By Wendy Osher

Traditional Hawaiian medicine comes in various forms including lua for bone setting, ___ for diagnosing sickness through touch, ho’oponopono for spiritual healing and la’au lapa’au or plant medicine. Cultural Practitioner Bula Logan utilizes all of these, combined with prayer, protocol, and chant in explaining traditional Hawaiian medicine.

“When you have the right spirit in doing things, when you go to God first, then there is no need for ho’oponopono. That’s what my tutu said,” said Logan. “We don’t go to just the intellect alone. We have to go higher than that.”

“Our traditions say that the ma’i is always first; and because there is a sickness or ma’i, then there is a need for a la’au, or the balance,” said Logan.

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Logan explains that all of the la’au lapa’au traditions go back to the order of Lono. “From him, kamakanuiaha’i Lono, all of the traditions of lapa’au is practiced,” said Logan.

Logan recalled picking herbs as a child with his grandmother and at the time, thinking that it was punishment. “I have four other brothers, and they did not go with my grandma, but she said ‘no, you were born to do this.’ So the continuation of our tradition has been passed down,” he said.

“The lapa’au has a history where we are actually the descendants of the lapa’au,” said Logan. “Being that haloa, which is the kalo (taro) is our elder brother, and we being the younger siblings have a relationship to take care of the elder brother so that the elder brother can feed the people and the nation of Hawaii by giving up its form,” said Logan.

(This video is one is a seven part series from the 18th Annual Celebration of the Arts Festival held April 2-4 2010 at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua. Additional segments will be posted in the coming days.)

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