The Cursed Rocks of Hawaii

Image source - istockphoto

Hawaii is one of the top vacation spots in the world, but tourists need to be careful with the souvenirs they want to bring home.

According to superstition, those who take lava rocks home with them meet with bad luck and horrible misfortune. There have been a large number of reports over the years of tourists picking up rocks near the Hawaiian volcanoes and taking them home, only to be “cursed” by Pele afterwards.

So who is Pele? She is the mythological volcano goddess, and the volcanoes in Hawaii are said to be her domain. She apparently isn’t too happy with tourists “stealing” her rocks as she sends a curse to follow all of them home. It’s believed that each rock in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has its own energy and that when they’re all together, the volcanoes are in “harmony”, just as the goddess made them.

Every year, the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park receives hundreds of packages from tourists sending their rocks back. The packages come from all around the world, and many of them are addressed to “Queen Pele” herself. Letters of apology are also sent with the rocks.

Even tourists who are usually skeptic against superstition admit that they made a mistake by taking off with the volcanic rocks. Hawaiians believe that the rocks, sand, and shells should always be kept right where Pele put them. Is this legend true? Or do people just have overactive imaginations? Could this urban legend have become so widespread that people now believe in it? Whether there’s any truth to the myths and superstition or not, it is against the law to take anything out of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.