There may be a universal fear of being slammed by a great white shark from the depths of the big blue sea, but I guarantee the fear that a shark has of humans capturing them in nets and slicing off their fins and tossing them back into the ocean is by far worse. I’m not saying that we should go swimming in murky water at dawn or anything, but I would like to speak my mind about the disturbing visual I encountered whilst grocery shopping at my neighborhood store. Shark fin soup,eh? Yeah,that’s “taboo” in many island cultures. Besides, Sharks urinate through their skin…no thanks!
You see…to Hawaiians, sharks aka “manna” are considered special and sacred. They use the term ‘aumakua (family or personal gods). Basically,the natives believe that when their loved ones or ancestors depart, they take the form of a shark. The great beautiful Tiger shark is named to be a true ‘aumakua or dream guardian to the islands people. It’s quite fascinating really. Although not all sharks are ‘aumakua, it is said that many Hawaiians feel pained and uncomfortable when sharks are slaughtered, even after the hunt of a misunderstood “man-eater”shark. Sharks played a huge role in the cultural past of the ancient Hawaiian history. The Hawaiians were led through the channels during the first migration to Hawaii by a huge shark named “Kamohoali’i, who just so happened to be the brother of The volcano goddess Pele. Soak that one in!
I actually have my own personal stories of my own ‘Aumakua. I lived on Maui for four years. I felt the Aloha and the heart of the islands in the most vibrant way humanly possible. To make a long long long story short…I would have these realistic haunting dreams on a weekly basis starring the biggest tiger shark I’d ever seen. He would never hurt me, he would just swim underneath or next to me. It was so surreal, the glimmering of the water’s surface and the stripes on his side…oh those stripes. Don’t get me wrong, he was scary as hell,but he never hurt me. Living on the island is a story of its own, I just wanted to share the fact that the ancient Hawaiians were not bullsh*ting anyone. Sharks are supernatural in their own ways. My Shark would attack people, mainly transients on the island who were up to no good, or who were creepy and had that all together “wtf?”Ora about them. After the dreams, I noticed that those shady people were nowhere to be found again…I never saw the three people who were killed by my shark in my dream EVER again. I even tried to help them in the dream, but I couldn’t. I have the chills writing about this, to be honest…I still have the dreams, not as frequently though. Moral of the story…Don’t eat sharks! Go eat your own leg first dammit! Chew on that…
Spoon Gypsy 