Story Of Guardian Geckos

Aloha

New Member
I know this is a chameleon forum and this story is about geckos. From what I understand, many of you are gecko lovers as well, so i thought I would post this story for you guys. I thought you might find it interesting. In Hawaii, geckos are sacred, this story is about Hawaiian gecko mythology.


"They are modest representatives of the great magical lizard, the powerful mo'o. They are guardians, not just against bugs.
The mo'o is an ancient mythological being which appears in legends throughout Polynesia. For the Polynesians, geckos were perfect mirror images of this dragon-like monster. It was believed that the great mo'o could simply use the body of the gecko for one of its many manifestations.
Naturally the gentle, little geckos were deeply respected. They were sacred. The vigilant geckos, with their ability to change colors and to drop wiggling tails when threatened, resembled the mo'o and filled a crucial role in Hawaiian religion.
The mo'o was part of an intricate communication system with the gods. The Hawaiians, like many cultures, depended on sorcery as a means of mediation between divine and human worlds. They needed symbols which showed the effectiveness of their prayers and their rituals. They needed images to which they could adhere magical powers.
The wrath of the gods could bring death. Their joy brought life. And so it was vital to Hawaiian society that at someone's death family members would appease the gods.
The deceased were closer to the gods than the living and so they could contribute to the gods' power in the protection of the surviving household. To achieve this, their spirits had to be strengthened. The dead person had to be set up, with the right prayers and the right worship, to become a guardian spirit, most traditionally in the form of a power animal.
The lizard or mo'o, shape-shifting and agile, was one of the oldest and most powerful of guardian spirits along with the shark, the owl and the hawk.
These guardian spirits were called aumakua in Hawaiian. Mortals did not harm or eat their living representatives, and their wisdom came through in visions and dreams.
The mo'o has been described as a lizard of monstrous size somewhere between 12 and 30 feet, with a glistening black body. It lives in fish ponds, quaffs the sacred and intoxicating awa root in great delight, and can be seen when the first flames of a fire light the altars where it dwells. When there is foam on the fishpond, you know the mo'o is home and any fish caught there will taste bitter.
So old is the mo'o as guardian spirit and protector, that it appears in the Hawaiian creation legends in the garden of the first man and the first woman.
In one early legend the mo'o is the oldest of four sisters. Beautiful Moho-lani (Divine mo'o) is the only one who finds a husband. Of course her sisters are jealous and in conspiracy with two sirens they spirit the husband away to the depths of the ocean. But with the help of the guardian spirits, Moho-lani's son glances quickly over the sea with his lightning body. He finds and restores the lost husband and destroys the evil sisters. Their scattered remains will forever grow as barren trees on the beach. As for the sirens, the son turned them into mackerels.
King Kamehameha I conquered and united the Hawaiian islands in the name of the mo'o-woman Kiha-Wahine. He deeply believed in the powers of his aumakua. He set up her image, dressed in yellow and tapa, in the heiau in Kohala, demanding that all who passed her, even those in canoes sailing by off shore, should prostrate in her worship.
The mo'o guards not only individuals and families, but also districts and places. Apparently at the bottom of two pools in Puna the remnants of petrified mo'o shapes are still visible and it is said that anyone wishing to swim here must first dive down and touch the enchanted rocks. It is also believed that when you crush a gecko egg outside, you will fall over the cliffs.
The mo'o changes shape at will and isn't always a friendly spirit. Often she is pictured as a gorgeous, seductive woman whom no man can resist. The poor guys don't know that she wants to gobble their flesh. She lures the husband away from the wife with the intention to devour him after a passionate affair. Eventually the husband either gets homesick or he wakes up to the danger he is in. He can only escape by creating an impossible task for the mo'o--maiden. In one story he asks her to fill a gourd in which he has secretly drilled holes with snow-water from the goddess Poliahu on the top of Mauna Kea.
With new migrations arriving on the islands, and traditions changing over time, the role of the mo'o also changed. In the later legends around the fire-goddess Pele and her sister Hi'iaka, the mo'o has been transformed in a whole family of evil water spirits. In the form of heavy fog and sharp rain they attack Pele's volcano. One time, when Hi'iaka leaves Pele in search for Pele's lover, unfriendly water spirits challenge her with torturous obstacles before she can complete her mission. The mo'o no longer mediates with the gods.
There is one beautiful story in which the mo'o is neither a small, evil spirit, nor the apotheosis into a great, protective aumakua, nor a dangerous monster. It was recorded by Mary Kawena Kupui of Ka'u. Handsome Kamanu was fishing at the freshwater stream near his house when a gorgeous woman appeared. She was slender. Her reddish hair fell over her shapely shoulders, and Kamanu, at first, was afraid. Of course he had heard of the seductive mo'o. But this woman reassured him and told him they would marry and live at the bottom of the river. They would be very happy together, she said. She even promised Kamanu she would make sure his family in the house upstream would always have fish and shrimp to eat. And so Kamanu said yes. He followed her, and even though she was a mo'o, he trusted her and loved her well..
But after a year he grew homesick and asked her permission to visit his beloved parents who probably thought by now that he was dead. "Go visit," she said, "and when you return, I'll be waiting for you. But you must kiss no one before you kiss your father. If you kiss another one first, I have to leave you alone."
Excited, in love with his wife and eager to tell his parents about his marriage, Kamanu went home. His dog, delighted, ran out to greet him, jumped up and licked his face and lips. The family had a happy reunion and soon Kamanu returned to his wife at the river. He found her weeping.
"You have lost me," she cried, "good-bye my husband."
Kamanu waited for her. He called for her many, many days. His beautiful mo'o-woman never returned. Within months Kamanu died of grief and he was buried at the river's edge.
A caring mo'o, who withdraws.
Perhaps this is the story of the early Polynesian geckos today. Their gentle wisdom overpowered too often, they are withdrawing to the forests and the quiet rivers far away.
They are worth listening to, these magical lizards. They bring good luck, they say."


