Who is Pele? Guide to the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess
Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, fire, lightning, and the making of new land. She lives, in Hawaiian tradition, at the summit of Kilauea in the Halema’uma’u crater on the island of Hawaii. Her home is not mythological in a distant sense - it is the active volcano visible today from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Her worship is a living tradition. Native Hawaiian practitioners bring offerings to her rim. Her name is spoken with respect. She creates new land with every lava flow. She is unlike almost any other deity in world mythology in this respect: her domain is visibly, physically active, and her worshippers can watch her at work.
A note on sensitivity. Pele is a sacred and living deity in Native Hawaiian religion, not a historical or literary figure. This guide describes her as she is preserved in Native Hawaiian tradition and continues to be honoured today. The guide does not offer prayers, chants, or specific ceremonial details, which belong to living Hawaiian religious practice and are not appropriately shared outside that context.
Key Takeaways
- Pele (also known by her full name Pele-honua-mea, “Pele of the sacred earth”) is the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, fire, lightning, wind, and the creation of new land.
- She is a living deity in Native Hawaiian religion. Her worship continues today; her home in the Halema’uma’u crater on Kilauea is a sacred site actively honoured by Hawaiian practitioners.
- She is one of the children of the goddess Haumea (the earth mother) and the god Kane Milohai in Hawaiian tradition. Her many siblings include her closest sister Hi’iaka.
- She migrated from her homeland (variously named Kahiki or elsewhere in ancient Polynesia) to Hawaii, driven by conflict with her older sister Namakaokahai (the sea goddess). Her migration story tracks the geological creation of the Hawaiian island chain from northwest to southeast.
- Her sister Hi’iaka’s journey to retrieve Pele’s mortal lover Lohi’au is one of the greatest epic sequences in Hawaiian oral tradition.
- She is associated with the sacred plants ohelo (small red berries growing on volcanic slopes) and lehua (the flower of the ohia tree). Both grow on lava fields and are offered to her.
- Her rivals in tradition include her sister Namakaokahai and the pig-god Kamapua’a; both stories reflect the fundamental tensions of the Hawaiian volcanic environment - fire against water, forest against lava.
Who is Pele?
Pele is the goddess of volcanoes and fire in Native Hawaiian religion. She is one of the most consequential deities in the Hawaiian pantheon and one of the most actively venerated today.
Definition - Pele
The Native Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, fire, and the creation of new land. Pele lives at the summit of Kilauea in the Halema’uma’u crater on the island of Hawaii. She is a living deity in contemporary Native Hawaiian religion, actively worshipped and honoured. Her full name is Pele-honua-mea, “Pele of the sacred earth.”
Her worship is a living tradition. This point matters. Pele is not primarily a literary or historical figure; she is a deity actively honoured by Native Hawaiian practitioners today. Her sacred sites are treated with reverence. Offerings are brought to her rim. Her name is invoked with care.
Pele’s migration to Hawaii
The tradition holds that Pele was not born in Hawaii but came there from a distant homeland - variously named Kahiki (a Polynesian word cognate to “Tahiti,” meaning both a specific place and, more broadly, ancestral Polynesian origins) or another ancient land.
She had to leave. She had quarrelled with her older sister Namakaokahai, the goddess of the sea. Namakaokahai was more powerful than her - she was, after all, the ocean itself. Pele took her siblings and set out in a great canoe to find a new home. They travelled southeast across the Pacific.
Wherever Pele landed, she tried to dig a pit deep enough to hold her fires. But Namakaokahai followed her, and every pit Pele dug was flooded by the sea. Pele had to move on. She dug pits on each of the smaller, older Hawaiian islands - Nihoa, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui - and each was invaded by the sea. Only when she reached the youngest island, the island of Hawaii, and dug the great pit that is now the Halema’uma’u crater, was her home deep enough to hold her fires. She lives there still. Read Pele, goddess of volcanoes and Kamapua’a and Pele.
The migration story reflects a geological truth. The Hawaiian island chain was formed by a stationary hot spot in the Earth’s mantle over which the Pacific Plate has moved for millions of years. The oldest islands are in the northwest; the youngest (Hawaii) is in the southeast, still directly over the hot spot. Pele’s migration from oldest to youngest island tracks this exact geological progression - a coincidence between traditional narrative and modern geology that has been much noted.
Pele and Hi’iaka
Pele’s most beloved sister is Hi’iaka - specifically Hi’iakaikapoliopele, “Hi’iaka in the bosom of Pele.” She is the goddess of hula, of the lehua flower, and of healing.
The greatest sequence in the Pele tradition is Hi’iaka’s journey to retrieve Pele’s mortal lover Lohi’au. Pele had fallen in love with Lohi’au on a spirit-journey to Kauai. She sent Hi’iaka to bring him to her, giving her a strict time limit and warning her not to fall in love with Lohi’au herself.
Hi’iaka’s journey to Kauai and back is one of the great epic narratives of the Hawaiian tradition. She battles monsters, restores dead lovers to life, chants poetry, dances, and eventually reaches Kauai only to find Lohi’au has died. She restores him. She brings him back. Along the way, the time limit passes. Pele grows suspicious. When Hi’iaka returns with Lohi’au, Pele’s jealousy has already caused her to destroy Hi’iaka’s beloved lehua groves in fire.
Hi’iaka, discovering this, herself succumbs to love for Lohi’au. Pele kills him in her rage. Hi’iaka restores him again. The story ends with a complicated resolution among the sisters. Read Pele and Hi’iaka and Hi’iaka’s journey.
