The Meaning of Aloha

Welcome back to Island Style Buzz! Today we want to welcome you to our site by saying ‘Aloha!’ Aloha is a very special and sacred Hawaiian greeting, which has a beautiful meaning in its home country. So today’s blog post is going to be on the meaning of Aloha!

The greeting ‘Aloha’, although it’s not clear when the word entered the Hawaiian language exactly, it can be traced back by several sources to the late 18th century. It’s traditionally a greeting, which means that it can be used to say hello or goodbye.

Just like a lot of English words do, Aloha has many different meanings on the surface – putting this into perspective, Aloha can mean love, affection, sympathy, peace, kindness, mercy, pity and compassion. Although it’s just a word, Aloha delves much deeper into Hawaii’s beautiful culture.

Without going too deep into the world of philosophy, Aloha is also seen as a way of life. Strategically, if we break down the word to its original roots, ‘Alo’ means to share while ‘ha’ means life or breath – to share life, to share the pain and joys of life. In fact, there is an early Hawaiian teaching, which goes like this:

‘Aloha is being a part of all, and all being a part of me. When there is pain – it is my pain. When there is joy – it is also mine. I respect all that is as part of the Creator and part of me. I will not willfully harm anyone or anything. When food is needed I will take only my need and explain why it is being taken. The earth, the sky, the sea are mine to care for, to cherish and to protect. This is Hawaiian – this is Aloha!’.

Hawaiians commonly refer to this idea as ‘the spirit of Aloha.’ As this is seen as a way of life, they believe they should treat each other with love and respect; and on a deeper level, first teaching ourselves to love our own spirit and body before we can share the love around. This traces back to traditional beliefs that this would help reach the goal of perfecting ones self and sending and receiving positive energy. When you live in this spirit, you create encouraging and affirming feelings and thoughts, which never leave you, they exist in space and multiply to spread to others around you.

The spirit of Aloha is also considered a state law, not the type that would earn you a jail sentence or fine, but it’s one that serves a purpose. It serves as a reminder to government officials and people to treat everybody with the deepest care, respect and love, just like the Hawaiian ancestors did. Hawaiians think of it more as a lesson than a law. The idea is to create a lesson world filled with the spirit of Aloha!

Fun fact before we go: the spirit of Aloha actually created the idea of Aloha Friday! Traditionally, Aloha Friday is where employers and companies allow their employees to ‘dress down’ on the last day of the work week. This is when aloha clothing, such as – Hawaiian shirts and tropical dresses – can be worn. It’s rare to find a business in Hawaii that doesn’t celebrate or follow the custom of Aloha Friday!

You can also read the definition on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha

Thanks for joining us again, and we hope you have an awesome day!

Aloha from Island Style Clothing!

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