Asking your assistance on my symbol.

[Kaonohi]

Since about 1971 I have been diligently seeking information on the seven-pointed star. When I was studying and teaching on the mainland, it came to me in a very strange way, and stood as a challenge for me to find the meaning. This is 39 years now.

I know it is a symbol spread throughout Oceania, particularly Polynesia and Micronesia, and it also appears in South America in the Nazca area.
But I yearn to divine the meaning.

"Aloha International" on the Big Island says it's the "Eye of Kanaloa." But I find no corroberation from other sources. So much of our culture seems to be lost, and then lots of it is new made up stories that need corroberation to be believed.

huna.jpg

In Micronesia, Majuro, the symbol is often woven into 'presentation' baskets. Note:

majuro_basket.jpg

PA270743.jpg

I know the new-agers have adopted it as a Fairie Star - fine for them - before that this symbol meant something to the Pacific people, and I need to know what. Nothing yet has rung true.

Most people I've talked to claim ignorance or avoid answers. Even at BPBM I could find nothing; though I was assistant curator of ethnology for only two years and the collections are enormous, I found no explanations.

So, I put it out to you all.

No opinion will be put down, I will listen to everything you have to say and take it under consideration.

I am aware that this 'star' symbol appears elsewhere as well: Matson, DC shoes, the flags of various nations, Babylonian mythology, even the Iraqui Multi-national Peacekeeping force!

Please, let's start with what it means in Oceania.

Kaonohi

[timkona]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

So much of our culture seems to be lost, and then lots of it is new made up stories

Ahhhh, the constant of culture is change. None of it lost. None of it new.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

a 7-pointed star is typically called a Heptagram. That said here's a link that describes it's usage and background

[Kaonohi]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.


Thank you folks. I have already searched the entire internet and seen all that is there, and more....

What I need is some anecdotal evidence (local Hawaiian/Polynesian/Micronesian verbal historical/mythological sources) to tell me what is originally meant to Polynesians and Micronesians back in the "earlier times."

Mahalo!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

I believe the seven points used is for star navigational purposes and perhaps your particular symbol represents someone who may have been an ocean-going celestial navigator?

[1stwahine]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

Whales, Dolphins and Chakras - Lemurian Returns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8oJFX1UY6I

[Peshkwe]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

Maybe a better question to ask would be what the number or concept of seven represents.

Is it a symbol representing the Pleiades star cluster?

Just googeling the Pleiades star cluster along with Polynesia I came up with this:

http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/4...s-star-cluster

According to a Polynesian legend, the Pleiades once made up a single star: the brightest in the sky. The Polynesian god Tane disliked this star, because it had bragged about its beauty. It’s said the god smashed the star into pieces, creating the Pleiades star cluster.

and this:

http://www.gemini.edu/node/259

In parts of Polynesia and Hawai‘i, the Pleiades were used to help determine the start of the new year (the New Year celebration is called Makahiki in Hawaii). In Hawai‘i the cluster is known as Makali‘i.

and more on it here:

http://www.moolelo.com/ancient-celebration.html



Look to the children's stories and old legends for information, they weren't always just entertainment for the little ones...they were, most of the time, histories and life lessons wrapped up in entertainment so that they stick in little imaginations. Sometimes they're the only oral life lessons left after the missionaries scared or banned the serious lessons away.

[Peshkwe]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

Here's a story that might be of interest:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/hm/hm28.htm

and a small reminder, cross check everything gleaned from the net with other sources.

[Kaonohi]

Re: Asking your assistance on my symbol.

Mahalo friends. I appreciate your contributions and efforts.

This is not yet over, so if you come across anything new, my channel is OPEN!

I am tending to think of it as a navigation aid as well, it is (sometimes) associated with Kanaloa, and in my case I think it came to me as a way to navigate me 'back home, where I belong.'

It's good to be home, and there is much to do to bring aloha back to the islands, in those places where it has been overcome by greed.

Aloha no, Ka`onohi