The Hi’iaka epic is preserved in many chanted versions, each with regional and family variations. It is one of the most extensive bodies of narrative poetry in Polynesia.
Pele and Kamapua’a
Pele’s most famous rival is Kamapua’a, the pig-god of forests, rain, and agriculture. Their conflict reflects a fundamental Hawaiian ecological tension: Pele is fire, lava, and new land; Kamapua’a is the forest and vegetation that grow on that land, and the rain that supports them. Fire consumes forest. Forest returns after fire. Neither can win permanently.
The tradition preserves several confrontations between them. In some tellings they eventually become lovers, and the volcanic and forest worlds are made to coexist through their pairing. Their conflict is not evil against good but two aspects of the same island ecology, both necessary, both destructive to each other. Read Kamapua’a and Pele.
Pele and modern Hawaii
Pele’s presence in modern Hawaii is real, active, and ongoing. When Kilauea erupts - as it has done extensively in recent decades - Native Hawaiian practitioners bring offerings to her rim. When new land is created by a lava flow reaching the ocean, that new land is considered hers.
The Hawaiian tradition preserves specific taboos and respects for Pele. Removing lava rocks or black sand from Hawaii - a common tourist temptation - is considered taking part of her body. Many Hawaiian practitioners and cultural sources ask that visitors respect this: leave the rocks where they are.
Pele’s worship coexists in contemporary Hawaii with Christianity (which arrived in the nineteenth century and is now the dominant religion by numbers) and with the tourism industry (which sometimes commodifies her image in ways Native Hawaiian communities find disrespectful). Native Hawaiian practitioners continue to honour her according to their own traditions.
Pele compared to other volcano deities
Volcano deities appear in most cultures near active volcanoes.
| Tradition | Volcano deity | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native Hawaiian | Pele | Kilauea, Hawaii | Living tradition |
| Roman | Vulcan | Mount Etna, Sicily | Also smith god |
| Greek | Hephaestus | Various volcanoes | Also smith god |
| Aztec | Xiuhtecuhtli | Various | Fire god broadly |
| Balinese | Batara Guru | Mount Agung | Living tradition |
| Icelandic | (No single deity) | - | Volcanoes personified as land-features |
Pele is unusual for being clearly and continuously worshipped at a specific active volcano whose eruptions are treated as her direct action. Most volcano deities are more distantly connected to their volcanoes, or their worship has ceased. Pele’s worship is continuous, and Kilauea remains one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
Read the stories
Pele appears in many Hawaiian and Polynesian stories:
- Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes
- Pele and Hi’iaka
- Hi’iaka’s Journey
- Kamapua’a and Pele
- Hina and the Moon
- Ku, War God Stories
- Lono and Fertility
Pele is what the Hawaiian tradition kept as its most direct relationship with the physical land itself. When Kilauea erupts, she erupts. When new land is made, she made it. Her worship continues, and her home remains what it has always been in the tradition: the active crater of an active volcano, visible from the trail, treated with the specific reverence that living deities receive from those who know them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Pele?
Pele is the Native Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, fire, lightning, wind, and the creation of new land. She is one of the most important deities in the Hawaiian pantheon. Her full name is Pele-honua-mea, “Pele of the sacred earth.” She lives at the summit of Kilauea in the Halema’uma’u crater on the island of Hawaii, and her worship is a living tradition among Native Hawaiian practitioners today.
Where does Pele live?
At the summit of Kilauea in the Halema’uma’u crater on the island of Hawaii. Kilauea is an active volcano, and Native Hawaiian tradition holds that Pele’s home is literally there. When the volcano erupts, the eruption is considered her direct action. The crater is part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and is a sacred site for Native Hawaiian practitioners.
Is Pele still worshipped?
Yes. Pele’s worship is a living tradition in contemporary Native Hawaiian religion. Practitioners bring offerings to her rim at Kilauea, invoke her in ceremony, and observe traditional respects (including not taking lava rocks or black sand from Hawaii, which is considered removing part of her body). Her reverence continues alongside Christianity (the dominant religion by numbers in modern Hawaii) and is a matter of active religious practice, not historical curiosity.
Why does Pele’s migration follow the Hawaiian island chain?
Because the Hawaiian island chain was formed geologically by a stationary hot spot in the Earth’s mantle over which the Pacific Plate has moved for millions of years. The oldest islands are in the northwest (Nihoa, Kauai); the youngest is the island of Hawaii in the southeast, still over the hot spot. Pele’s traditional migration from northwest to southeast, digging pits on each island in turn and finally settling on the youngest, corresponds exactly to this geological progression. Whether this reflects ancient Hawaiian observation of the age-progression of the islands, or a coincidence between narrative and geology, is a much-discussed question.
Should tourists take lava rocks from Hawaii?
No. Native Hawaiian tradition considers lava rocks and black sand to be part of Pele’s body. Removing them is considered a violation of her sacred domain. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park receives many packages each year from tourists returning rocks they took and later regretted taking. Cultural sources ask visitors to respect this: leave the rocks where they are.
What is Hi’iaka’s story?
Hi’iakaikapoliopele (“Hi’iaka in the bosom of Pele”) is Pele’s beloved sister and the goddess of hula, of the lehua flower, and of healing. The greatest sequence in the Pele tradition is Hi’iaka’s journey to Kauai to retrieve Pele’s mortal lover Lohi’au. She encountered many trials on the way, including battles with monsters and the restoration of dead lovers to life. When she returned, Pele’s jealousy had already destroyed Hi’iaka’s lehua groves. The story is preserved in many chanted versions and is one of the most extensive narrative poems in Polynesia.