Huna, Ho'oponopono, and other fake "Hawaiian" teachings

[Pono Aloha]

According to an article in the peer-reviewed Hawaiian Journal of History, Huna is a Hawaiian word adopted in 1935 by an American named Max Freedom Long to describe his esoteric, metaphysical self-help philosophy. Though he said he was revealing the secrets of ancient kahuna (experts), he admitted he never met one. Long wrote that he obtained many of his case studies and his ideas about what to look for in kahuna magic from the Director of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, William Brigham. There is no credible evidence that the two men met. Even if they did, Brigham was not an expert on kahunas and did not document in his own writings any of the incidents Long ascribed to him. In his letters and manuscripts, Brigham stated that Hawaiians were "an inferior race," and implied they were lazy. He referred to Queen Lili'uokalani as a "she devil," "squaw," and "nigger.” (Chai, Makana Risser. "Huna, Max Freedom Long, and the Idealization of William Brigham," The Hawaiian Journal of History, Vol. 45 (2011) pp. 101-121)

Native Hawaiian scholar Charles Kenn, a Living Treasure of Hawai'i recognized in the Hawaiian community as a kahuna and expert in Hawaiian history and traditions, (Stone, Scott S.C. (2000). Living Treasures of Hawaii, pp. 24) was friendly with Max Freedom Long but said, “While this Huna study is an interesting study, … it is not, and never was Hawaiian.” (Lee, Pali Jae (1999). Ho`opono. p. 56)

Hawaiian author Pali Jae Lee, a research librarian at the Bishop Museum, and author of the classic, Tales from the Night Rainbow, conducted extensive research on Max Freedom Long and Huna. She concluded, based on her interviews with Hawaiian elders, "Huna is not Hawaiian." Lee cites Theodore Kelsey, a Living Treasure of Hawai'i renowned for his work as a Hawaiian translator who wrote a letter to Long in 1936 (now in the Hawai'i State Archives) criticizing his use of the terms "unihipili" and "aumakua.” (Lee, Pali Jae (2007). Ho`opono - Revised Edition: The Hawaiian Way to Put Things Back in Balance. pp. 89–93)

Professor Lisa Kahaleole Hall, Ph.D., writes in a peer-reviewed journal that Huna "bears absolutely no resemblance to any Hawaiian worldview or spiritual practice" and calls it part of the "New Age spiritual industry.” ("'Hawaiian at Heart' and Other Fictions," The Contemporary Pacific, Volume 17, Number 2, 404-413, 2005 by University of Hawai'i Press, http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle0125/13881/v17n2-404-413-dialogue2.pdf?sequence=1 )

Huna books are "examples of cultural appropriation." (Chai, p. 102)

[Pono Aloha]

Besides Max Freedom Long, authors whose books include at least some Huna concepts include: Serge King, Ihaleakala Hew Len - Joe Vitale, Pila ("of Hawaii") Chiles, Hank Wesselman – Hale Makua, Rima Morrell, Enid Hoffman, Harry Uhane Jim, Charlotte Berney, Tad James, Matthew James, Laura Kealoha Yardley, James Vinson Wingo, Clark Wilkerson, Sergio Serrano, and more.

[Pono Aloha]

For books on authentic Hawaiian tradition, see the resources here http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=773.0

[Defend the Sacred]

In 1984 there was a man who led "Huna" things at a Medicine Wheel Gathering (Vincent LaDuke / "Sun Bear"s thing) in New York State. I can't recall his name. He was brown, and very charming, and claimed to be Native Hawaiian. There was nothing to flag him as obviously *not* Hawaiian but, like the other non-Hawaiians there, I didn't know enough about Hawaiians at that time to know.  Like many other frauds and sellouts at the "Bear Tribe" events, he gave the non-Native consumers the illusion they were buying access to "authentic teachings".  I'm certain some of the misinformation about Huna that spread through those pretendian and neopagan communities came from him. Victor Anderson's "Feri Tradition" (basically Wiccan) contains some things from Huna (the "three selves" and such). Anderson claimed his tradition was older than Wicca (as so many do), but I think he took a lot of material from Max Freedom Long's books.  Then again, maybe that claim is true, as Long published in the 1930s and Wicca was founded in the 1940s

[Pono Aloha]

Yes, Anderson did "teach" Huna. Unfortunately, due to the loss of culture through Western imperialism including Huna, some native Hawaiians believe Huna is Hawaiian. Sad.