Written by:Veronica S. Schweitzer
 
Do a google search: hawaiian folklore mythology geckos

this one is interesting:

The household gecko brings good luck to a home and killing a gecko is to invoke bad luck. Hawaiians have much respect for the gecko not only because it eats its weight in insects, it bears a great resemblance to the powerful aumakua, the mo’o.



However, the Hawaiian guardian spirit, mo’o, refers to a much larger gleaming black dragon-like reptile found in ponds, especially fishponds, and sometimes in caves. Mentioned in Hawaii’s creation legends, this ancient animal ranks second to the shark or mano in importance as an aumakua.



It is mysterious and is deemed a capricious animal and while some mo’o are considered benevolent aumakua, there are many legends that paint them as fearsome and monstrous. Thus the mo’o were both revered and feared by the ancient Hawaiians. They are almost invariably depicted as female and benevolent mo’o goddesses bring bountiful offerings of fish to the fishponds and great prosperity to the village. In human form as seductress, the mo’o would eat or drown her lover, rather than share him with another woman.



They are shapeshifters and can appear as a large dragon measuring anywhere between 12-30 feet or the tiny gecko. The aumakua imparts its wisdom to its descendants through dreams.



Famous Mo’o Goddesses


There are some disputes as to who was the original Mo’o goddess whose lineage continued to both mo’o and humans. Some believe that it was Mo’oinanea while others think it to be Haumea. Whoever was the Mo’o matriarch, the importance is that she was the union of Wakea (or Father Sky) and Papa (or Earth Mother) and the Mo’o offspring represented the union of the energy and power or mana of the sky and the earth.



In another legend, Mo’oinanea also known as the Self Reliant Dragon came to Hawaii along with the migration of the Hawaiian Gods from their cloud island dwellings in the sky, which were called Nuu-mea-lani and Kuai-he-lani



Mo’oinanea was also in some traditions acknowledged to be the mother of Namakaokaha'i, who ruled the oceans; of Pele, Goddess of Fire and the Volcano; of the Hi'iaka sisters , rulers of the lava flows and the medicinal herbs that grew in new fertile lava, and Kapo'ulakina'u, Goddess of the prayers to bring about death and also to bring the dead back to life. Altogether, pretty powerful goddesses were descended from the Mo’o Matriarch.



