Taro Planting Prayer

This taro field is up near Princeville on the island of Kauai. The leaves of the taro plant are heart shaped and shimmy in the wind.

E Kū-iki-olo walu –e,
I olowalu ka huli I ka mākālua a kāua.
I olowalu ke kalo I ola ka kahi’ ai,
I ola ka noho hale,
I ola ka ōhua
I ola ka ‘ohana,
I olo na malihini kipa mai,
A i ola iā u ia (ka inoa o ka mahi’ ai)
‘Āmama Ua noa.

O Kū-iki-olo walu –e,
May the taro top in our planting hole grow large.
May they grow large that I the planter may live,
That the dwellers in the house may live,
That the dependents may live,
That the family may live,
That the visiting stranger may live,
That I (planter's name)may live.
‘Āmama. It is free of tabu.

Collected from Daniel Kaonohiokalani Hoolapa © 1920 by Theodore Kelsey. A taro planting prayer in Na Pule Kahiko, edited by June Gutmanis and printed in Mana Cards: The Power of Hawaiian Wisdom by Catherine Kalama Becker, PH.D and Doya Nardin

This year I have felt a strong need to plant a vegetable garden. To grow some of my own food. It is a ecological and health decision. After listening to the book, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, watching Food, Inc., and reading so many other things about where our food comes from and how little nutrition is has by the time we put it in our mouths, I decided to take action. I have been purchasing fruits and vegetables at the local farmers market, but in Illinois, that is a limited time deal. I thought that I could heal the earth and myself just a little bit by planting nutrition and beauty. It is a challenge, and the above prayer is my mantra these days. I send it out into the world with love, and hope for healing and growth.