Author Archives: Steven Cassettari

The Menehune

This is a Hawaiian legend dealing with the Menehune or night walkers which are small spirits.

One day a family in Hawaii decided to build a wall around their garden. After it was done the parents could see their son sitting on the wall and it looked like he was having a conversation with himself. They asked him what he was doing and he said the Menehunes or night walkers were upset because they wall stopped them from being able to walk through the garden. The Menehunes were small spirits who were known to cause problems if given a reason. Not wanting to upset the spirits the family went to a Kahuna to see what they should do. The Kahuna told them to do two things first to put salt on the four corners of the wall as a defense measure and secondly to cut a small hole in the wall for the Menehunes to walk through. The word of the Kahuna proved true as once those steps were taken the family had no further trouble from the Menehunes.

This seems to be a typical ghost story with a local twist as the Menehunes are spirits particular to Hawaii and actually were only seen post interaction with the western world. This story also features the powers of a wise person in order to keep the wrath of the spirits at bay showing that people can forestall harm to themselves if taking the proper steps. This element makes people respect the supernatural while giving them the steps to protect themselves.

Clipping Fingernails

Clipping nails out of order

When my informant was a child he can remember his mother telling him that clipping his nails in order was bad luck. If one clipped the first three in order one should switch the order for the last two in order not to cause bad luck. This applies to both fingernails and toenails. He says that while the only practices it occasionally, if it does occur to him while trimming he does take care to go out of order.

He told me that his mother learned it from her mother and he supposes that it was passed down like that for some time as he has no knowledge of where that superstition started. He also says that while he does not practice it every time, it is something he would pass on to his children if he has any. So while the reason for the tradition is lost it still lives on in those who learn if from family.

The fact that he only does it sometimes proves that the reason he would trim them out of order isn’t to avoid back luck its to comply with something he was taught by his mother. For him it has become more of a tradition that something seriously done to avoid bad luck. There is nothing else that my informant told me that would make this practice stand out as more than just another practice to avoid bad luck.

Herring at New Year’s Eve

One eats herring on New Year’s Eve for good luck

When my informant was younger he can remember celebrating New Year’s Eve with his family. For most of the night the kids would be separate playing games while the adults played cards and talked. When the count down to the new year started the whole family would gather up and right at zero one of the adults would hand out a piece of herring on a toothpick and everyone would eat it. While this was happening everyone would wish each other a happy new year.  This was supposed to ensure good luck for the new year.

My informant no longer partakes in this new year’s eve ritual, but he remembers it being important in the past. My informant has polish ancestry and this is where the ritual came from. He told me that he has heard of other polish families doing this ritual, but not from others. When asked my informant could not remember the particular reason for choosing herring as the food though. The tradition may have come from a desire to start the year off right and people associated herring with being a food item that would go along with that sentiment.

Hawaiian Leis

Giving of Leis

My informant told me of a common custom in Hawaii, the giving of leis as a positive gesture at events. The type of events can range from funerals to birthdays to welcoming tourists to the islands. Whether comforting or welcoming the tradition is embraced by all on the islands not only the native Hawaiians. The leis are supposed to represent a hug that encircles you all day long. Traditionally they are sewn by hand and made of flowers with the better smelling flowers costing more, but as time passes more and more types of leis become acceptable. There are candy leis, ribbon leis, and money leis, that people give out at various occasions. These types of leis are prominent at graduations as people have many to give out and often do not want to spend as much money on a fancier flower lei that won’t last as long as a ribbon one or isn’t as fun as a candy lei. Flower leis are still the most common type though as they are the most meaningful. These are also given to tourists entering the state in order to make a good first impression and it wouldn’t be acceptable for the state to welcome visitors with candy leis.

The giving of leis used to be an exclusively native Hawaiian activity but as immigrants to the islands stayed there longer it become part of a new island culture. Leis are given out in Hawaii as much as before but as the culture evolved the types of leis changed as well showing that while the tie to the past is there so is the new. The leis are physical symbols of positive emotion that are physical remembers one can take with them. The various different materials can often give different meaning to the giving of the lei that wouldn’t necessarily exist if flowers were the only medium. This shows that the evolution of the leis also expands what can be done with them.

Mochi Pounding

Mochi Pounding Tradition

The beginning of the mochi pounding tradition began in Japan and done mainly in festivals, but when Japanese immigrants came to Hawaii the tradition became part of the culture there. Instead of in festivals it became an activity done with close family and friends. Mochi is made with pounded rice and is often used in deserts. Mochi pounding is done before the New Year in order to have okasane, a shaped piece of mochi, ready to place by the door for good luck in the coming year. The mochi is made by taking rice and soaking it and then steaming it to make it soft. The rice is then pounded by a mallet, traditionally called a kine, in a bowl shaped stone called an usu. The usu is heated with hot rags first in order to keep the rice paste hot. Each family traditionally has their own rhythm used to pound the rice. Generally it is the men’s job to pound the rice into mochi while the women are inside preparing the ground up rice into the final product. While the mochi is still hot one woman will pull the mochi into approximately the right size and the rest of the women will shape the mochi. The first batch is made into the okasane, but the rest is eaten. Traditionally the mochi is flavored with red bean paste, but chocolate and peanut butter flavoring has become popular as well.

The reason that this tradition is considered good luck might have something to doing something that requires a lot of effort as something to show going into the New Year. Putting it at their door could be related to leaving the old year and moving into the new one. While most people no longer believe that pounding mochi to make okasane is necessary for good luck, the tradition has become a way to connect with family. It brings the family together to do something together and enjoy the fruits of their labor. This distinguishes the Hawaiian tradition from the Japanese one which it came from.