Is Ho’oponopono Magic?

This incredible and complex subject causes people no end of problems, so I’m going to attempt to set matters right once and for all. Some say that all life is magical.

Do they mean that our lives are miraculous, or are they saying that everything in life is connected and so may be manipulated?

Most of us would like to be in charge of all the events in our lives consciously. Yet, this is probably the least wise thing we can do. Were it to be so, then there could be no surprises, or challenges to shake us up and force us to grow in awareness.

The ancient Polynesian people who came to Hawaii more than 1000 years ago knew this. They were skilled navigators yet the sea always held a threat of drowning, or starving with it. The crews of a frail Polynesian craft knew that they must work together if they were to achieve their destination. Moreover, the Kahunas who piloted the craft needed to be balanced and less afraid to die, than to die badly.

In other traditions, this is called following a path with a heart. It’s what psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi referred to as ‘being in the flow’ and many today claim as ‘being in the zone’.

To be in the zone is to have all your ducks lined up in a row. For life to go smoothly, and with effortless ease.

It doesn’t mean that no work is involved, merely that what effort is expended seems more like that of playing a game, than working as a slave.

It’s a kind of freedom (yet most think that freedom is to live without expending any energy, remaining always in good physical health, being right, and knowing what’s best).

It’s from this latter idea of freedom that magic was carried out by dark Kahunas.

There are ten colleges or branches of the Hawaiian priesthood.

1. ʻAnāʻanā: one who “practices evil sorcery by means of prayer”.
2. Hoopiopio: one who practices distant magic by touching his own body.
3. Hoʻounāunā: one who can send spirits to cause an illness.
4. Hookomokomo: one who can cause someone to be possessed by a spirit, to cause death, or an illness.
5. Poʻi ʻUhane: one who can catch a spirit and force it to do its bidding.
6. Lapaʻau: one who practices procedures of medicinal healing.
7. Kuhikuhi puʻuone (literally “to direct divination”): one who locates the site for the construction of heiau, or temples.
8. Kilokilo: one who divines and predicts future events, a prophet.
9. Nānāuli: one who studies natural signs, like clouds, rains, and winds.

To master all of these made one a Kahuna Nui or high priest.

In addition to these Kahunas there were other craftspeople (also called Kahunas, who were specialists in certain trades, such as boatbuilding).

It follows from this list that ancient Kahunas were very concerned with magic, in similar ways to the South American (Toltec) Brunjo, the Plains Native American Medicine Men, Shamans from Asia and the Arctic Tundra, as well as Witches and Wizards of the Western World.

Clearly, the Kahuna Nui had attained a very high class in what was a caste system in which most were happy, if not equally wealthy.

To study in one (or more) of the forms didn’t automatically make you a dark Kahuna, since the work of such people needed to be dispelled by those who understood how they worked.

Nevertheless, many Kahunas were engaged with mundane matters, as well as those designed to cause real harm.

The ho’oponopono

This form was carried out, at first with the intention of healing rifts between warring groups (over such matters as fishing, or water rights).

Later, this extended to family disputes within communities. More recently, it’s become a kind of family therapy (especially among social workers).

Ho’oponopono was never a tool of dark magicians because their trade was in causing harm to an opposing force by means of spells. Moreover, this was for them a risky business since the opposing tribe was probably under the protection of its own Kahuna, and if their spell was badly made, or timed, it could rebound and kill them.

Modern Uses of Ho’oponopono

Like so many good things that are discovered and practiced by a real master, or mistress, ho’oponopono today suffers from factions.

Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona was born into a traditional Kahuna family. Her mother was a Kahuna Lapaʻau, and she too was trained as such.

She became recognised as a Hawaiian National Treasure, and was instrumental in ceremonies of cleansing and exorcism on many different sites (including the Hawaiian Economic Community Council, which was then situated in a converted hospital building).

She was also a skilled cook who believed that when we carry bad energy into our kitchens then this is a source of breakages and unfortunate results.

This idea is based on the old Hawaiian idea of the AKA cords that connect all things. To pull upon one, is to stretch all of the others.

Shortly after meeting Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, she directed him to work at Hawaii State Hospital which was suffering a spate of misfortunes due to its possession by earthbound spirits.

The patents were all criminally insane people who had done terrible things.

Here is where we can see a split begin in the culture of contemporary ho’oponopono. Dr. Hew Len maintains that he worked with each of the ward’s staff and patients (as well as the building itself) using the ho’oponopono prayer which he popularised.

Michael Micklei says that this cannot be true because (at the time) Morrnah was teaching a 14 step ho’oponopono process (which he had also learned from her).

Moreover, he says, that Dr. Hew Len told various people that he was using this 14 step process to clean the ward, its staff and patients.

As a result, there are now four factions of ho’oponopono.

The one beloved of the traditional Kahunas of Hawaii (who would have preferred its rites to have remained a secret).

The original process as refined by Morrnah Simeona (which continues to be promoted by Michael Micklei).

Dr. Hew Len’s popular prayer, and a number of ‘cleaning tools sanctioned by him and others.

Finally, there is a belief for many that ho’oponopono is associated closely with The Law of Attraction (due to the influence of Dr. Joe Vitale, one of LOA’s popular pundits who sells an on-line course that features Dr. Hew Len and his methods).

At this stage we have arrived at a place where we might ask: ‘Will the real ho’oponopono please stand up’.

Sorting Out This Ho’oponopono Mess

Firstly, ho’oponopono is closely associated with the Kahunas (who in turn may be thought of as shaman, priest, wizards or witches). These individuals are to a greater (or lesser) extent associated with magic and all that goes with it.

Secondly, ho’oponopono, however, has never been a form of magic in the sense of the casting of spells, raising evil spirits, or doing anything for one’s own advantage (except to rid oneself of karmic debt).

Thirdly, today’s cleaning tools (even if Divinely inspired) must be considered at the very best as a form of psychological ploy aimed at triggering a powerful placebo effect, and at worst a form of manipulative magic aimed to make the business of living smoother. This is NOT to say that they have no place in self-healing, yet strictly speaking they aren’t part of a traditional ho’oponopono.

Fourthly, it’s undoubtedly true that Morrnah Simeona taught processes that were closer to the traditional Hawaiian ho’oponopono and which took more steps than the popular ‘prayer’.

Fifthly, the popular prayer makes perfect sense in the context that Dr. Hew Len taught it (which is described in greater detail elsewhere on this website).

Finally, it makes no sense to ‘fight about’ who is teaching ho’oponopono in its correct form. That horse bolted long ago and so has its own freedom and life.

All that may be done is to practice with determination, and the aim to get to Zero above any other consideration.