Merrie Monarch

Bow your head to me. I'll make you better. But how long will I live? Eternal life and forever. But will I be the G that I was? So much more than you could imagine or even dream of, so relax your soul. Give me control. Close your eyes, my son. Or my eyes are closed. You've crossed over the spook. Stay true. And believe in every child. Set within a beautiful rural campus. Just 20 minutes from Oxford City Centre. Our small classes, personalised pathways and strong send expertise. Give pupils the support, challenge and confidence they need to succeed. Especially those who may not have thrived in larger settings. Find out more at our Open Day on May the 21st. Search Oxford Millwood School Open Day. In a world of noise and uncertainty, IG is the investment platform that backs you. Take a flexible stock size, which gives you the freedom to withdraw funds anytime and replace them in the same tax year, all without losing your £20,000 tax-free allowance. And if that's not enough, pay no commission on your stock shares and ETFs when you invest with IG. IG. Trade. Invest. Progress. Your capital's at risk, other fees may apply. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change. Keep the cuddles and lose the mess with Advantage Chewable. Just one tasty tablet kills fleas and ticks for a whole month. No mess, no stress. Just one tasty chew. Advantage Chewable. Flee and tick protection made easy. Find out more at advantagechewable.co.uk. Easy to love, easy to protect. Advantage Chewable. Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for university, help your community build a new playground, or help a child make it to that dream competition. With GoFundMe, it's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform trusted by over 200 million people. Every week, ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kids' football team? Or raise funds for a small business, a charity, or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality. And help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help? Don't wait for someone else to bring change. Today, start your fundraiser in just minutes at GoFundMe.com. That's GoFundMe.com to start your fundraiser. GoFundMe.com. This is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe. Nine years old, sitting in this church, angry. And my parents anger at these brethren in this place. And now they're preacher. All puffed up, red-faced bug-eyed, steps to the podium, commands us to open your battle to Exodus 32. Here, brethren, Moses climbs the mountain to see God. To the people, wait patient. They do not. Said they work with their forges, their ovens, with wickedness in their hearts, with evil. And look right here, look here, look here, look here. They pull a golden calf from the flame. What do they do then? The very worst thing you can do. They call this thing, this abomination, a God. Who needs that other God? When this one gleams golden. Then they bow their heads before it blasts me. But know this, brethren, there is no sure way to summon the Lord than to mock him. The God that delivered them from slavery under Pharaoh, stretches out his mighty hand and smites with fire and horn pain for their betrayal. Remember that. If you want to see God face to face, you remember that. Later, anger has an idea. I snatched two hangers from the hall closet, bring them back to my bedroom, stripped the wires from the hangers, bin them, fashion them. I can just sew them. Then I cover it. Not with gold. I don't have any of that. Instead, I wrap sheet after sheet of aluminum foil around it, pinch and shape it into a face, and to horns the body of a calf. I admire it for a moment. Beautiful. My own graven image. Then I went for a lull. In the ever-present noise of my household, peek outside my bedroom, down the hall, push the front door open, quiet, quiet, quiet. Pad down the front steps of our trailer, aluminum calf, wrap tight with my jacket that I run. Out to the middle of the woods, my secret fast, fast run, run until I reach the spot reverently. Set the calf down on a patch of hard earth, but doubt stops me fear. Then the anger returns, the fury. I have asked, begged their God to reveal itself as many ways as I know. Still, it judges me unworthy of even a word. Even a whisper, answer me. This is all I have left. So I steal myself, look to the sky one last chance, answer me. Then I drop to my knees, bow my head, and I pray to my own graven image. Spook starts now. Now, how do you wake the God? Now, how do you wake the God? Our next story begins on the spring night in 1986. Thousands of people have gathered in Hilo, Hawaii, not just around the islands, from the four corners of the earth to witness the death of the dead. Our next story begins on the spring night in 1986. Thousands of people have gathered in Hilo, Hawaii, not just around the islands, from the four corners of the earth to witness the largest, the most prestigious hula competition in the world. As the sun sets over Hilo, brothers pack either Kanaka Ole Stadium, the rafters, air tastes rich with the smell of galore, pork, and the sound of ancient drums, and in the distance, dark clouds roll in. Snoot. Good evening and welcome to the 23rd annual Merriam Monarch Festival Hula Competition. We are here, live in Hilo. Tonight, the Kahiko Competition, where 30 halos will be sharing the ancient dances of Hawaii. Leanne Durant is backstage with the other dancers in her Halao, or hula school. After nine months of practice and preparation, they're about to take the stage and perform their rendition of the Three Windstorms of Hina. The women's chant, Kimo, speaks of the goddess Hina from Moloka'i and her three devastating winds that were able to bruise skins and devastate lands. And so we should get from these dancers, male