Superstition – Hawaii

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Waipahu, HI, and South San Francisco, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2008, and April 5, 2008
Primary Language: English

The Pali Lookout on the island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii, is notorious for being a hotspot for supernatural activity.  There is the Pali Highway that runs alongside the edge of the mountain, which includes the Pali Lookout.  The highway itself runs through a tunnel.

My friend Izach, who was born and raised on the island, on the Waipahu side, explained to me that people have sometimes spotted a White Lady atop the Pali Lookout.  The origin of who she is or what business she has in that geographic area is not definite, however, a supernatural presence is greatly felt in that general area.  Izach heard a story in which a man drove up to Pali Lookout by himself one night, and the next day, he was found dead.  Whether he came into contact with the White Lady is unsure, however, the reasons for his death were not tangible and seem to have only been the cause of some supernatural force.  Izach informed me that local folklore will warn you against the “Night Marchers,” as well.  The “Night Marchers” are a traveling pack of men who drum in the middle of the night.  If you are in or near the Pali area, and you hear drumming, it’d be best to get as far away as possible as soon as possible.  You must not make eye contact with the “Night Marchers;” by all means, you must avoid looking into their deep red eyes.

My good friend Berna shared another account of a Pali Lookout tale with me.  Apparently, there is a tunnel that is near the Pali Lookout, through which it is absolutely prohibited by local folklore and general precaution, to bring any type of pork through.  There is evidently a force that will not let you take the pork through the tunnel and over the lookout.  If one attempts to do such a thing, to test the spirits in the area, one usually does not come out of the tunnel—if at all, at least not unscathed.

In the early 1980’s, Berna’s uncle and his friends thought it would be funny to test the spirits of the Pali Lookout by bringing a bacon sandwich through the tunnel.  They entered the tunnel, bacon sandwich in tow, and suddenly, all goes pitch dark.  The lights of the tunnel black out.  The headlights and backlights of the car itself go out.  The driver nor the passengers of the car could not see what was ahead of them, nor what direction in which they were headed.  What was heard was insanely loud, jarring screeching noises and it felt as though there was a force charging towards them.  Still unable to see to the end of the tunnel, they put the car in reverse and somehow managed to clear the tunnel through the opening.  When they inspected the damages, the top of the car and all along the sides of the car were covered in deep and distinct claw marks.

As I have observed with other pieces of Hawaiian folklore, such superstitions or legends and myths as this prove the sanctity of the laws of the land to the Hawaiian people.  With such a rich history of mythological events and natural gods and goddesses, they value their land and all it has to offer and personally believe they are in debt to their surroundings.  Therefore, they go to measures to ensure that they are within the right means of going about their daily lives, and not disrupting Mother Nature, the supernatural, and the forces that be.