Pele's Curse: The Myth of Stealing Rocks From Hawaii

Introduction: Pele and the Rock-Stealing Curse

The Hawaiian Islands are home to a diverse population. Much of this population comes from Polynesian roots, and culturally there exist many different forms of religious and superstitious ideas that permeate modern Hawaiian culture. One of these superstitions surrounds the ancient Polynesian goddess of fire and lava, Pele. It is said that if a person steals a lava rock from the island, they are cursed until they return it. From a religious perspective, Pele is a very jealous goddess and protector of the volcanoes and Hawaiian Islands. Thousands of people claim to have had bad experiences — feeling cursed — after removing lava rocks from the islands, only to return them by mail or in person as soon as they realized the error of their ways.

Scientifically, it is impossible to prove any concrete link between the Hawaiian goddess Pele's anger over people stealing lava rocks and any misfortunes experienced by those who take rocks from the Pacific islands. In fact, everyone who visits the islands takes a part of them along, and, as science demonstrates, pieces of the islands move around the globe as dust rises and disperses through the atmosphere. So unless it could be argued that everyone who visits the Hawaiian Islands is cursed, this superstition is easily disproved through scientific and logical argument.

Origins of the Myth: Park Rangers and Conservation

More specifically, the superstition stems from utilitarian roots and appears to have originated in the 1960s or 1970s, when park rangers at many of Hawaii's monuments grew concerned about visitors stealing rocks and other pieces of the monuments themselves (Martin, D., 2010). The rangers concocted a story in which the jealous goddess Pele, angered that tourists were making off with her children — the lava rocks of Hawaii — would take vengeance upon anyone who left with bits and pieces of the islands. The rangers also began telling tourists that as long as those who stole rocks were willing to mail them back or otherwise return them, their bad luck would soon end (Martin, D., 2010).

While this artificially concocted superstition seems useful and relatively harmless, it has spread and become one of the most widely accepted myths associated with the Hawaiian Islands. Interestingly, this myth may actually draw on genuine religious roots rather than existing purely as a modern tale attempting to weave Hawaiian mythology together with contemporary environmental conservation concerns.

Ancient Hawaiian Mythology and Resource Conservation

According to many of the ancient Hawaiian water and land rights, and the customs pertaining to them, the ancient Hawaiians regarded the resources of the islands as precious and wanted to ensure they were conserved and preserved (Nakunia, E.M., 2007). In emphasizing their limited availability, the ancient islanders began to construct a mythology around the island goddesses Pele and Hina. These two are the oldest known goddesses in the Hawaiian tradition and, according to mythology, two of the creators of the earth and the Hawaiian Islands. Much of the ensuing mythology developed around the limited resources and space that the ancient islanders experienced and had to work with (Nakunia, E.M., 2007). It is therefore no surprise that the myth of stealing rocks from the islands — a product of both environmental conservation and ancient mythology — eventually came into existence.

Conclusion: A Functional 20th-Century Invention

The myth that the Hawaiian goddess Pele takes revenge upon anyone who steals rocks or sand from the islands is over 40 years old, and the anecdotal evidence cited in support of it functions as a method of preventing millions of tourists and visitors from taking a piece of the islands home and potentially damaging the environment. The roots of the myth are straightforward, as are the methods for disproving it scientifically. The connection between human fear of the unknown and the conservation priorities of those stewarding the islands is more than coincidence.

By examining the myth under a scientific lens and by understanding the body of knowledge accepted at the time of its creation — the 1960s and 1970s — it is possible to further pinpoint the myth's origins. This myth cleverly blends little-known ancient mythology with the scientific knowledge and psychological mechanisms that keep people in a state of fear of the unknown. The Hawaiian Islands are a beautiful place, and the ancient Hawaiians developed many myths and religious ceremonies to make sense of the world around them. The myth surrounding Pele's vengeance for stealing rocks from the island is, however, very obviously a 20th-century, environmentally charged invention.