Re: Ka Kaua (Spelling?) Seed Necklace

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: Thanks for the reply !!! I found more info via the web. : There is something theraputic about it when I wear it I do feel more relaxed !!! : But interesting how others react to my beads. From thinking I am smokin Paka LoLo to : to othere asking the religous significance. I know Japenese Hawaiins were them at weddings and other formal : occasions. : Here is what I found : : Kukui is a large tree found throughout Hawai'i. It is easily recognized in lower : mountain ranges, because its leaves are pale and silvery (Aleurites, from the Greek, means : "floury".) Leaves are covered with a whitish down, and may resemble a maple leaf with a long : stem. Flowers are small and whitish, and are strung with the leaves for lei in Molokai, whose : color is silvery green. Kukui nuts are walnut-like, with hard black shells, and are found one or two : to a fruit. Fruits are green turning to brown, fleshy but strong. Nuts are strung into lei and used : ornamentally. However, "Malamalama" in Hawaiian, refers to lamp or light. The oily kernal of the : kukui was dried and strung on coconut leaf midribs to be used as candles, and the oil was : extracted and burned in stone lamps. Malamalama can be expanded to mean clear, bright, : shining, the light of knowledge. This quilt has an effect of light towards its center, as well as the : appliqued motif, to suggest light in many ways. The kukui is the state tree of Hawai'i. Legend has : it that, when Makalii, god of plenty, could not see the shark that had swallowed his brother, he : chewed some kukui nut, spat it onto the water, and the water cleared. A Hawaiian proverb says : "When the kukui nut is spat on the water, the sea is smooth"-perhaps this is "pouring oil on : troubled waters"? : Keep that Aloha Spirit going ! : Hi- : : I think you are possibly referring to the kukui (koo-koo-ee)nut lei or the more elaborate kukui koa lei. The oil of the kukui nut was used for light and fuel as well as folk medicine. : : The kukui flower blooms on the candlenut tree and supposedly has some emotional healing properties regarding relationships and overcoming fears/anxiety. : : -Aloha

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