THE HALAU In building a halau, or hall, in which to perform the hula a Hawaiian of the old, old time was making a temple for his god. In later and degenerate ages almost any structure would serve the purpose; it might be a flimsy shed or an extemporaneous lanai such as is used to shelter that al fresco entertainment, the luau. But in the old times of strict tabu and rigorous etiquette, when the chief had but to lift his hand and the entire population of a district ransacked plain, valley, and mountain to collect the poles, beams, thatch, and cord stuff; when the workers were so numerous that the structure grew and took shape in a day, we may well believe that ambitious and punctilious patrons of the hula, such as La’a, Liloa, or Lono-i-ka-makahiki, did not allow the divine art of Laka to house in a barn. The choice of a site was a matter of prime importance. A formidable code enunciated the principles governing the selection. But a matter of great solicitude--there were omens to be heeded, snares and pitfalls devised by the superstitious mind for its own entanglement. The untimely sneeze, the ophthalmic eye, the hunched back were omens to be shunned. Within historic times, since the abrogation of the tabu system and the loosening of the old polytheistic ideas, there has been in the hula a lowering of former standards, in some respects a degeneration. The old gods, however, were not entirely dethroned; the people of the hula still continued to maintain the form of divine service and still appealed to them for good luck; but the soul of worship had exhaled, the main study now was to make of the hula a pecuniary success. #kaloclan #homesteadykeiki #alohawillsavetheworld #morning #like #follow #kalowasted #clarklittle #gopro #goprohawaiilife #goproforeal #family #fit #fitness #shredz #fitlife #gainz #sports #dive #hurley #hawaii #hulaholics #tmtshutdown #selfie #chelfie #alwayshi #kalokeiki #aoletmt #notmt #aoletmt #notmt #aoletmt #kuleana #kukiaimaunawahine #kukiaimountain