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  • Folk lore

    Was my chain being yanked when I was told that there was this road that you better never drive up in the dark if you had pork in your car? Just curious!
    If anyone on Oahu is NOT happy , feel free to trade places with me.

  • #2
    Re: Folk lore

    That's one of the quintessential tales of Honolulu life. "Don't take pork over the Pali," pali (meaning mountain) coming to mean Pali Highway specifically, the winding, narrow road that connects Honolulu with Kailua and the Windward Side and runs past the site of King Kamehameha's most bloody battles and through the side of the mountain itself via some impressive tunnels.

    The same rule applies, I think, to Saddle Road on the Big Island, which offers the most direct - but most deadly - route between East and West Hawaii. I'm not sure, though... I have a hard time keeping these things straight.

    More than a few folks, of course, will report having crossed the ridge via the Pali Highway with, say, a box of pork manapua without any ill effects... but you'll rarely find someone who'll do it knowingly and willingly!

    Hmm. Interesting. A Google search for "pork over the pali" turns up lots of references, including this most well-written piece by Don Chapman:
    To trade goods between Honolulu and Kailua, ancient Hawaiians had a choice of climbing over the mountains or hiking or sailing around Makapuu Point. They usually took the most direct route, which meant up and over the pali, the Hawaiian word for cliff. Today's Pali Highway, completed in 1955, follows an ancient foot path that Hawaiians used to cross the island with calabashes of poi and bunches of bananas on their shoulders. The traditional warning not to carry pork over the Pali, lest you invite bad luck, comes from those days.

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    • #3
      Re: Folk lore

      Yeah that's the Pali Highway and if you're driving, your car's supposed to stall out and not be able to start until you give up your pork to a dog that will be happening to be passing by. I've done it on a dare in high school and nothing significant happened other than being questioned by Honolulu's finest as to why I was there in the first place. Oh don't forget Morgan's Corner.

      And yes Saddle road is the shortest but not exactly the fastest way (depends on how well you know the road there). Saddle road is like Kapiolani Blvd that twists and bends and goes up and down. For the most part you have to drive on the center line to get away from the crumbling edges of asphalt. If you've never driven on Saddle road chances are you will be going very carefully and your top speed will never exceed 30-MPH. Where as going thru Waimea is the second shortest and Volcano the longest, but on the latter two runs, you can achieve highway speeds if not more (don't get caught) Between Waimea and Saddle road, you'll save about 20-minutes by Saddle but only if you're adept at the road's conditions.

      By the way wasn't the Pali Highway completed in 1965?
      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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      • #4
        Re: Folk lore

        Originally posted by craigwatanabe
        Yeah that's the Pali Highway and if you're driving, your car's supposed to stall out
        .
        That was it!! Of course as a kid, it sounded alot scarier but usually whoever was doing the scaring wouldnt say other than DONT, lol
        If anyone on Oahu is NOT happy , feel free to trade places with me.

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        • #5
          Re: Folk lore

          Don't forget about the Hana Highway. That road is famous for scary pua'a tales too.

          Miulang
          "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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          • #6
            Re: Folk lore

            Driving up to Kokee on Kauai which is around 3,000 feet has no reference about not taking pork on the trip, but they do say keep your car in low gear when go down.

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            • #7
              Re: Folk lore

              Originally posted by pzarquon
              More than a few folks, of course, will report having crossed the ridge via the Pali Highway with, say, a box of pork manapua without any ill effects... but you'll rarely find someone who'll do it knowingly and willingly!
              My mom probably makes the best roast pork around, and often she makes it for potluck affairs. Typically, we would drive over from Kailua to Chinatown, buy about 10 pounds of pork butt from our favorite Chinese butcher shop, and then bring it back home, where she would roast it in the oven. Then we would bring it over into town, and sometimes we would have so much that we'd have leftovers, so we'd bring it back home.

              All of this, mind you, is over the Pali. And I don't remember our car stalling even once in 30+ years.
              http://www.pineapplejuice.net/freshly-squeezed

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              • #8
                Re: Folk lore

                Da way I wen hear da legend, gotta be uncooked pork foa make da pilikia! At least dat what dey say about da road to Hana.

                Miulang
                "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                • #9
                  Re: Folk lore

                  When I was in high school (Kalani 78) a group of us went ghost hunting and did everything to arouse the dead at midnight. The only eventful thing that happened was when my friend started walking up and down the old Pali Road (visible from the exit side of the Kaneohe bound tunnel) illuminating only his face. From the Pali Highway it looked like a head floating in the cliffs above.

