Hawaiian Water~ the best in the world!

I keep thinking, what ingredient do we use most in our products that is purely Hawaiian? Well yes, we use Sandalwood and Papaya, 'olena and lavender, but one thing we use the most, the ingredient in pretty much every single recipe? Water! Water? 

Yes. Water. 

The life giving force that provides us with the energy we need to survive. It makes up 75% of our body's mass and every organ in our body needs it in order to function. It's in our food, it's in our beverages, we use it for cleaning, we use it for bathing. We buy one set of clothes to protect ourselves from getting wet from it and we buy another set of clothes to get wet when we jump right into it! 

It is said that water leaves a heavy footprint. After millions of years in competition with the soils of the Earth, you can see where it has succeeded in carving out crevices, caverns, and canyons. It carves through mountains and creates the most beautiful scenes as it falls. Behind me, here on ‘Oahu, stands the great Ko’olau Mountain range where, on a day of heavy rainfall, I can see long waterfalls that have cut through the mountains to create a majestic landscape. 

 

Indeed we are surrounded by water here in Hawaii, specifically the great Pacific Ocean. Our ancestors, the early Polynesians, mastered the art of navigating these ocean waters using the system known as wayfaring. (Wayfaring is a type of navigation which uses the sun, stars, clouds, currents, and animals to determine the course.) That course brought the Polynesians here to the Hawaiian islands where they again manipulated the power of water, this time on the lands for the use of agriculture. And I should, of course, address that the Hawaiians invented the sport of surfing, a sport which harnessed the power of the ocean wave and a sport which Hawaiians still dominate today. 

Since the early days, water has played such an incredibly important role in our Hawaiian, island culture. It surrounds our islands and it falls (almost daily in some places) from the skies. Where we live in Hawai’i, it is beautiful, lush, and green, but it only gets that way from a lot of rain. And rain is one of the main characters in our seasons. Winter is characterized by brisk winds coming in from the North and lots and lots of rain. Summer is drier and hot but it still rains; it is just that the rain comes overnight.  

Okay. Hawaiians love their water. But what is so great about Hawaiian water really? 

The key to Hawaiian water is in the lava. The Hawaiian islands are a series of volcanoes which were created from “hot spots” in the center of the great “Circle of Fire”. Those hot spots spew lava for many thousands of years until an island forms. As the earth ages, the tectonic plates shift ever so slightly and this shift continues to “move” the islands up to the North and West. If you look at a map of the islands of Hawai’i, you will see that the islands form a chain that stretches all the way to Alaska (take a close look on Google Earth…it's really amazing)! 

So our islands are all dormant shield volcanoes. Well, most of the islands. The Big Island is still spewing lava at times. The Kilauea volcano has been active for the last 30+ years. One flow started recently and then shortly thereafter, the caldera was drained. Several fissures started popping up to drain the lava from the Earth. Many acres of new island were created on the coast of the Big Island of Hawai’i, yet many homes in communities were destroyed. 

I digress. Back to water. 

 

Since we live on these old dormant volcanoes, our islands are active and fertile and the water that runs through them is alive with minerals, yet clean and pure. The water that runs through these mountains is filtered and refined by the million year old rock and is by far, some of the best and purest drinking water on this Earth. We often hike up to one of those same waterfalls I mentioned earlier where I can place my hands directly into the waterfall and drink. It is wonderfully refreshing and tastes delicious. Hawaiian water is some of the best in the world! 

We are proud to call Hawai’i home. We have a close, synergistic relationship with the ‘aina (land) and the water (kai or wai). We take care of our islands and our water and they take care of us. Our islands are fruitful and bear us herbs and plants that are edible and medicinal and they wouldn't be here without the amazing power of water! 

 

We infuse our Hawaiian water with medicinal herbs which we add to each product with mana'o (intention), yet the medicinal strength of the Hawaiian water cannot be measured. However, we know that there is mana in the waters and that the minerals of the Earth have filtered and refined it to make it pure.

The waters of Hawai'i are always flowing. Water is abundant and powerful and extremely important to our culture. Hawaiian water is the best in the world and is part of what makes our products so wonderful. 

Warmest Aloha from our ‘Ohana to Yours.

~Tricia

Ocean Apothecary