Kihawahine is one of the more famous recent Mo’o goddesses. She was a 16th century princess who was deified as the Mo’o goddess of Maui when she died. It was believed she had supernatural or psychic powers and King Kalakaua or Hawaii’s Merrie Monarch and Queen Lili’uokalani were both descendants of the Mo’o Goddess.



Kihawahine wielded spiritual power and also political power. The great King Kamehameha worshipped her and had among his wives, three women who counted the Mo’o goddess as their ancestor. He was also believed to have carried an image representing the Mo’o goddess on his way to a pivotal battle. His victory allowed him to consolidate all the islands under his rule, making him the first king of a united Hawaii.



As a goddess, Kihawahine lived in a large ancient fishpond which surrounded Moku’ula, a little rock island on Maui. By making her home there, she brought luck to Moku’ula which became the center of political power for the island of Maui. The ancient fishpond eventually dried up and was covered to later become part of a baseball field. However, the site is now being restored as a sacred site and the ancient freshwater springs which fed her home will be uncovered and will refill the pond again.



Importance of the Gecko



To some who study Hawaiian mythology the gecko is a symbolism of the genealogy which connects the ancestor to the descendant.



The gecko’s prominent and flexible backbone is made of equal segments from head to tail. Therefore, its eyes represent future generations, the front feet are the children, the next segment stands for makua or the parents, the kupuna refer to grandparents and the elders. Next come the ka,’iwi or the bones of the ancestors and finally at the tail’s end the aumauka, or the family’s guardian spirit. Further, the gecko is seen as the intermediary between the human and animals, and between the human and the gods. It can also symbolize keeping an eye on the past and the other on the future. Adopted as an icon in Maui, the green gecko can be seen in t-shirts and other paraphernalia.



Symbolism of Mo’o



If Mo’o appears in your life, it is a message to look at your fears so you can dissolve them. Like Mo’o in the form of the monster, fears destroy your power and make you doubt your abilities and your dreams. However, when you face your fears, the Mo’o goddess will be benevolent and will, like she did with Kamehameha, make you a king, in this case, of yourself.
 
Tokay geckos

We have tokay's on the island, there a bit hard to find, but i will be on the lookout for you! We love hiking around looking for herps.
 
If my niece ever asks for a bed time story or if I have a reports to do on something like this, I will definitely use this!

Thank you for being on the lookout for tokays. :)

Good luck in your search! I wish I could hike in Hawaii.
 
I know this is a chameleon forum and this story is about geckos. From what I understand, many of you are gecko lovers as well, so i thought I would post this story for you guys. I thought you might find it interesting. In Hawaii, geckos are sacred, this story is about Hawaiian gecko mythology.


