Kapo
January 20th, 2010 by sabrina
I’m back from a fantastic vacation in Hawaii, so I wanted to return with a Hawaiian Goddess. We went to see Madame Pele, but alas, she seems to have been on vacation too—no lava! Ah well, we danced with Laka and reveled in the beauty of Hi’iaka. No sign of this Goddess, but maybe that’s a good thing—not sure that’s something I want my kids to see flying around!
Kapo is the Hawaiian Goddess of magic. She is the sister of Pele, Goddess of volcanoes, and mother of Laka, Goddess of the hula. Kapo was able to change her shape at will, but she is mostly known for another talent—she was able to detach her vagina from her body and send it where she liked. One time, she used her kohe lele (flying vagina) to save her sister Pele from being raped. Pele, wandering near her home at Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island, was being stalked by Kamapua’a, a God who was half man and half pig. Just as he was about to force himself on Pele, Kapo sensed her sister’s plight and threw her vagina past Kamapua’a's face. He immediately forgot about Pele and started to chase Kapo’s vagina, following it all the way to the island of Oahu where it landed, forming the Koholepelepe Crater (more commonly known as Koko Crater) next to Hanauma Bay. The kohe lele then returned itself to Kapo, leaving Kamapua’a alone on the rocks. Kapo’s name, which means “darkness,” is also seen as Kapo-’ula-kina’u (red-spotted Kapo), Kapo-kohe-lele (Kapo of the flying vagina), and Kapo-ma’i-lele (Kapo of the flying genitals).
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Polynesian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.



















January 31st, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Just stopping in to say how much I enjoy your blog.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Thanks!
March 31st, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Hi, Sabrina! I came here to see the Goddesses starting with K, and Kapo called my attntion, because this is the name of a fruit juice he loves taking to school with his snacks. What an interesting and curious story!! Hmm… I think it’s better to wait some years before telling him about this talent of hers! LOL
Kisses and love from us.
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:06 am
Yes, that’s quite an image, isn’t it!
Bright Blessing to you and the witchling, Nydia.
April 16th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Delighted to see this here. strange though it may sound, this is one of my favorite Hawaiian stories (I’m Hawaiian).
There is a lot of ancient wisdom in this story … and in past times and cultures, a useful teaching story both for your boys and your girls. You have to flesh it out though…
By the way, although the kohelele hit the ground at Koko Crater, Kapo went to get it back and put it in Ka’au Crater – a place so secret many Oahu residents don’t even know it’s there (it’s right near where I grew up and I didn’t know about it all of my young life.) There’s a reason it is a secret and sacred place