Background

Informant is the mother of the Interviewer, she has been the mother of the Interviewer since the interviewer has existed and has raised them ever since.

Context

Informant discusses a folk practice that is supposed to aid in fertility that she participated in. This practice is attributed to why the Interviewer exists in the first place.

Transcript

Informant: “How about the one that relates to my getting pregnant?”

Interviewer: “…what?”

Informant: “So there’s uh, there’s a fertility rock, that uh, what’s it called? I forgot what it was called… It’s like a fertility rock on Moloka’i, so when I couldn’t get pregnant, you know we found out about that, so we went to Moloka’i with Uncle dean, and I went, oh the Phallic Rock! So I went onto the phallic rock and I was like I need to get pregnant, so I like-”

(Informant bucks her hips and twirls a fake lasso, like she is riding a raging bull.)

Interviewer: “You rode the, th-the dick rock?”

Informant: “And I got pregnant after, It’s just one of those things, I had Katie after.”

Interviewer: “Wow.”

Thoughts

    Rocks in Hawaii have a great spiritual presence. They can hold energies from fertility, to the gods, to souls of the deceased. You’re not supposed to move rocks from island to island, as you will be cursed and have to seek out either a Kahuna to dispel the bad spirits or return the rock to its original location, leaving offerings of beer and food to please the spirits. I have encountered spiritually significant rocks in my life, but have never actively sought them out for spiritual or personal reasons. Hearing that my mother utilized the help of one of these rocks was interesting, as I did not know she believed in Hawaiian traditions before that. I am not convinced of the effectiveness of spirit rocks, but I respect the practice and the rich culture behind their existence.