In the traditions of ancient Hawaii, Kanaloa is symbolized by the squid or by the octopus, and is typically associated with Kāne. It is also the name of an extinct volcano in Hawaii. In legends and chants Kāne and Kanaloa are portrayed as complementary powers. For example: Kāne was called upon during the building of a canoe, Kanaloa during the sailing of it; Kāne governed the northern edge of the ecliptic, Kanaloa the southern; Kanaloa points to hidden springs, and Kāne then taps them out.
He was also known as Tangaroa in the Polynesian religion. The god who smells evil is also a main god of the world's creation. When the gods began to fight amongst themselves, he escaped to the sea. Fishes and reptiles of the sea are known as his children.
Kanaloa is also considered to be the god of the Underworld and a teacher of magic. Legends state that he became the leader of the first group of spirits "spit out" by the gods. In time, he led them in a rebellion in which the spirits were defeated by the gods and as punishment were thrown in the Underworld.
However, depictions of Kanaloa as a god of evil, death, or the Underworld, in conflict with good deities like Kāne (a reading that contradicts Kanaloa and Kāne's paired invocations and shared devotees in Ancient Hawaii) are likely the result of European missionary efforts to recast the four major divinities of Hawaii in the image of the Christian Trinity plus Satan. In traditional, pre-contact Hawaii, it was Milu who was the god of the Underworld and death, not Kanaloa; the related Miru traditions of other Polynesian cultures confirms this.
The Eye of Kanaloa is an esoteric symbol associated with the god in New Age Huna teaching, consisting of a seven-pointed star surrounded by concentric circles that are regularly divided by eight lines radiating from the inner-most circle to the outer-most circle.
"A squid god of Hawaiian lore who stands against the creator-god Kane. He is also known as Tangaroa in the Polynesian religion. The god who smells evil is also a main god of the world's creation. When the gods began to fight amongst themselves, he escaped to the sea. Fish and reptiles are his children."
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