Give yourself the chills with these Hawaii superstitions

If you think about it, living in Hawaii can be a little creepy. This cluster of islands in the middle of the Pacific may be small geographically, but it is indeed full of history – a history and culture that people today continue to try and keep alive.

Since it is Halloween, I thought it was only fitting to share some of Hawaii’s superstitions. Now, these superstitions go far beyond bad luck from breaking a mirror. If you mess with these, some believe that you’re also messing with Pele (fire goddess), Menehune/Night Marchers, and even your future.

So how many of these have you heard of or actually believe?

1. Don’t whistle at night. It’s believed that whistling at night will summon spirits and huakai po (night marchers/the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors).
2. Do not take pork on the Pali. You’ll anger Pele, who had a bad romance with the pig demi-god Kamapua‘a. If you have pork in your car (not sure if this holds true to raw and/or cooked), your car will break down.
3. Don’t leave chopsticks standing straight up in a bowl of rice. Doing this is bad luck because in Japanese culture, it’s known to disrupt the deceased’s grave and/or it means you’re offering rice to the dead.
4. An old woman on the side of the road is known to be Pele. So if you see an old woman, offer her food or drink because it’s Pele supposedly shape-shifted into the form of an elderly woman.
5. Don’t mess with big black moths. Huge black moths are supposedly a recently deceased relative. So instead of freaking out, simply enjoy the visit.
6. If something abruptly falls in your home, it means someone just died, or that someone will.
7. Don’t cut your nails at night.
8. Don’t point at graveyards or tombstones. Or a spirit will latch onto you and never let go. It’s also disrespectful. If you ever accidentally do it, bite your finger.
9. Don’t sleep with your feet facing the door. Or else when your spirit leaves your body when you’re asleep, it won’t know how to get back.
10. Don’t live in a house where the windows align with the front or back doors. This makes it easy for spirits to come and go as they please.

Great, I just gave myself the chills. Have any of you heard of these superstitions? What do you think?