Huna (New Age)

For the Indian Hunas see Huna (people). For the Talmud Rabbi, see Rav Huna.

Huna is a Hawaiian word first used by Max Freedom Long (1890-1971) in 1936 to describe what he called “the secret science behind the miracles” that ancient Hawaiian kahuna (experts) performed. It is part of the New thought movement.

Principles and Beliefs of Huna

Long wrote that the key to Huna is the concept of the Three Selves – the low self, middle self and higher self; or unconscious, conscious and super-conscious, which he called the unihipili, the uhane and the aumakua. Other Huna teachers also refer to the Three Selves but give them the alternate names of 'Ku', 'Lono' and 'Aumakua', or simply refer to them as high, middle and low without Hawaiian terms.

Serge King has articulated seven principles of Huna:

1. IKE (ee-kay) - The world is what you think it is.
2. KALA - There are no limits.
3. MAKIA (mah-kee-ah) - Energy flows where attention goes.
4. MANAWA (man-ah-wah) - Now is the moment of power.
5. ALOHA - To love is to be happy with (someone or something).
6. MANA - All power comes from within.
7. PONO - Effectiveness is the measure of truth.

Dr. Rima Morrell has stated that one who truly practices Huna, has the ability to influence consciousness (2005). The consciousness is not restricted to human consciousness, but may include that of animals, rocks, everything in the world around us both seen and unseen, therefore can include gods and goddess (akua) and the spirits of the departed ('aumakua) who often appear in the form of animals. Thus Huna proponents claim that someone who practices Huna is a shaman who has the ability to create with consciousness and bring the world into being as he or she desires.

Long took syncretistic New Thought ideas and gave them Hawaiian names. One of the primary themes in his books is that the kahuna were not unique to Hawai’i. They were the Hawaiian version of an esoteric priesthood that was also found in ancient Egypt. Indian yogis, Christ and Buddha were adepts in these universal principles. Huna incorporates religion, psychology, and psychic science. It claims the ancient belief concentrated mainly on "positive thinking," that this belief was maintained and preserved in the islands of Polynesia, but lost to the rest of the world and contaminated by outside forces, and only recently has begun to resurface.

Controversy about Huna

The use of Hawaiian words to describe universal principles has raised controversy among purists who love the Native Hawaiian culture.

Various perspectives exist among Native Hawaiians on how much, if any, of Huna is authentically Hawaiian. Some say it is not, yet others are Huna teachers. Neither Long nor King are ethnic Hawaiian, though King says he was adopted into the Kahili family.

Long's use of Hawaiian words is based on his understanding of the English translation of Hawaiian words in a dictionary compiled by a missionary in 1865 – when kahuna practices were illegal. None of the accepted Hawaiian sources - Malo, Kamakau, I'i, Kepelino - use the word Huna for a tradition of esoteric learning. According to the standard Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian dictionary, the Hawaiian words 'unihipili, 'uhane and 'aumakua do not mean subconscious, conscious and super-conscious. 'Unihipili are the spirits of deceased persons, 'uhane is a soul, spirit or ghost, and 'aumakua are family or personal gods, deified ancestors who might assume the shape of animals.

In the Hawaiian language, the term kahuna is used for an expert. Kahuna include experts in diagnosing illness, herbal medicine, canoe building, temple building, wood carving, star-gazing, agriculture, and others.

Long did not intend to describe ancient Hawaiian religion, largely ignoring the ancient gods and the importance of plants in medicine.

Huna Organizations

Max Freedom Long founded Huna Research Associates in 1945, and the Huna Fellowship and the Huna Church are offshoots. It is a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of IRS Code. According to the Huna Fellowship International website, “Huna (TM) is an internationally registered trademark of Huna Research, Inc., the organization which coordinates the teaching, research, and practice” of the work of Max Freedom Long.

The current President is Rev. James Vinson Wingo, DD. The organization has an annual “World Huna” conference. There is no information readily available on the number of members.

Other Huna organizations include The Huna Ohana, Huna Life International Church. Aloha International of Serge Kahili King [1] is a Huna organization, that according to King follows Hawaiian tradition of the Kahili family (even though Serge King was a member of Huna Research for some time and continues to use the Three Selves).

References

• [2]
• Huna Research website
• [3]
• [4] Dr. Morrell's huna website

Further reading

Huna

• Max Freedom Long: Introduction to Huna (Esoteric Publications, 1945), The Secret Science Behind Miracles (Kosman Press, 1948), Growing into the Light (DeVorss, 1955), Huna Code in Religion (DeVorss, 1965)
• Dr. Rima Morrell 'The Sacred Power of Huna: Spirituality and Shamanism in Hawaii' (Inner Traditions, 2005)
• Serge Kahili King, Instant Healing (Renaissance Books, 2000)

Hawaiian traditions

• Pukui & Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary (University of Hawaii, 1986)
• Jensen & Jensen, Daughters of Haumea (Pueo Press, 2005)
• June Gutmanis, Kahuna La'au Lapa'au: Hawaiian Herbal Medicine (Island Heritage, 1976)
• David Malo, Hawaiian Antiquities (Bishop Museum, 1951)
• Samuel Kamakau, The People of Old (Bishop Museum, 1991)
• Martha Beckwith, Kepelino's Traditions of Hawaii (Bishop Museum, 1932)
• E. S. Craighill Handy, Polynesian Religion (Kraus Reprint, 1971)
• Pali Jae Lee and Koko Willis, Tales From the Night Rainbow
• Makana Risser Chai, Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: Traditions of Hawaiian Massage & Healing (Bishop Museum, 2005)

See also

• New Thought
• New Thought Movement
• Religious Science
• Divine Science
• Unity