"They are modest representatives of the great magical lizard, the powerful mo'o. They are guardians, not just against bugs.
The mo'o is an ancient mythological being which appears in legends throughout Polynesia. For the Polynesians, geckos were perfect mirror images of this dragon-like monster. It was believed that the great mo'o could simply use the body of the gecko for one of its many manifestations.
Naturally the gentle, little geckos were deeply respected. They were sacred. The vigilant geckos, with their ability to change colors and to drop wiggling tails when threatened, resembled the mo'o and filled a crucial role in Hawaiian religion.
The mo'o was part of an intricate communication system with the gods. The Hawaiians, like many cultures, depended on sorcery as a means of mediation between divine and human worlds. They needed symbols which showed the effectiveness of their prayers and their rituals. They needed images to which they could adhere magical powers.
The wrath of the gods could bring death. Their joy brought life. And so it was vital to Hawaiian society that at someone's death family members would appease the gods.
The deceased were closer to the gods than the living and so they could contribute to the gods' power in the protection of the surviving household. To achieve this, their spirits had to be strengthened. The dead person had to be set up, with the right prayers and the right worship, to become a guardian spirit, most traditionally in the form of a power animal.
The lizard or mo'o, shape-shifting and agile, was one of the oldest and most powerful of guardian spirits along with the shark, the owl and the hawk.
These guardian spirits were called aumakua in Hawaiian. Mortals did not harm or eat their living representatives, and their wisdom came through in visions and dreams.
The mo'o has been described as a lizard of monstrous size somewhere between 12 and 30 feet, with a glistening black body. It lives in fish ponds, quaffs the sacred and intoxicating awa root in great delight, and can be seen when the first flames of a fire light the altars where it dwells. When there is foam on the fishpond, you know the mo'o is home and any fish caught there will taste bitter.
So old is the mo'o as guardian spirit and protector, that it appears in the Hawaiian creation legends in the garden of the first man and the first woman.
In one early legend the mo'o is the oldest of four sisters. Beautiful Moho-lani (Divine mo'o) is the only one who finds a husband. Of course her sisters are jealous and in conspiracy with two sirens they spirit the husband away to the depths of the ocean. But with the help of the guardian spirits, Moho-lani's son glances quickly over the sea with his lightning body. He finds and restores the lost husband and destroys the evil sisters. Their scattered remains will forever grow as barren trees on the beach. As for the sirens, the son turned them into mackerels.
King Kamehameha I conquered and united the Hawaiian islands in the name of the mo'o-woman Kiha-Wahine. He deeply believed in the powers of his aumakua. He set up her image, dressed in yellow and tapa, in the heiau in Kohala, demanding that all who passed her, even those in canoes sailing by off shore, should prostrate in her worship.
The mo'o guards not only individuals and families, but also districts and places. Apparently at the bottom of two pools in Puna the remnants of petrified mo'o shapes are still visible and it is said that anyone wishing to swim here must first dive down and touch the enchanted rocks. It is also believed that when you crush a gecko egg outside, you will fall over the cliffs.
The mo'o changes shape at will and isn't always a friendly spirit. Often she is pictured as a gorgeous, seductive woman whom no man can resist. The poor guys don't know that she wants to gobble their flesh. She lures the husband away from the wife with the intention to devour him after a passionate affair. Eventually the husband either gets homesick or he wakes up to the danger he is in. He can only escape by creating an impossible task for the mo'o--maiden. In one story he asks her to fill a gourd in which he has secretly drilled holes with snow-water from the goddess Poliahu on the top of Mauna Kea.
With new migrations arriving on the islands, and traditions changing over time, the role of the mo'o also changed. In the later legends around the fire-goddess Pele and her sister Hi'iaka, the mo'o has been transformed in a whole family of evil water spirits. In the form of heavy fog and sharp rain they attack Pele's volcano. One time, when Hi'iaka leaves Pele in search for Pele's lover, unfriendly water spirits challenge her with torturous obstacles before she can complete her mission. The mo'o no longer mediates with the gods.
There is one beautiful story in which the mo'o is neither a small, evil spirit, nor the apotheosis into a great, protective aumakua, nor a dangerous monster. It was recorded by Mary Kawena Kupui of Ka'u. Handsome Kamanu was fishing at the freshwater stream near his house when a gorgeous woman appeared. She was slender. Her reddish hair fell over her shapely shoulders, and Kamanu, at first, was afraid. Of course he had heard of the seductive mo'o. But this woman reassured him and told him they would marry and live at the bottom of the river. They would be very happy together, she said. She even promised Kamanu she would make sure his family in the house upstream would always have fish and shrimp to eat. And so Kamanu said yes. He followed her, and even though she was a mo'o, he trusted her and loved her well..
But after a year he grew homesick and asked her permission to visit his beloved parents who probably thought by now that he was dead. "Go visit," she said, "and when you return, I'll be waiting for you. But you must kiss no one before you kiss your father. If you kiss another one first, I have to leave you alone."
Excited, in love with his wife and eager to tell his parents about his marriage, Kamanu went home. His dog, delighted, ran out to greet him, jumped up and licked his face and lips. The family had a happy reunion and soon Kamanu returned to his wife at the river. He found her weeping.
"You have lost me," she cried, "good-bye my husband."
Kamanu waited for her. He called for her many, many days. His beautiful mo'o-woman never returned. Within months Kamanu died of grief and he was buried at the river's edge.
A caring mo'o, who withdraws.
Perhaps this is the story of the early Polynesian geckos today. Their gentle wisdom overpowered too often, they are withdrawing to the forests and the quiet rivers far away.
They are worth listening to, these magical lizards. They bring good luck, they say."


Written by:Veronica S. Schweitzer

Fascinating! Do you have the longer version?... :D
 
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