07/09/2025
THE FOUR WAYS OF SEEING REALITY IN HUNA
Huna, the Hawaiian philosophy and practice preserved and shared by teachers such as Serge Kahili King, holds that reality is not a fixed structure. It is an ever-changing field of experience shaped by perception. One of the most profound teachings within this tradition is the idea of the four ways of seeing reality. They are living perspectives, each one a mode of awareness with its own principles, tools, and gifts. Together they form a complete system for approaching life, healing, and problem-solving.
A shaman trained in Huna learns to enter and leave these perspectives at will. Each way of seeing offers a lens, and by choosing the right lens for the moment, the shaman can respond with precision and creativity.
IKE PAPAKAHI – THE OBJECTIVE WORLD
The first way of seeing, Ike Papakahi, is the objective world. This is the realm of ordinary, physical perception. It is the world of facts, objects, and measurable events. In this perspective, reality appears as solid and stable. Trees, mountains, rivers, and bodies are distinct and separate. Observation through the senses creates a clear, structured map of life.
The meaning of this perspective lies in its practicality. It provides a foundation for daily living. When someone plants a seed, they expect it to sprout and grow with water and sunlight. When a tool is crafted, it takes shape in wood, stone, or metal. This world affirms the value of patience, discipline, and effort.
For shamans, Ike Papakahi serves as the ground of action. Healing in this world involves touch, herbs, food, and environment. If someone suffers from tension, massage and breathwork bring release. If fatigue persists, the solution may involve nutrition, rest, or physical exercise. Shamans also use this perspective for rituals tied to the land: planting, harvesting, or honoring places of power.
When problem-solving, Ike Papakahi encourages clarity. A situation can be examined step by step. Resources are counted, options are listed, and actions are taken in sequence. This perspective works especially well for challenges that require structure, planning, or physical change.
Ike Papalua – The Subjective or Telepathic World
The second way of seeing, Ike Papalua, opens into the subjective or telepathic world. This realm reveals reality as a network of emotional and energetic connections. Thoughts, feelings, and intentions extend beyond the boundaries of the body and flow into the shared field of others.
The meaning of Ike Papalua lies in relationship and resonance. Here the emphasis shifts from what is observed with the senses to what is felt with the heart and mind. A shaman using this perspective experiences the bond between beings as a living current. Distance holds no power, because intention travels like light across space.
In practice, shamans apply this perspective to sense unspoken truths. When a person speaks of peace but carries hidden anger, Ike Papalua reveals the underlying emotion. When families experience conflict, the shaman may perceive the unseen threads of jealousy, grief, or longing that shape behavior. Healing can then be directed toward those deeper patterns.
Telepathic perception also enables long-distance work. A healer may connect with someone far away, sending energy, comfort, strength, or insight. In problem-solving, this perspective helps uncover hidden motivations, relational dynamics, or emotional causes of difficulty. A shaman may guide a leader to see not only policies and plans but also the collective mood of a community.
Ike Papakolu – The Symbolic or Dream WorldThe third way of seeing, Ike Papakolu, brings awareness into the symbolic or dream world. In this perspective, reality speaks through images, metaphors, and stories. Every event becomes a message. A sudden storm may suggest the release of tension. A dream of water may point toward emotional cleansing. A chance encounter with an animal may carry guidance about courage, patience, or adaptability.
The basic meaning of Ike Papakolu lies in interpretation. The world itself becomes a text filled with symbols waiting to be read. It invites imagination and intuition to lead the way. In this realm, the rational mind loosens its grip, and deeper insight emerges through patterns, archetypes, and mythic language.
For shamans, this perspective is a powerful tool of diagnosis and transformation. When a person dreams repeatedly of fire, the shaman interprets it as passion, anger, or energy seeking expression. Rituals and journeys are designed to work with that fire, guiding it toward creativity instead of destruction.
Problem-solving in the symbolic world involves reframing and re-dreaming reality. A challenge is no longer a heavy weight; it becomes a story with characters, symbols, and resolution. For example, someone trapped in a repetitive cycle at work may see themselves as a bird caught in a cage. Through shamanic guidance, that cage can transform into an open gate, and the bird can take flight. Such imagery creates emotional and psychological release, allowing new actions in the objective world.
Ike Papaha – The Holistic or Mystical World
The fourth way of seeing, Ike Papaha, is the holistic or mystical world. In this perspective, reality appears as one unified field. Separation dissolves, and all beings share the same essence. The stone, the tree, the bird, and the human pulse with a single spirit. In the Orient it is considered enlightenment, samadhi or cosmic consciousness.
The meaning of Ike Papaha lies in union and harmony. It reveals existence as a seamless whole. A practitioner entering this perspective experiences love and compassion without limit. Healing arises naturally from this awareness, because disharmony transforms into balance when embraced as part of the whole.
Shamans use this perspective for deep healing and spiritual renewal. When working in Ike Papaha, they merge with the person, the place, or the spirit in need of harmony. The problem no longer appears as something external to be fixed but as a flow of energy within the whole. By holding unity, the shaman allows resolution to arise spontaneously. By healing themselves they heal the person or the world.
In problem-solving, Ike Papaha dissolves struggle. A conflict that once appeared as opposition becomes a dance of complementary forces. A challenge that seemed overwhelming becomes an opportunity for expansion. Solutions appear through insight and grace rather than through effort alone.
Shamanic Integration of the Four PerspectivesEach of these four ways of seeing reality carries unique gifts. Ike Papakahi offers clarity and structure. Ike Papalua provides sensitivity and connection. Ike Papakolu awakens creativity and symbolic wisdom. Ike Papaha reveals unity and love.
A shaman integrates all four, shifting fluidly from one to another. None is higher or more important than the others. The Huna view of life values simplicity and practicality above all and does not embrace a hierarchical perspective. The cosmic perspective of Ike Papaha is not considered superior to the objective perspective of Ike Papakahi, but simply different, for all life is sacred.
Healing may begin in the objective world with herbs and touch, move into the telepathic world to sense hidden emotions, shift into the symbolic world to uncover meaning through vision, and culminate in the holistic world where unity restores wholeness.
In daily life, these perspectives serve as tools for any task. A builder uses Ike Papakahi to measure wood, Ike Papalua to sense the mood of the team, Ike Papakolu to interpret omens during construction, and Ike Papaha to dedicate the finished home in sacred unity.
Conclusion
The four ways of seeing reality in Huna form a multidimensional approach to life. They provide practical skills, intuitive insights, symbolic guidance, and mystical union. Shamans treat them as lenses, shifting among them to meet each moment with flexibility and power.
By embracing all four perspectives, challenges become invitations, and problems transform into pathways of growth. The objective world provides tools, the telepathic world opens connection, the symbolic world unlocks imagination, and the holistic world restores harmony. Together they form a complete vision of reality—one that empowers practitioners to live, heal, and create with wisdom drawn from every level of existence. Leaving in this way becomes a marvelous experience.
- Vladan Tar