Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 9, 1 September 1994 — OHA holds Hawaiian massage ʻaha: E Hoʻomau i ka Lomilomi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA holds Hawaiian massage ʻaha: E Hoʻomau i ka Lomilomi

by Jeff Clark What is the secret of the healing power of lomilomi? Love is the answer - love and pule, according to Margaret Machado, one of four experts in the Hawaiian art of massage and healing who spoke to fellow practitioners and massage students assembled for OHA's lomilomi eonference Aug. 10-11 at Kamehameha Schools. The conference was aimed at identifying practitioners of lomilomi and encouraging discussion on this uniquely Hawaiian art. Machado said she leamed lomilomi from her grandfather and aunt while very young. She leamed by observing, and later received instruction through chants and dreams. She also received 'ili'ili stones that served as a diagram of the human body. "It's a gift," she said of her ability. "It's really love. Love and prayer. Searching your heart and emptying your heart." Said OHA culture officer Pīkake Pelekai prior to the 'aha, "What separates any Hawaiian healing technique, what makes it work, is the spiritual aspect." Indeed, Machado and others at the conference continually retumed in the discussions to the spiritual side of their work. Kalua Kaiahua of Maui said he started out when he was young, and was instructed by his blind aunt, who told him, "Son. the gift that you have never eame from man; it eame from God." She treated people at home and Kaiahua saw many patients eome to the house ill, in pain, or on cmtches; when they left, they had smiles on their faces and seemed well — those with crutches would leave them behind. So he started helping her, and, he remembers, "One day she just stuck out her hand, she said, 'You know son, eome here, put your hand in mine: I want to see what you got.'" Kaiahua clearly feels he's not alone when he treats a patient, but that he is working in concert with ke Akua. This sense was instilled in him by his aunt. "Following her instructions, the more I went into the churches, the more I asked God to help me; and this is what I'm teaching in my classes also: leam the spiritual route frrst." Kaiahua and Machado were joined in a panel discussion by Mary Fragas and Evelyn Solomon, and eaeh gave a demonstration in the course of the two-day workshop. Eaeh technique was different. "Because of the spirituality component, sensitivity is very keen. The practitioners seem to be able to pinpoint imbalances or situations. ... problems that are correctable just by feeling and touching," OHA culture specialist Manu Boyd said. "But the opportunity for the four featured practitioners to speak in front of one another was very good, too, because it showed that there are defīnite differences — and we went into this 'aha with the idea that not all knowledge is found in one school, "A'ohe pau ka 'ike i ka hālau ho'okahi.' "I've just skimmed through the evaluations and it seems

that everybody by and large was pleased with the conferenee, because it's never happened before." More than 100 people, all with some experience in lomilomi, attended. The conference was funded and run by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Pelekai said that one conference goal, in addition to identifying lomilomi practitioners, was to bridge the gap between traditional Hawaiian practitioners and the Western medical establishment and to begin to eome up with a system of certification. Pelekai said the attitude of the lomilomi experts is, "We don't feel you should be licensing us, because you don't have the expertise," so it was hoped the 'aha would result in the forma-

tion of a committee that would work out certification criteria. Lomilomi and lā'au lapa'au practitioners were first licensed by King Kamehameha V, and their work was legally recognized by the Kingdom, the Provisional Government, the Republic, the Territory and the State until 1965, when the Legislature repealed the sections of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes that recognized and allowed the practice of Hawaiian medicine. To help make the Hawaiian healing arts legally recognized, contact Jimmy Lewis of Lomilomi Ola at 841-6706 /737-3088 or Janice Neilson of Ho'ohālike Ko Kahiko Hou Lā'au Lapa'au, ine. at 488-3541/259-5378.

Kupuna Margaret Machado demonstrates her lomilomi technique on a lucky conference attendee. More than 100 lomilomi practitioners and students attended the 'aha, held Aug. 10-11 at Kamehameha Schools. Photo by Jeff Clark