Written by Lauren Alfred

Have you heard of Ho’oponopono? It is a Hawaiian huna healing practise of forgiveness and gratitude. This Hawaiian word translates into English simply as ‘correction’ and has a powerful effect on our emotions and our soul. It is a spiritual practise that originates from traditional Hawaiian healers. There are similar forgiveness practices that are practised on islands throughout the South Pacific, including Samoa, Tahiti and New Zealand. In many of the Polynesian cultures, it is seen that our errors and unconscious patterns can cause illness, that the guilt caused by these errors makes us sick. This is the kind of illness that can have a deep effect on the spirit and the soul, and can ravage our thoughts and emotions throughout our current lifetime and even beyond. The path to healing can come through opening our heart to forgiveness and making things right within ourselves.

What is Ho’oponopono?

The Hawaiian Dictionary defines Ho’oponopono as:

1. “To put to rights; to pit in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat, administer, superintend, supervise, manage, edit, work carefully or neatly; to make ready, as canoe man preparing to catch a wave.”
2. “Mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance and mutual restitution and forgiveness.”

Ho’oponopono became well known in healing circles from the experience of a therapist and teacher called Ihaleakata Hew Len. It is an almost unbelievable story where he cured many mentally ill criminals in Hawaii without even talking to or interacting with any of them. As he was looking through each patient’s records, he applied the ho’oponopono prayer and the repetition of the technique changed his thoughts and emotions. As he did this, the mental habits and behaviours of the detainees also began to transform. It was surprising to see that he was able to heal the prisoners as he was healing himself. So the eternal axiom goes; As Within, As Without. When we heal ourselves internally, it has an effect on the external environment around us.

This spiritual practise is very simple and does not take a lot of time, but it is a powerful way to purify our energy, emotions, thoughts and even our physical bodies. It can assist with clearing painful memories and feelings that otherwise hold the mind in unhealthy patterns. By adding this prayer to your morning or evening cacao ritual, you will be gifting yourself with a daily rhythm that has the potential to shift your reality in subtle yet immeasurable ways. Through its very nature it will also create a ripple effect of healing waves within the lives of those you hold in your heart and prayers.

By practising this spiritual healing technique, we accept the responsibility that everything we know as our interpretation of reality is in fact experienced and created by our mind. What happens outside of ourselves is always influenced by the inner self. By accepting this responsibility and applying it to our daily lives, we may begin to observe that we are creating our reality through the radar of our thoughts and emotions. The purpose of ho’oponopono is to seek and create healing through forgiveness and gratitude. While we may be reluctant to forgive those who have hurt or done us wrong, it is actually the forgiveness of ourselves that is the main focus of this prayer. When we begin to self actualise and understand how our patterns of thought and emotion have created our problems in

life, it empowers us to create ways of solving those very problems.

How to practise the Ho’oponopono prayer?

Traditionally, the ho’oponopono spiritual prayer is made up of four very simple yet profound affirmations:

• I love you
• I am sorry
• Please forgive me
• Thank you

As we repeat this prayer during a cacao ceremony, the plant medicine encourages the opening of our heart to the process of love, repentance, forgiveness and gratitude. By repeating this technique the words begin to exert their power to initiate a release of blockages, unhealthy memories and traumas. The effect that follows is a movement into deeper actualisation of self mastery of mind, body and emotion. It naturally follows that we are now gifting ourselves with the opportunity of embodying more influence over the creation and manifestation of our lives.

What are the benefits of adding the ho’oponopono spiritual prayer to your cacao ceremony?

During a cacao ceremony our heart is already open and activated. The conditions for healing are nurtured and are naturally present due to the effect of the plant spirit and medicine. Therefore the ho’oponopono technique acts as a conduit for deeper healing to take place. This can result in a clearing effect to the trauma that is often trapped in the body and usually prevents us from truly moving forward on our path of Spirit and connection with the Divine. Words of affirmation are a powerful way to commit to the healing process. Repetition of these profound statements instruct the body to release cellular memories that are often very painful to otherwise transform on our own. When we stand to take ownership of our unhealthy ways of thinking and being in the world, we also open ourselves to the possibility of releasing victim consciousness. We become empowered to create positive changes in both our internal and external realities.

Again, as the eternal axiom goes; As Within, As Without.  No longer is our suffering merely the result of uncontrollable factors outside of ourselves. We now have the ability and opportunity to create real and lasting change, both emotionally within and as an effect, in our relationships with others. Passivity and victim consciousness ceases to rule us unconsciously when we stand in the truth and truly let go of what is holding back our spiritual growth and expansion.

Why not try this next time with your cacao ceremony? It is especially good for a morning ritual when you may not have a lot of time and want a healthy and positive start to your day. Simply repeat the statements “I love you, I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you” with your hand on your heart as you intentionally drink your Tribal Moon cacao. You can say it silently inside, out loud or even write it in your journal. It can be directed to yourself, a loved one, even while looking at a photograph of somebody from your past who you would like to come to a resolution with.

What a powerful healing combination to begin your day, cacao ceremony and

Ho’oponopono prayer!

• References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho%CA%BBoponopono