani Wai Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Dear Linda and/or Robin:

I found your book in the Kailua-Kona library when I was there on vacation in April. It was a fascinating collection of stories about Pele's power and myths about the lava.

On one of my previous vacation trips to Hawaii, I had gathered three small pieces of lava, each a different composition. One piece is a dark lava, the most common type that are lying around the volcanoes area. The second piece is heavier, a mixture of olivine and basalt, created as the molten lava thrust upward through the bedrock. The third piece is lightweight, white, solid ash from the volcano, of the type that people use to create roadside graffiti near the Ke Ahole airport highway. I kept these three pieces in a special container where my other crystals are, near my bed. Everything was fine until I read the book "The Secrets and Mysteries of Hawaii", by Pila of Hawaii. He talked extensively about the bad karma associated with removing lava from the Big Island. I became alarmed, and decided to get some spiritual guidance about what I should do.

I took the three samples, set them in front of me, and sat in my "meditation chair" to go on a meditation-journey about what to do about the stones. What happened during this journey was most remarkable. As I reached the meditative state, I felt this tremendous force pulling me- I was being sucked upward into the womb of Pele. As I moved upward, I saw huge legs, then a narrow, red hot passageway, and then I was floating. It had the same feeling as when I had been scuba diving off the Big Island, and swimming through a lava tube. As I got to this "place" in my journey, my hands and feet became very hot. I felt this tremendous force taking my being and riveting it to the earth - to form an unbreakable connection. I had great power and very large hands, and I was sculpting papaya trees, one by one. My gift and my purpose is to create with my hands. These hands then moved on to a rock surface where I was recording petroglyphs, creating a written record with these hands. I felt extreme power and obligation. I asked for this power in my life now, and suddenly a blinding square peg of yellow light shot into me, and I was swept up in it. As I tried to get my bearings, I could see pieces of my current life detached outside it - unimportant and released.

I then realized that it was the spirit of Pele herself that was directing this journey and sending me these messages. She told me that I could keep the stones, but I needed to agree to take on and work with her power to create through writing. I was directed to take these stones and set up a small shrine in my office at home where I do my writing. I was to take some of the marine shells I had gathered during scuba diving on previous trips to the island, and place them with the stones and any photos I had of the Big Island. Pele said I will not be harmed, that my spirit is descended from her, and I am to do her work - to use my power in a positive and healing way and not in a vengeful or destructive way. The journey ended. I held my hands up to my face. They were terribly hot.

This experience was frightening, as journeys go. I called my shaman friend and went to see her. I took the stones with me and the other parts of my shrine. My friend had actually grown up in Hawaii, but hadn't worked with Pele's spirit before. She held the three stones in her hand, her eyes closed. After a few moments, she started shaking visibly. I waited until she had completed the journey. She opened her eyes, looked at me and said, "Incredible energy - wow! Am I hot! I've not worked with Pele before. She will be a powerful source for you. The three stones in combination will open your chakras so that you can receive Pele's energy. Hold them in your hand, and clear your chakras before you write. As you begin to work with Pele's energy in the presence of the stones, you will be able to channel her energy. Try to write about Pele, also, it will re-energize your writing." She then gave me a ritual to do at Halemaumau, that I was to perform with my sister and my niece on my next trip to Hawaii, which was to take place in November of 1996.

I did the ritual as instructed, even convincing my straight-laced sister to participate. I think we each got something from the spirit after that ritual, and we drew closer as a family. We also took a trip into Waipio valley, and each of us had some very moving spiritual experiences. I returned from that trip and went to see my shaman again, to interpret some of the messages I had received from Pele, and from the many turtles that kept appearing out of nowhere every time I was in or near water on the trip. Once again, I took my shrine to her, and she interpreted the messages for me. The turtle was an additional guide, a reminder to keep diligently pursuing my course along my path - which was to keep writing. I was also supposed to return to Waipio valley alone the next time I was there.

I booked my next trip the following April; for the first time, I would be alone. My shaman prepared me for the ritual that I was to do in Waipio Valley, and gave me a crystal to take with protective gates in it. I was to do a soul completion there. I left on my trip, complete with my laptop computer. I knew I was supposed to write while I was there. From the moment I landed at Ke Ahole airport, Pele was directing the show again. The trip to Waipio Valley shook the very core of my being. I arduously hiked down the steep cliffs to the floor of the valley. Near the beach, I walked through a wooded area, and found the spot for the ritual - a volcano-shaped lava boulder. Pele said this was it. I made my offerings, did my ritual, and then I was given my mission. I was to channel the stories of all the generations of people who had lived in the valley. I was told that all the plots and characters I would ever need in my writing were here in the valley. I was given the channeling ability during this trip and that represented the missing piece - the completion of my soul to do my life's work. Pele told me that I must feel their pain, their joy and all their emotions through my soul, through my fingers and into my writing. I need to tell their stories so that people will not forget, so that people will remember how important it is to love one another. I am now the custodian of that power, and Pele said she will guide me in its use and caretaking.

Shortly after my ritual was complete, I had lunch on the beach and rested before the challenging hike back up to the top. I took my time getting back to the top, and as I looked back down into the valley one last time, I saw a vision of throngs of people - of all ages and sizes - looking up at me and saying "Tell our stories!" I returned to my room later that day, and I opened my laptop computer. Pele said she would show me how to channel a story. I went into a meditative state, then came out of it and started writing. I wrote a story, complete with characters' names. Now, you must realize, I don't know a single word of Hawaiian. I read the story when I was done, and I decided to look up the meaning of the characters' names. I went into Kailua for dinner that night, and stopped in the bookstore. I looked up the names in a Hawaiian dictionary, and I stood there in the store with chills running down my spine. The names, when translated, were consistent with the appearance and the roles of the characters in the story as I had written them. I was stunned. I guess Pele means business.

The rest of that trip was equally enlightening with spiritual experiences. I returned home and framed a poster of Pele and hung it in my office. I started writing more. I started my writing business, and secured the business name of Pele Publications, as you see on my letterhead. My intent is to stay on my path, and use the gifts that I have been given through Pele. It is a great responsibility to pay the price of keeping the three stones, but in my case, it is changing my life in a way that I could have only dreamed about before. May this story inspire you or others to search for true meaning in life. Pele's power stones helped me find mine.

Sincerely,

Cathy Kitcho
Pele Publications

Return to to Articles Menu