and female, very strong, emotional, Kahiko, ancient dances. It should be very interesting this evening. And we were all ready to go and we're standing in a circle, and then all of a sudden, the lights went out. It's pitch black. The storm is going crazy. That's when the dread really comes. Like, I had bad feelings from the very beginning of learning the dance. I was like, okay, what do we do to stop this? Leanne has been dancing hula for almost as long as she can remember. As a girl growing up in Honolulu, she learned to dance a version of hula called hula awana. It's an instrumental style of hula that became popular after the Hawaiian language was banned in the islands. I grew up in the generation where Hawaiian language hula was not accepted. During the overthrow of our monarchy, we were illegally taken by the United States. And once that happened, as a people, we weren't allowed to speak our language. Ancient hula was underground because we were not allowed to dance it. And then when I came home from college in 1977, there were things happening here in Hawaii, which they called the first renaissance of things Hawaiian. And it all started with the hula. All over the islands, young Hawaiians were reviving hula kahiko and bringing back those traditional dances and chants. It looked exciting, so I asked my neighbor if she was dancing hula anywhere. And she said she was, so I went down with her to a hula class with kumu hula mapuanu di silva. She was teaching kahiko, which is the ancient hula. Those chants go back way back. It tells those stories of our ancestors. What kind of beauty did they see in a flower? What kind of beauty did they see in a rock? What did they do if things weren't right? What kind of battles did they have? And I just fell in love with it. The World's No. 1 Fundraising Planner Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for university, help your community build a new playground, or help a child make it to that dream competition. With GoFundMe, it's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. Every week, ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kids' football team? Or raise funds for a small business, a charity, or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraiser's you start for someone else, raise up to five times more. So think right now, who could use your help? Don't wait for someone else to bring change. Today, start your fundraiser in just minutes at GoFundMe.com. That's GoFundMe.com to start your fundraiser. GoFundMe.com. This is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe. One day, not long after she started studying hula-kahiko, Leanne remembers overhearing her kumu, or teacher, Mapuana De Silva, talking about entering the Mary Monarch Festival. I was like, what is that? That's how out of touch I was. I didn't even know about the festival. They started to talk about the festival. They started it as a little competition with a few halau. And over the years, it just, by word of mouth, by, you know, more, the renaissance was bringing more and more halau into being. And it just became one of the biggest things ever. And that's kind of like our big gold star, you know, in the spring, is going to Mary Monarch. The first time Leanne went to Mary Monarch, it was 1981. She was in her 20s and having the time of her life, preparing for the festival with her hula sisters. Her halau didn't win that year. But it was just really a fun time. It was a really bonding time. Each halau would have their own fundraiser with their own little signature to it. And because even though we were in competition, we would support each other. We would go to each other's fundraisers. We would help them. They would help us. It was like a huge, huge family. But there's a lot of work. We make our own costumes. We make our own lei. We have to raise money to get there and be able to pay for hotels or vans. Not to mention the hours each week spent practicing the dances they were going to perform. They would have a dance of your choice. And then whoever the committee was would choose a dance where every halau danced the same. But each kubu brought their own spirit to it. They'd start rehearsing their dances in September and work on them all the way through to the competition in the spring. But for Leanne and the other dancers in Halau, Mohalla, and Lima, the point of all this hard work wasn't just to win. Although in her first five years with the group, they did win three times. What we would strive for was to share our hula and our interpretation with everyone. And then came 1986 and the three windstorms of Hina. It was about the goddess Hina. She's one of the oldest goddesses in Hawaii. And she was the female that could generate force in Hawaiian cosmology. And she was kind of a protector of the land too. She had this gourd. And if they had a lot of water, they would have to use it. And she would use this gourd. And if the people wouldn't take care of the land, she would open her gourd just a little bit. When she opened that gourd just a little bit, the rain got stronger, the winds started to pick up. And it was kind of like a warning to the people that you better take care of business. And so as the chant goes on, the people still don't heed her call or pay attention. So she opens her gourd a little more. That's when you start getting lightning, thunder, the rain gets harder, the winds start whipping up. And on the third time when she opens the gourd, it's the destruction of man. Leigh Ann was a really experienced dancer at this point. And she was a mentor to some of the newer Hula sisters. But when she got into the studio to start practicing this one... Something was just weird. I remember going to Hula and we learned the second verse. All of a sudden just felt, I don't know