Ancient Hawaiians used the phases of the moon to divide the year
into cycles. A new season begins this week so I thought it would
be fun to tell you a little about the system itself and then
about an important commemoration. The methodology of measuring
time by the moon is called Kaulana Mahina (moon calendar). Each
month is determined by the 30 day cycle of the moon (Mahina).
The moon cycle is divided into three 10-day weeks (anahulu). The
weeks begin with the Hilo moon (new moon) in the Ho‘onui (waxing
moon) phase. The full moon (Poepoe) and waning moon (‘Emi) are
the other two moon phases. These three phases occur in each
30-day month. The months are divided generally into two seasons:
Ho‘oilo, the cooler, wetter season, and Kau, the hotter, drier
season. The first month of "winter" is Welehu (mid-October). It
is also the beginning of the Makahiki season (more about that
later). The month that began on November 16 is Makali‘i (small
eyes or very small). The next month will begin in mid-December;
it is call