Your CartLava Rock Luck: How to Avoid a Hawaiian Curse
By Jonah Kaimana | April 27, 2012
Have your kids ever taken something without you knowing? It can happen, I know I’ve done it growing up. But when you’re with family in Hawaii, just make sure no one takes home a lava rock (or black sand) without your knowledge.
You just might experience a mythical Hawaiian curse—lava rock bad luck.
The curse of the lava rock
There’s a well-known Hawaiian curse that brings bad luck to those who take a lava rock home. Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, will place a spell on anyone who takes volcanic stones from her land.
Pele, Goddess of Fire
Best way to avoid the lava rock curse
It’s really simple: don’t take a lava rock home!
Send your package back to Hawaii
If you are experiencing bad luck from taking home a lava rock, you should consider sending it back to Hawaii.
We receive packages of estranged lava rocks every few months from visitors. I wrote about this last year, and the note inside typically reads:
“I took this lava rock on vacation. Please return it to the land where it belongs, it has only brought us bad luck.”
Lava Rock Luck: Sending a lava rock back to Hawaii
Where to send your lava rock
If you need to send back a lava rock, you can find our mailing address here.
About the author
- More at
Hi Jonah -
Thanks for all of these informative posts! I really enjoyed reading them. I’ve been desperately trying to get ahold of someone currently experiencing this curse. Perhaps a person who experienced ill fortunate after visiting the island, sent back their rocks to escape Pele’s Curse, but haven’t yet had the rocks returned to their rightful place… Is there any way you could help me locate some of these individuals? I’m trying to gather stories for a possible TV show about Pele’s Curse and we’d love to speak with a few people who are still experiencing the effects…
Thanks very much for your help!
Eric