The Little Pagan: The Little Tiki

Pele, great goddess of Hawaii

The religion of Hawaii is similar in many ways to its oceanic neighbors, Taiwan and Japan (and Korea before it converted to Christianity.) They believe in many spirits, gods, goddesses, mythic creatures, etc... They have small shrines all over the island. Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, is perhaps the most commonly known deity outside of Hawaii, with the great gods Kane, Ku, Kanaloa and Lono or the goddess Hime next. The images of their gods and spirits is a work of art, called Tikis, and were in the spotlight of American culture and design for a spell and have lingered for a while. Many people still imagine having Tikis around during beach parties, silent watchers and patrons of fun. They also remember the proliferate tiki mugs that you see in tropical style bars and clubs. I still remember people refering to great surfers as a Kahuna, though this was really the Hawaiian term of a shaman or someone else with great mana/spirit. Some people around America have embraced the faith and practices of the Hawaiians and here is a way for your children to be part of it.

Tiki mugs,

you should be able to find plastic ones for kids

Tiki toys

Tiki necklaces, great for kids.

I actually have a nice one carved out of coral that my father got me when I was a teen.

The main poster of this forum does some awsome tiki work. While I don't think he has embraced the spirituality, I think the Tiki gods have embraced him. Check it out and get some ideas or buy his merchandise.http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=28069&forum=18&start=135&hilite=kirby%5C

The guy from the above forum made these plush tikis himself.

I think they are very cool, and you could probably make them yourself at home.

The guy who made all these plushies and tons of other cool tiki stuff on that forum is in the background here, wearing the yellow shirt. You see he sold this plush tiki to the lady.

Here is some Disney tiki things if you like that. They are based on real Hawaiian things, so it can still be great to use. http://www.certain.com/system/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x112329ffe5

cool little charms or ornaments