A Prophecy came to Life: The Story of Kelea, the Surf-Rider of Maui

Kelea was the beautiful sister of Kawao, king of Maui who, at the age of twenty-five, succeeded to the sovereignty of that island. Brought up in the royal court at Lahaina, Kelea was uncommonly beautiful. … Continue reading A Prophecy came to Life: The Story of Kelea, the Surf-Rider of Maui

She Survived and Still Very Much the Queen: Java’s Ratu Kidul (Nyai Loro Kidul) and the Tradition of Ocean Goddesses

The kingdom of Ratu Kidul, the Queen of the South Seas (‘ratu’ = queen, and ‘kidul’ = south), is called Karaton Bale Sokodhomas, and the center of the kingdom is in the Java Trench, which runs parallel to the south coast of Java and is the deepest part of the Indian Ocean (seven kilometers deep). Her palace is there, below the ocean, directly south from Merapi Mountain and the city of Yogyakarta in Central Java, but her influence covers all of Bali, Java and the southern part of Sumatra. In particular the volcano, Krakatoa, lies within her domain.