[moreinfo]

thwere is a thread on chuck spezzano in new age frauds, in his trainers manual on page 20 he stated to study as many as they're "inspired" to study  is Honopono, 

[moonchild]

I don't know if anyone will find this useful, but the word "Huna" may have its roots in predynastic Egypt.
I realize that the people on this site will not obviously rely on anecdotal evidence alone, but I might be able to find it in hieroglyphs. I will not be able to do this for a few days, as I am away from home.  The story I heard was that the Egyptian priests fled in many directions,  including to Polynesia,  during one of the many invasions of Egypt.

[earthw7]

oh next!!

[Defend the Sacred]

OMG... 

[Sparks]

This uncommented 2005 post is mostly about Huna, especially Serge King:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=317.0 [Aloha kakou!]

Huna is mentioned in at least 50 comments in other threads.

[Sparks]

Today's Skeptoid Podcast is about Huna and Max Freedom Long. It is also a written article:

Dunning, B. "Huna: New Age on an Island." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, 23 Nov 2021. Web. 23 Nov 2021. <https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4807>

Huna: New Age on an Island
Huna blends generic New Age spiritualism with a concocted version of Hawaiian tradition.

by Brian Dunning — Skeptoid Podcast #807 — November 23, 2021 — Listen (15 minutes):

Travel to Hawai?i, or visit any sort of New Age conference, and you're going to be exposed to Huna. Huna is presented as, and believed by many to be, a system of secret ancient Hawaiian wisdom that you can learn and gain insight, improve yourself or your life, or be more successful, whatever you want. Key to its attractiveness to westerners is its claim of having its basis on an enlightened ancient culture. Is Huna truly a miracle solution, available to anyone for the price of a seminar; or is it just another New Age lifestyle, only festooned with Hawaiian imagery to give it an air of illumination and legitimacy? Today we're going to point our skeptical eye at Huna, and especially at its founder, Max Freedom Long, and his fundamental claim that it is represents a brand of ancient Hawaiian wisdom as passed down through its priests, the k?huna.
[…]
It's pretty easy to summarize Huna, and to do so with dead accuracy, as it's little more than yet another iteration of the old "spin the wheel and make up a New Age philosophy." Huna consists of the exact same generic New Age mysticism — though most authors of Long's day called it the New Thought movement — that's been recycled time and time again. Long anchored it with a handful of true facts about Hawaiian k?huna, and then layered on the old familiar metaphysics, spiritualism, and the "law of attraction" that says positive thinking is enough to make anything come true — which we talked about way back in episode #96 about the 2006 book and movie The Secret. (That book even has the same title, as Huna is an actual Hawaiian word for secret.) This means there's nothing in Huna that you can't get from a discount used book store for 99 cents. Long's only contribution was to decorate it with misused or made-up Hawaiian-sounding words and traditions. Regarding Huna as Hawaiian in any way is an insult to actual Hawaiian culture, and to Hawaiians themselves. It's a very haole thing to do

.

[Sparks]

Professor Lisa Kahaleole Hall, Ph.D., writes in a peer-reviewed journal that Huna "bears absolutely no resemblance to any Hawaiian worldview or spiritual practice" and calls it part of the "New Age spiritual industry.” ("'Hawaiian at Heart' and Other Fictions," The Contemporary Pacific, Volume 17, Number 2, 404-413, 2005 by University of Hawai'i Press, http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle0125/13881/v17n2-404-413-dialogue2.pdf?sequence=1 )

Huna books are "examples of cultural appropriation." (Chai, p. 102)

The URL to that article goes awry. I searched and found it here:
https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/13881
https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/13881/1/v17n2-404-413-dialogue2.pdf

[Sparks]

In this thread there is a book chapter, "Mana for a New Age" by Rachel Morgain:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5334.0
[Mana for a New Age- Debunking Max Long & Serge King]