The Hauola Rock is a sacred chair-shaped rock near the rocky shoreline of the Lahaina Harbor, in Maui, Hawaii. Depending on the tide, the rock can be partially submerged in sea water. Hauola means "to extend life and health" in English.
According to an ancient legend, the rock was believed to have been a girl, named Hauola, who was desperately fleeing from her enemies when her protective guardian gods turned her into a stone. Since then, the rock was considered to be sacred and holds special healing powers.
During the ancient times, healers would send their patients to sit on the Hauola Rock and let the brackish water, a combination of the ocean and fresh water flowing down from the nearby West Maui Mountains, wash off their illnesses. Healing stones, such as the Hauola Rock, were important components in ancient Hawaiian medical practice, along with herbal remedies, special diets and massage.
Apart from healing, the rock is also an important royal birthing stone. In the early 1400, women of royalty would come to Lahaina to give birth on the rock. A child born on the stone, and whose umbilical cord was hidden in a crevice on the rock, instantly gained royal status and and considered as a potential leader. The Hauola Rock is only one of the numerous royal birthing stones in Hawaii. When a woman of royalty fails to give birth on such sacred place, her child's royal privileges would be forfeited.