how to explain, I was a little frightened. I couldn't really explain why, but it was just a feeling I had in my na'au, in my gut. And that feeling carried through the whole what I call the Maribondic season, starting in September. Leigh Ann hoped that with time she'd get more comfortable with the routine and the feeling would fade, but it didn't. When the spring rolled around, that uneasy feeling in her gut was still there whenever she practiced. She didn't mention it to her Kumu or anyone else in her halau. She just kept pushing, trying to get it right. But I just couldn't get it. I couldn't get the dance, I couldn't get the chant. I made mistakes all the time. It just didn't feel comfortable to me. I never had struggles like that, learning Hula. Finally, the week of Maribondic arrived. Leigh Ann and her Hula sisters flew to Hilo and checked in to the Nani Loa Hotel. That night, they sat in the audience in Edith Kanaka Oli Stadium and watched the Miss Aloha competition. The next day, it was their turn to compete. Kehiko Night. Leigh Ann remembers waking up that morning to perfect Hilo weather, blue skies with a cool mist coming off the ocean. The dancers spent the day rehearsing on the hotel lawn before heading over to the stadium. When they got there, they had some time to kill before they had to get ready, and most of the dancers wanted to watch the first groups perform. But Leigh Ann decided that she needed some time alone and fresh air to clear her head, so she made her way back outside. I was super nervous because I had a hard time with the chant. I needed to calm my nerves, so I remember going down. I sat on the sidewalk kind of along the fence. I would just keep kind of just taking a deep breath. I would always just tell myself, just let it go. Just let it go once you get on that stage. You're going to forget all your worldly worries. As she sat there, breathing in and out, Leigh Ann could hear the first women's group take the stage inside the stadium and start to perform Hina's chant. We welcome you, the people throughout the state of Hawaii, from all of the Hawaiian islands. And now, from Las Vegas, Nevada, under the direction of Kumu Hula, Wayne Panokin. Hula Halaoka Hone. This is our first opportunity to see the Wai Hinae competition chant, which will always be performed first. Hina. Oma. Kaya. Hawaii. Hawaii. And then, as I could hear the chanting on the stage, it started to rain. It came so fast, and pretty soon it was pouring rain. At first, I didn't think anything because Hila was unpredictable. It always does things like that, you know? So, I went in and I started dressing. And then my Hula sisters came. We dressed under the bleachers so we could hear what was going on on the stage. Making their first appearance at the Mary Monarch Festival, another opportunity to see Hina and her devastating wings. Hina. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. Hawaii. As I was dressing my Hula sisters, I kept walking in the rain. And I was noticing like the gutters of the tennis stadium was the water was just gushing out and it was coming really quickly. All of a sudden, I just felt like this is the story. The rain kept coming and the rain kept coming. It seemed like every time I heard the chant, the rain got worse and worse and worse. I was just like observing and thinking, wow, this is like the first storm. Clouds were really dark and heavy and I could hear the chanting and I would see lightning or hear the thunder. And then I went to, this is like the second storm. We're dancing about the story and the story is coming true. Everybody's on stage, like they're chanting and their energy is there and they're bringing this to life. So I felt very uncomfortable and I did not want to go on that stage. What if we were the ones that she decided then and there, let's open the gourd the third time and it would be destruction of man. And the stadium was full of man. So I really felt dreadful. But I was not going to disappoint my kumo or my hula sisters. I didn't want to be the one that was like, I don't want to do this, you know. Because not performing on Kehiko night automatically disqualified us from the competition. And we've worked so hard, you've sacrificed. We've had girls sacrifice being in sports, going to proms, you know, doing all the things that you do as young people because we loved it so much. And what if I was wrong? So I talk myself back into it. It's just like, okay, you're here. This is a commitment. You can do it. Your body is unique. And what works for some influencer might not work for you. With true diagnostic, you get personalized recommendations based on real data, not trends. It analyzes over one million data points to create a simple actionable plan for your body. Whether you want to slow aging with true age or optimize your current health with true health. With a quick at home fingerprint, true age measures up to 180 biomarkers. Receive digital results with a 90 day actionable plan, follow the three recommendations for 90 days, then retest to see progress. It was super easy to do. And I learned that for me, I didn't like it, but brown rice and potatoes are not my friend. Had to change my ways and doings. And now things are looking up. Right now, now let's just get 20% off at truediagnostic.com using code spook at checkout. That's truediagnostic.com and use code spook for 20% off today. Choose true age, true health or the combo kit as a one time purchase or subscription. Intermission was ending. People were going back to their seats. We're about to go on. My stomach is in knots. We were all ready to go and we're standing in a circle. And then all of a sudden the lights went out. You hear the audience say, whoa. And then there was silence. It's pitch black and the storm is going crazy. I start