Don't take sand ... Pele's curse?

[NanMar]

so I was told not to bring back sand or lava rocks because of Pele's curse and how I would end up regretting it. Has anyone brought back either of these?

 

[Gorechick]

I was never told not to bring any sand back or told of Pele's curse. I brought home a container full of sand from Aulani's beach and have it in a decorative jar. I don't think anything worse could happen to our family than losing my son to leukemia about a year prior to our trip. He wanted to go to Aulani for his MAW trip but never made it. Friends of ours sent us in his memory so that we could find some peace and healing. If there is any curse, I think my son's spirit protected us.

ETA- It seems the curse is more connected with taking lava rock and black sand from volcanoes. After doing a search, Aulani's beach and lagoon are man made.

 

[NanMar]

Pele's Curse is the belief that anything natively Hawaiian, such as sand, rock, or pumice, will effect bad luck on whoever takes it away from Hawaii.

One version about the legend's genesis is this: a disgruntled park ranger, angry at the number of rocks that were being taken from the islands by visitors, said that Pele would curse them with bad luck should they take anything. Another version often told is that bus drivers, tired of the dirt and grime brought on their buses by the tourists' collection of rocks, started the story at the beginning of each tour to discourage the rock collecting.

The myth has caught on, told as if it were an original Hawaiian taboo, and every year countless tourists send these back in order to escape the awful luck that Pele has caused them.

So, although the legend itself is probably of twentieth-century origin, the removal of rocks as souvenirs is now frowned-upon by Hawaiians. Also, it is illegal to remove mineralsfrom within a U.S. national park.

This is what I found about it

 

[NanMar]

There are a few different Hawaiian Legends, they're very interesting

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3898664

 

[cgattis]

I was never told not to bring any sand back or told of Pele's curse. I brought home a container full of sand from Aulani's beach and have it in a decorative jar. I don't think anything worse could happen to our family than losing my son to leukemia about a year prior to our trip. He wanted to go to Aulani for his MAW trip but never made it. Friends of ours sent us in his memory so that we could find some peace and healing. If there is any curse, I think my son's spirit protected us.

ETA- It seems the curse is more connected with taking lava rock and black sand from volcanoes. After doing a search, Aulani's beach and lagoon are man made.

*hugs*

 

[NancyDVC]

Actually it is more of an ecological issue. If everyone takes 'a bit of sand' or lava rock eventually there won't be any left to be seen or enjoyed. And man did not 'make the sand'. It came from nature whether that was by dredging or from a sand mine the sand wasn't man made.
At Volcanoes National Park taking rocks and or sand can be a real issue. These are active volcanoes. Kilauea has lava flowing now but there are earthquakes from all the volcanoes on the Big Island. Maura Loa is at a yellow level meaning they expect an eruption in the future (no time line for it). And it is against NPS regulations to remove anything from National Parks.
The volcanologists and rangers are studying the volcanoes and the effects of visitors on the environment. Visitation causes more harm to the environment than natural effects.
So if we all go down to the beach and take sand, rocks etc. then we are all harming the environment. Multiply the 'just a little bit' by the number of visitors and the amount of impact becomes very large. So who pays to replace it for the next generation?

 

[njmeisje]

If you truly love a place....please leave it as it is .....and come again, visit often.

 

[NanMar]

I don't want to take anything, I'm just curious about the legend and wanted to know if anyone had any stories to share.

 

[oohykitten]

I didnt mean too!!! My lint trap after doing the vacation laundry had some sand

 

[NancyDVC]

That happens to all of us!

 

[Diznygrl]

Not that I believe in curses, but this really only applies to the volcanic rocks/black sand. Makes sense since Pele is the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Like others said, mostly just started to deter tourists from depleting such resources that don't readily renew themselves...then it just kind of evolved into not taking anything from anywhere.

I wouldn't take stuff from volcanic areas, but I did take a tiny bag of sand from Aulani's beach (enough to fill a mini cork top glass bottle like you buy at craft stores. There is probably more sand on the average Aulani guest room bathroom floor than what I took. ). Sure, the sand came from somewhere, but it didn't come from Hawaii so I don't think Pele cares too much about it.

 

[OKWJan]

Our tour guide when we went to Volcano National Park said every year they get lots of lava rock mailed back with stories of the bad things that happened when they took the rocks home (house burned down, robberies, etc.). Why take a chance. Enjoy the beauty and leave it where it is.

 

[kdonnel]

We took a lava hike through Kalapana Cultural Tours (http://www.kalapanaculturaltours.com/) one of the times we visited the Big Island. I inadvertently took home some lava rock as I melted the bottom of my shoes and small lava stones ended up embedded in my shoes. Nothing bad has happened, yet, it has been four years.

Maybe since I didn't take it on purpose the curse didn't apply?

 

[angierae]

I was never told not to bring any sand back or told of Pele's curse. I brought home a container full of sand from Aulani's beach and have it in a decorative jar. I don't think anything worse could happen to our family than losing my son to leukemia about a year prior to our trip. He wanted to go to Aulani for his MAW trip but never made it. Friends of ours sent us in his memory so that we could find some peace and healing. If there is any curse, I think my son's spirit protected us.

ETA- It seems the curse is more connected with taking lava rock and black sand from volcanoes. After doing a search, Aulani's beach and lagoon are man made.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Post-loss vacations can be very helpful - friends who lost their 6 year old to brain cancer have actually started a charity to send families on trips after the loss of a child, since there seems to be so much help for families during a child's illness, but almost nothing once they're gone.