Drama within Hawaiis supernatural and historical worlds is described by Arthur, a sickly foster child experiencing a troubled life. Avid reading makes him mentally tough, verbally agile, inquisitive, and very sassy. He watches Hawaiis unfolding with Kahu, his Menehune mentor; Miki, a Leprechaun, who once was Shakespeares shadow; Perfesser, an erudite American Indian Munchkin; Queen Esther of Ancient Persia, one of historys most exotic women; Rising Sun and Ah Soong, Asian pixies; as well as Ai, a beguiling Japanese girl who has become a Menehune. The boy is tormented by the ghosts lurking within his grandparents home. They haunt his dark Hawaiian grandfather and pale Canadian grandmother because miscegenationmarriage of different racial typesis strongly opposed in much of America, and although seemingly tolerated in Hawaii, it causes severe consequences. The blond, blue-eye lad will inevitably have a confrontation with tormented Grandpa, who will insist that Arthur conceal the Hawaiian ancestry bringing him pride and self assuredness. Arthur faithfully records the origin of Hawaiian fairies, The Menehune Opera, in blank verse. Cover illustration.) Being Menehune, My Journal is filled with history, creativity, inspiration, and A-l-o-h-a. Will there be a sequel? Absolutely!

This revised and updated comprehensive travel guide examines North America's most sacred sites for spiritually attuned explorers. Important archaeological, geological, and historical destinations from coast to coast are exhaustively examined, from the weathered pueblos of the American Southwest and the medicine wheels of western Canada to Graceland and the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. Histories and cultural contexts are objectively surveyed, along with the latest academic theories and insightful metaphysical ruminations. Detailed maps, drawings, and travel directions are also included.

Rooted in the creative success of over 30 years of supermarket tabloid publishing, the Weekly World News has been the world's only reliable news source since 1979. The online hub www.weeklyworldnews.com is a leading entertainment news site.

Here finally is a readable, thoroughly researched, and generously illustrated history of the island of Kauai. Edward Joesting tells for the first time the story of one of the most intriguing and least known of the Hawaiian Islands. His account begins with the prehistoric origins of the island and concludes with the annexation of Hawaii in 1898. Kauai describes the early emergence of Kauai as an island separate and distinctive from the other islands of Hawaii. It recounts the coming of Western man, the failure of King Kamehameha to conquer the island, and the ultimate incorporation of the island into the Hawaiian kingdom. Joesting also includes in his story the destructive impact of the sandalwood and whaling trades, and the subsequent rise of an economy based on sugar cultivation. His story comes to an end with the demise of the Hawaiian monarchy and the quiet revolution that occurred when Hawaii became a territory of the United States. Historical documents not previously used bring new information and fresh perspectives to this book. The result is a level-headed, engaging look at Kauai. Kauai: The Separate Kingdom is certain to become the authoritative history of the island long regarded by many as the most beautiful in the Hawaiian archipelago.

In "The Seven Dawns of the Aumakua, " author Moke Kupihea discovers his Hawaiian spiritual tradition. As a young boy he seeks out his "kupuna, " the old men of the mountains, who become his "kahu--"his ancestral guardians--and teach him to understand that the world of ancestral voices still speaks, if only in a whisper, and that learning to hear these voices is the key for returning Hawaii to its proud spiritual path.

Local Lives contests dominant trends in migration theory, demonstrating that many migrant identities have not become entirely diasporic or cosmopolitan, but remain equally focused on emplaced belonging and the anxieties of being uprooted. By addressing the question of how migrants legally and symbolically lay claim to owning and belonging to place, it refocuses our attention on the micro-politics and everyday rituals of place-making, that are central to the construction of migrant identities. Exploring immigrants' interactions with house spaces, property rights, environmental conservation, landscape, historical knowledge of place, ideas of 'local community' and place-specific 'traditions', this volume shows how, in a fluid world of movement, locality remains a deeply contested and symbolically rich place to situate identity and to constitute the self. Thematically organised and presenting a diverse range of empirical studies dealing with migrant communities in Hawaii, Britain, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic and Albania, Local Lives reorients research in migration and transnational studies around locality. As such, it will appeal to social scientists working on questions relating to landscape, identity and belonging; race and ethnicity; and migration and transnationalism.

Renowned storyteller Kendall Haven brings his expertise to the authorship of this fourth book in the 4-book series, Wonders of Nature: Natural Phenomena in Science and Myth. Intended for teachers to use with students in the upper elementary and middle school grades, it focuses on natural phenomena of the earth (volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.) through the eyes of ancient myth, and then looks at the actual modern day science that explains each myth, using an interdisciplinary style of teaching. Using knowledge gained as a former research scientist, Haven integrates science curricular with the study of myth. Students are encouraged not only to appreciate the magic in myth and science, but to understand the commonality of all human experience with nature over all time. The book contains myths from several different cultures, and accompanying scientific explanations. Bibliographies, recommended Web sites, student projects, and discussion and activity ideas are also included, while illustrations and diagrams enhance student interest. The book is to be used by teachers and librarians with students, and by students in libraries and classrooms. Grades 4-8.

Paul Pearsall's research shows that individual success and the solitary pursuit of happiness may be hazardous to one's health. Although many self-help books champion the singular approach to success and personal power as the path to well-being, Partners in Pleasure challenges this "singularity" by presenting new research and ancient cultural lessons regarding collective and connective ways to fulfillment and wellness. Drawing in part on 2,000-year-old Polynesian wisdom, this book shows how to go beyond self-fulfillment to shared pleasure.

The use of psychedelic drugs plants is rising, and with it the number of reports narrating encounters with otherworldly visionary beings. Approaches to these experiences have often been literal, archetypal or dismissive. Evolutionary psychology and the cognitive science of religion suggest innate and non-imagistic mental foundations for these phenomena arising from easily-triggered evolutionary functions during emotive periods of high cognitive demand. Such functions include agent detection, social intelligence faculties and metacognition. This wide-ranging book explores how our deepest mental processes predispose us as humans to believe in supernatural agents, and presents a new hypothesis of how these same cognitions facilitate the emergence of those agents to become present when psychedelic drugs and plants are ingested. Bruce concludes that visionary beings shimmer within as awe-inspiring products of the mind, an experience which rests at the heart of what it is to be human.

Ku and Hina—man and woman—were the great ancestral gods of heaven and earth for the ancient Hawaiians. They were life's fruitfulness and all the generations of mankind, both those who are to come and those already born. The Hawaiian gods were like great chiefs from far lands who visited among the people, entering their daily lives sometimes as humans or animals, sometimes taking residence in a stone or wooden idol. As years passed, the families of gods grew and included the trickster Maui, who snared the sun, and fiery Pele of the volcano. Ancient Hawaiians lived by the animistic philosophy that assigned living souls to animals, trees, stones, stars, and clouds, as well as to humans. Religion and mythology were interwoven in Hawaiian culture; and local legends and genealogies were preserved in song, chant, and narrative. Martha Beckwith was the first scholar to chart a path through the hundreds of books, articles, and little-known manuscripts that recorded the oral narratives of the Hawaiian people. Her book has become a classic work of folklore and ethnology, and the definitive treatment of Hawaiian mythology. With an introduction by Katherine Luomala.