to kind of panic because I felt like the lights were the warning. And I just kept thinking in my mind, we need to break the cycle. We have to do something to stop, to stop the momentum of this storm. And the only way I knew how to break the cycle would be to not dance. And then one of my hula sisters that was standing next to me, she told me that she was afraid and she didn't want to go out and dance. And several other people came up and told me that. I went into care nurturing mode. So I said, okay, I'll go talk to Kumu and see what happens. So I left the circle and I went up to her and I said, Mopu, I have to tell you something. We don't feel good about dancing. There was no anger. She just said, okay, so she came to the group and she talked to us and said, do you not want to dance? You know, of course, I'm not going to dance. She just talked to us and said, do you not want to dance? You know, of course, everybody's kind of like, oh, what should I say? And then I just said, well, I don't want to. And then the majority of the girls were like, yeah, we don't want to, we don't want to. Meanwhile, out in the audience, somebody had started to sing. I don't remember what song, but just to take the tension off, I think someone started to sing and then everyone was singing. So despite the festive mood, it was haunting, if not coincidental, to think that the night's intense lightning and thunderstorm literally shook. Edith Kanaka Ole indoor tennis stadium. The storm caused a 40 minute blackout. Eventually the lights went on. With the storm raging against the black sky, the announcer got on the mic. He says, I'd like to announce our next Halao Hala Mo Halaima under the direction of Mapuana De Silva. She comes up, goes up the ramp by herself, goes to a mic in the middle of the stage. And nobody knew what she was going to say. But then she said, we have decided that our girls will not be performing this evening. My concern and care is first for my ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Then everybody was clapping. I think they were clapping because she made her students number one. It mattered. What we felt mattered to her and that we were willing to be disqualified. So this Mapuana came back from being on stage and making that announcement. The rain just stopped. As we were undressing and putting our costumes away and taking care of everything, it went back to being a light mist with a little breeze. And it was no rain for the rest of the competition. I don't know what would have happened if we went up. There were a whole bunch of Halao after us. They danced, no problem. But I felt it's not meant to be danced by us. It didn't matter that we missed this competition, that we got disqualified. None of that mattered. Because I feel that we broke the cycle. Thank you, thank you Leanne for sharing your story. Leanne told us that even her group was disqualified from the 1986 competition the next night. They did have another chance to dance and after all the ups and downs of the festival, they rocked the stage with one of the best performances ever. And Spooks, as you should know, the next Merrimonic Festival is just days away. There will be a link in our show notes where you can learn more. This piece was scouted by Isha Lopez. The original score was by Clay Xavier. It was produced by Zoe Friigno. Now, for just a moment let's talk about babies. Tiny little bundles of joy, fat cheeks that smell, that baby smell, the other baby smell. It makes your heart grow three sizes too big, but long time listeners to this show know that it often starts at the beginning. And if you know an infant or a small child that demonstrates knowledge, powers, understandings or memories, they did learn at nursery school. Tell me about it. Spooks snapped judgment out of WRG because there's nothing better than a Spooks story from a Spook listener. Spooks Studios stands century between this world and the next cloaked by KQED in San Francisco. Don't seek to find it. Let's seek to find you. No snap to the old content may be used for training, testing or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team Spooks, the union-represented producers, artists, editors and engineers are members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications, Work for America, AFL, CIO, Local 51 and Spooks is brought to you by the team that loves to hula dance except for Mark Ristich. Mark prefers to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight. There's David Kim, Zoe Frigno, Eric Gnanias, Marissa Dodge, Regina Bediaco, Miles Lassie, Taylor Decotte, Sui Chiu, Evan Stern, Yves Jeffcoat, Yixiao Lopez, Jack Darrell, Doug Stewart, Nicholas March, the Spook theme song is by Pat Masini Miller. My name is from Washington. And you know, I'm going to my auntie's house. My auntie's place. I'm contemplating my little quest for the divine. The search I know she would think was silly. My auntie, she always wanted kids of her own. I think she did. I think that she did. But it never happened that way for her. So I believe this was my personal stroke of good fortune because when I was in the crazy, my house, she could sometimes be the escape, the respect, the hug, the hot meal, the field trip fee, the couch to sleep on, the kind word, the new kicks, the gas money, the good book, the screaming from the stands at the graduation. They addressed her right down when I didn't have an address. The emergency contact. Well, I didn't have an emergency contact. All these little things I think about this walking to her or tight apartment, busy searching for the divine. But here the divine is shining bright in front of me and now the divine is cussing me out, putting all that cold air inside, leaving her door wide open. Never ever, ever, ever, ever, never turn out the light.