                  You shoulda heard the brakes squealing as drivers panicked! But absolutely nothing happened...NOTHING!
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Folk lore

                    I'm glad I found this thread cause I need an answer if somebody can tell me. First about the pork ova the Pali Folk lore...everytime we had an order for roast whole pigs and had to take the Pali, we always had a bunch of tea leaves in the car and some tied to the back of the car too. It was also a high school thing to go around looking for ghosts.I remember Jackass Ginger, or the hill way above Kalani High School. Back in the days, no homes were hardly up there. The car would be packed with friends,we'd go down the hill,turned around the car,engine turned off, put in neutral and then da car go uphill by it's self...they said the menehunes pushed it up. Or the one where the guy went to go out sheshe and his girlfriend fell asleep.Woke-up with a tap tap tap coming from the roof top. It was already daylight so she got out to find her boyfriend hung upside down from the tree, his fingers barely touching and blood dripping tap,tap,tap...she went insane.

                    Ok, my question...anybody know why the broom is put outside the house,kept upside down when it approaches New Years? I dunno what it is...but whatever it's supposed to do is working for me. Let me know and then I share. Otherwise, I'll keep it to myself...I'm already considered PUPULE!
                    Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
                    Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Folk lore

                      This is what the Wiccans use a broom for. It is a sacred and magikal tool in their religion.

                      The Broom (Besom) History and Lore
                      Brooms have long been associated with witches because they were used in pagan rituals of marriage
                      and birth. In Rome the broom was a symbol of Hecate's priestess, who swept the threshold of a house
                      after each birth to remove evil spirits that might harm the child.
                      The broom also used in weddings, signifying sexual union. Wedding customs included jumping over a
                      broom. Medieval peasant weddings were churchless and came under the area of common law. The
                      broom was so closely identified with nonecclesiastical marriages that by the time of the Renaissance,
                      when the church began to take over wedding rites, marriages "by the broom" were considered illegitimate.
                      Children ride a broomstick with a toy horse head at one end. This is copied from Sufi mystics who
                      entered Spain in the early Middle Ages. They organized themselves into groups of 13, like covens.
                      The Sufi sages rode horse-headed canes called zamalzain, "gala limping horse." The dervish's stick
                      horse stood for the Pegasus-like fairy steed that carried him to heaven and back. Customs like this
                      became prevalent among the Basques, and they were frequently accused of witchcraft.
                      The stick is traditionally made of ash for protection. It represents the male. The brush is traditionally
                      made from birch twigs for exorcism, purification, and also protection. It represents the female principle.
                      A branch of willow is used to bind the stick and the brush together. The willow represents protection,
                      healing, and love. Because of the sexual symbolism involved, the word "besom" was used as slang to
                      describe a "loose" woman.
                      The broom is used in ritual and magic. This tool is sacred to both the Goddess and God. Pre-Columbian
                      Mexico worshiped a goddess who rode naked on a broom, so this idea is not new.
                      The broom became a powerful tool against curses. Even today many people hang a broom on the
                      front door of their home, but most do not know the symbolism of it.
                      The area to be used for ritual is swept clean with the broom. The sweeping is more than a physical
                      sweep of the area. Visualize the broom sweeping out all the negativity in the area. This clears the
                      way for more effective magic.
                      The broom is a purifier that is linked the Element of Water, which is also a purifier.
                      It is used in all types of water spells.


                      Miulang
                      "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                      • #12
                        Re: Folk lore

                        Originally posted by Miulang
                        This is what the Wiccans use a broom for. It is a sacred and magikal tool in their religion.

                        Customs like this
                        became prevalent among the Basques, and they were frequently accused of witchcraft.

                        Because of the sexual symbolism involved, the word "besom" was used as slang to describe a "loose" woman.

                        The broom became a powerful tool against curses. Even today many people hang a broom on the front door of their home, but most do not know the symbolism of it.

                        The area to be used for ritual is swept clean with the broom. The sweeping is more than a physical sweep of the area. Visualize the broom sweeping out all the negativity in the area.

                        The broom is a purifier that is linked the Element of Water, which is also a purifier. It is used in all types of water spells.
                        Miulang
                        Eh, Miulang Mahalo! Basques alomost like my last name. Besom to describe a loose woman...which I may ultimately turn into...heheheh

                        MAMA told me to hang the broom upside down, outside the front door till after New Years...she can't remember why herself but knows it's suppose to protect everyone in the home and who visits protected. It is purifying my brains!

                        I believe in GOD,Jesus Christ and everything that is Christian. I'm going to bring the broom inside...ain't letting the Devil get any chance in taking credit for anything good that comes from the LORD. Brooms are for cleaning and shoowing away my kolohe Angels!
                        Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
                        Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

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