Maui's giant dormant volcano, Haleakala, has long been a spiritual centre for Hawaiian kahunas or priests. The summit is thought to be an energy vortex, a natural power point for magnetic and cosmic forces. Legend says that the goddess Hina was having problems drying her tapa cloth because the days were too short. Her son Maui, the prankish demigod after whom the islands is named, decided to take matters into his own hands. One morning he went to the top of the mountain and waited for the sun. Maui braided a rope from his sister's pubic hair and as the sun came up over the mountain he lassoed the rays one by one and held on until the sun came to a halt. When the sun begged to be let go, Maui demanded that as a condition for its release it hereafter slow its path across the sky. The sun gave its promise, the days were lengthened and the mountain became known as the House of the Sun. Back to main text © 1996 Lonely Planet