The Ho’omaka (initiate) had been laid out on a long black solid block of lava rock, 4 feet high, by 6 feet by 3 feet. Around the lava rock in each corner and in the center on each side was a Kukui nut oil lamp that provided light for the five Kahuna to do their work. As the initiate lay there the Kahuna Lomilomi massaged the Ho’omaka for what seemed like days. As they worked, their chants reverberated into the cool night air:

“Kau ka halia, i ka manawa,
He hiamoe kou. Ho ala ana oe, o oe, o
O halau lani o hoa ka lei,
He me manu e, e kani nei…”

Each day the Ho’omaka went, he felt, deeper and deeper into himself. During what seemed like the second day, the images came flooding back.. He remembered a time long ago. He remembered!

The days of The Order of Kane had come to an end. The soldiers of Pa’ao had arrived, and they were hunting all the Kahuna of the old order, and burning the temples. In this time, as he remembered, he was a young Kahuna, and he feared for his life. As he hid near the temple, he sensed his doom. All his masters were dead, his mother, father, wife, and young baby daughter, had all been killed. He knew that all was lost, and felt he was next. Even though the soldiers of Pa’ao were all around, he managed to survive through the night. And as the sun rose in the morning, the Pohaku O Kane (the stone images of the One God who had created the universe) had laid themselves down. None were broken, none were damaged. And as he remembered, the sadness came flooding back, and then the tears. The perfect times were over. That idyllic time of love, peace, and happiness was over.

When the Ho’omaka awoke the face of the kindly old Kahuna was smiling down on him. She said, “Welcome back.” He said, “We aren’t the first. I remembered when we were here before.” She smiled as he continued, “There was a time when we all lived in harmony. Women were equally honored and could rise to the highest level with the men.” “Yes, little one; you are right,” she said. “In ancient times it was so. Those times are gone now, but they will return.” “But why did it end,” he asked. “Everything moves in cycles, from the highest to the lowest. The time of balance was over long ago, and we are now in a time of imbalance, a time for extremes. But the balanced times will return. It is predicted. They will return.”