kahuna
1. nvi. priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession (whether male or female); in the 1845 laws doctors, surgeons, and dentists were called kahuna. seekahu and many examples below; for plural see kāhuna. 2. v. To exercise a profession; to work at one's appropriate business. 3. Specifically, to be or act the priest. Lunk. 18:19. 4. To sprinkle salt on a sacrifice; e kapi i ka paakai i awaawa ole. seekahunahuna. 5. Hoo. To sanctify or set apart to the priests' office. Puk. 28:41. NOTE— Generally in Hawaiian antiquities, the word kahuna without any qualifying term, refers to the priest or the person who offered sacrifices. Puk. 18:1. O ka mea pule i ka ke alii heiau, he kahuna pule ia. see the above and others in their own places. 6. nvi. oven cooking; to cook. 7. s. Kahu and ana, a cooking. Hence, a general name applied to such persons as have a trade, an art, or who practice some profession; some qualifying term is generally added; as, kahuna lapaau, a physician; kahuna pule, a priest; kahuna kalai laau, a carpenter; kahuna kala, a silversmith; kahuna kalai, an engraver. Puk. 38:23.
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224
ʻAʻole e make ko ke kahuna kanaka, ʻo ko ke aliʻi kanaka ke make.
The servant of the kahuna will not be put to death, but the chief’s servant will.
[A warning not to antagonize the friend of an influential man. A kahuna will do his best to protect his own servant.]
526
He ala iki ko kahuna.
A kahuna has a narrow trail.
[A kahuna should mind and be careful of what he does.]
533
He aliʻi ka maʻi, he aliʻi ke kahuna.
The patient is a chief; the kahuna is a chief.
[The medical kahuna usually had a servant to do the work of fetching and preparing the herbs he prescribed for his patient. Thus the servant served both kahuna and patient. Often the person who gathered the herbs was an apprentice learning the art from the kahuna.]
551
He ʻaumakua hoʻoluhi, hōʻapaʻapa i ke kahuna.
An ʻaumakua that does not help is a burden to the kahuna.
699
He koʻe ka pule a kahuna, he moe nō a ʻoni mai.
The prayer of a kahuna is like a worm; it may lie dormant but it will wriggle along.
[Though the prayer of a kahuna may not take effect at once, it will in time.]
784
He maʻi ola ʻole i kahuna.
A sickness that no kahuna can heal.
[A play on maʻi, which refers to either a sickness or the genitals. Diseases can be cured by a kahuna, but gender is something that no kahuna can change.]
1242
I noho ʻoukou a i pae mai he waʻa o Kahiki-makolena, hopu ʻoukou a paʻa; o ke kahuna ia ʻaʻohe e ʻeha ka ʻili ʻoiai no Kahiki aku ana ka ʻāina.
If sometime in the future a canoe from Kahiki-makolena arrives, grasp and hold fast to it. There is the kahuna for you, and your skins will never more he hurt [in war],for the land will someday he owned hy Kahiki.
[A prophecy uttered by Kaleikuahulu to Kaʻahumanu and her sisters as he was dying. Foreign priests (missionaries) will come. Accept their teachings.]
1485
Ka moe kau a Moi, ke kahuna mana o Hāʻupukele.
You sleep like Moi, the powerful kahuna of Haupukele.
[Said to one who oversleeps. The kahuna Moi, of Hāʻupukele, Molokaʻi, had a long, prophetic dream of misfortune to befall his chief. The chief paid no attention and kidnapped a chiefess of Hilo. This led to a war with her sons, Niheu and Kana.]
1820
Ko ke kahuna haʻi kupua.
To the kahuna belongs the duty of declaring the revelations of the supernatural beings.
2722
Puhipuhi lāʻau a kahuna, ka maunu loaʻa a ka pupuka.
By blowing the medicine given by a kahuna, can the ugly gain his desire.
[Said of one who resorted to the prayers and ceremonies of a kahuna hana aloha to gain the love of his desired one. The person consulting the kahuna ate pilimai and manulele sugar cane after the kahuna had dedicated them to Makanikeoe, the love god. Then he blew in the direction of the desired person. The god, who also had a wind form, bore the mana along, and when it touched the one desired he or she became very much in love with the sender. When used with evil intent — for revenge or to humiliate — the sender is spoken of as an ugly person who has no charm of his own, hence he must resort to sorcery.]