Afterpants: Nether Regions pt 17 (Lua-o-Milu)

Probably another short one today due to lack of info. But...Lua-o-Milu! The Hawaiian underworld!.

(Oh by the way...I neglected to give an "underwear synopsis" for Limbo

so I'll do it here. As discussed above, I tend to view Limbo as NOT belonging solely to the Church and more a description for "between spaces" in the afterlife. So...I'm gonna give Limbo a comparison of basic, white boxer briefs. No piping, no frills...perhaps a fashionable name on the elastic like Calvin Klein...or perhaps not. It looks good on males and females but in the end it's essentially utilitarian.)

The Hawaiian underworld seems to be separated into several states. There's Lua-o-milu where most ppl go, the "transient state" (I'd venture to say it's comparable to the state of being Yurei) and then, for the very pure spirits...a type of heaven ruled over by a "sky father" called Wakea.

Regarding Wakea...and his "heaven" as a mythographer, I'm always suspicious of ANY pantheon that has a "sky father" as it is most likely the result of Christian influence (and should therefore be disregarded...) whatever.... we're not really talking about Wakea...

we're talking about Lua-o-Milu and it's "yama king" Milu.

It, like other island people's stories, is located west of the islands in question and is entered through a split tree at the edge of the last island or one of the super steep valleys:

which are apparently accessed by the dead person leaping off the edge.

It is not difficult to understand how the early Hawaiians could have come to the conclusion that leaping from such a spot would help a spirit move on.

Another place to "leap off" is Leina Kauhane...a place off NW Oahu:

Seemingly, this "yama king" has an army of "spirit catchers" to make sure those who are supposed to go to his realm do so. However, I had a moment in reading where I thought...well...if they have to "leap" to get to the underworld...perhaps the spirit catchers aren't hunting wayward ghosts...but literally "catching" the spirit as it falls into the nether region....

Something to think about anyway.

Well, as I've said before, I love islands...especially for the dead....I love the fact that the 1st Nation Hawaiians still perform ritual ancestor veneration. But I don't love the lack of credible info on what is obviously an important Hawaiian cultural belief...So I'm going to give Lua-o-Milu an underwear synopsis of "gold thong"...it's lovely to think about...but you can barely tell you're wearing anything at all, and you don't want ppl knowing you're it wearing under ordinary circumstances.

Afterpants gives Lua-o-Milu 3 Hellbriefs out of 5