Kapo (mythology)

In Hawaiian mythology, Kapo is a goddess of fertility, sorcery and dark powers who can assume any shape she wills. She is the mother of Laka, although some versions have them as the same goddess. She is the sister of Kāne Milohai, Kamohoalii, Pele, Nāmaka and Hiiaka.
Kapo also had a detachable vagina, which she once used as a decoy to aid her sister Pele to flee the overzealous Kamapua'a.
== Kapo in myth ==
She saved Pele from being raped by Kama-pua'a by sending her flying vagina (kohe lele) as a lure. Kama followed this to Koko Head, Oahu, where it left an imprint. Later Kapo hid it in Kalihi Valley.Mary Kawena Pukui & Samuel Hoyt Elbert : Hawaiian Dictionary. U Pr of HI, Honolulu, 1971. p. 388a
"When the Hawaiians dream of a woman without a vagina it is Kapo. ... unless a medium possessed by Kapo wears a ti leaf protection she is in danger of having this part of her body torn at."Hawaiian Mythology. Martha Beckwith, Yale U Pr, 1940. p. 187
*"Kapo, sister of the poison-tree gods of Maunaloa and proficient in the arts of herb medicine and sorcery, teaches Ke-ao-melemele on the dancing field near Waolani in Nu'uanu valley until she can dance in the skies and over the sea."Martha Beckwith : Hawaiian Mythology. Yale U Pr, 1940. p. 522
"As Kapo’ulakina’u (Kapo-red-spotted) she was the Kapo invoked by kahuna when sending evil back upon someone."Pu'u-o-kapo-lei
== Kapo in geography ==
*"Kohelepelepe (Volcanic crater; O'ahu.) "Labia Minora" (an imprint said to have been left here by the flying vulva and vagina of Kapo ...; this name was ... changed—perhaps in missionary days—to the current name Koko ... "Blood" ...)".Alan C. Ziegler : Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology and Evolution. U of HI Pr, 2002. p. 394
*"Koko Head Crater was Kohelepelepe. That's Hawaiian for 'fringed vulva'. The crater is the imprint of the vulva of Kapo... It was a flying vulva, and Kapo used it to lure the pig god here. It flew from here to Kalihi. ..."Lee Siegel : "Hawaii", p. 106. In :- John Leonard (ed.) : These United States. Nation Books, 2004. pp. 102-111
== Notes ==
Category:Hawaiian mythology