For over five thousand years, kava is known to have been used as part of elaborate community-building rituals throughout the Pacific islands. Even though Christian Missionaries tried to eradicate the use of the ancient and sacred plant, it was too deeply rooted (no pun intended) in various cultures across the Pacific to be fully eliminated from the island culture. As a result, kava is still used in ceremonies and to celebrate special occasions.
Kava has long held an exalted place among high-ranking members of Pacific society, and its ceremonial uses range from a simple welcome for honored visitors, to celebrations for the completion of work projects, to ceremonies for recognizing the social status of citizens in the community. Kava is also often enjoyed during the celebration of a new birth or marriage, and is even taken at funerals. Essentially, in any situation that Westerner cultures commemorate with a toast of an alcoholic beverage, we find that Pacific cultures also lift a glass - but for us, it's a cup of kava!
Perhaps the most interest ceremonial use of kava is when it is consumed by elders during divination ceremonies as they contact the spirit world in order to find missing things, diagnose illnesses, and foretell the future. We also use kava to mark several key events in a child's life, such as the naming of children who have lived for one full year, the consecrating of an infant at birth, and the imitation of girls into the traditions of hula and chant when they reach adolescence. In some places in the Pacific, kava is poured onto the ground instead of being consumed during these rituals.
In Vanuatu, a Polynesian island on which kava traditions remain a deeply integral part of the culture, political decisions are enacted during kava ceremonies. Kava ceremonies are also places where enemies are reconciled and goodwill is restored. When there are conflicts in the community, kava is used to return a sense of balance and goodwill to the community. Criminals may even be pardoned and given their freedom after a particularly effective kava ceremony!
Even nowadays, kava is an essential aspect of important political and social ceremonies, and is used to welcome honored visitors to Pacific island nations. Many famous figures, including Prince Charles and Pope John Paul II have participated in traditional kava ceremonies upon visiting the Pacific!
Finally, the whole kava root is often presented to guests and visitors as a symbol of peace and good will. If you are ever handed a rather ugly tan root anytime during your visit to the Pacific, it is not an insult. This is a sign of honor, peace, and friendship!
Kona Kava Farm ships worldwide and offers safe, effective, and unusually potent Kava made only from the roots of our organic-certified, estate-grown plants. Don't forget to register for our free monthly Kava giveaway when you stop by as well. Aloha no, Makaira Kealoha
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