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Pele

Pele is the fire goddess who resides in the Kilauea crater according to the people of Hawaii. (Kilauea is a volcano). She is a savage and wrathful divinity. She unleashes all the eruptions that take place in Hawaii. It is said that one day she fell in love with two young chiefs from eastern Hawaii. These two men were champions of holua, a sled used on grassy slopes.

She transformed herself in a beautiful princess and joined them in sledding. Unfortunately, the two men recognized her and fled, terrorized. Her wrath was so furious that everywhere in the island of Hawaii rivers of incandescent lava were created. The two chiefs tried to escape running to the sea, but the lava submerged them to form two cones along the Hawaii coast. These cones are said today to represent their petrified corpses.

It is said in a different story that one day Kamapua'a, a pig god of Hawaii mythology, tried to woo the fire goddess. Kamapua'a had the face and body of a pig, but his hands and feet were human. Pele covered him with insults, but Kamapua'a was strongly determined in the pursuit of Pele's love. As a result, the two deities found themselves involved in a fight.

Pele's followers threatened to overwhelm Kamapua'a with flames. Kamapua'a fighters managed to attack the crater where Pele resides with fog and rain. Finally, Pele yielded, and Kamapua'a succeeded.

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