In ancient Hawaiian Mythology, Hawaiians filled their amazing
land and history with tiki gods. Ancient oracles of Hawaiian
kahunas perched carved wooden tikis on volcanic cliffs, peering
through the rainforest, mystic caves, and placed along the
coastlines.
Kanaloa – Ancient Tiki God of the Sea
Kanaloa is one of the four great gods of Hawaiian mythology,
along with Kane, Ku, and Lono. He is the local form of a Polynesian
deity generally connected with the sea. Roughly equivalent deities
are known as Tangaroa in New Zealand, Tagaloa in Samoa, and Ta'aroa
in Tahiti.
In the traditions of Ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by
the squid, and is typically associated with Kane in legends and
chants where they are portrayed as complementary powers (Beckwith
1970:62-65). For example: Kane was called upon during the building
of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kane governed the
northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points
to hidden springs, and Kane then taps them out. In this way, they
represent a divine duality of wild and taming forces like those
observed (by Georges Dumezil, et al.) in Indo-European chief
god-pairs like Odin-Tyr and Mitra-Varuna, and like the popular
yin-yang of Chinese Taoism.
