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Kukaniloko Birthing Stones

Located in Central Oahu, not far from Dole Plantation, the Royal Birthing Stones are one of the most historically significat sites on the island. Ben declined to accompany us as he didn't want to go "out in the middle of nowhere to look at a bunch of rocks."




The stones are easy to find but there are only three parking places and you have to walk a short distance down a dirt road to get to the entrance.

There are two large boulders at the entrance. Only the high chiefs, the expectant mother, and the women who would be assisting in the birth were allowed past this point.


This was considered to be a very spiritually strong area. It is eerily quiet and the air feels oddly dense when you are there. It's easy to see why the native Hawaiians felt that there was something different about this spot of land.


This site was first used for the birth of Kapawa, the son of a high ranking chief, in or around the 12th century. It was used for the births of royal children for seven centuries.



The expectant mother would be brought out to the center stone to give birth while surrounded by forty-eight chiefs pounding drums. After the birth, she and the child, still connected by the umbilical cord, would be carried to a nearby sacred heiau where the cord would be ceremoniously severed.


Lucky gal.


(Although this sounds really primitive to us, I have to point out that in the time of Henry the VIII, high-ranking women were shut up in a dark room with no outside air allowed in and a smokey fire burning for a full month before they gave birth in the same hot, dark room. And Marie Antoinette gave birth "in public" with so many people crammed into the room that it was impossible to move and the body heat made the room so hot that poor Marie fainted.)







There are a number of leis and fruits left as spiritual offerings around the site by visitors. Don't eat them.

After our visit to the site, I was researching through the powers of Google to get all the historical information I could find. Along with all the info I've already shared, I found a number of oddball stories about the site:

"As I turned back towards the stones I was suddenly hit with a rush of energy, like goosebumps only stronger, it rushed up my legs and filled the area of my abdomen, it was amazing and the energy stayed with me and I felt quite light and happy, almost spaced out. I meandered around the stones and touched a few, we sat on some but I did not feel any specific energy other than the tingling in the front of my legs and in my abdomen, it was as if I was grounded to the earth. I began to feel a very strong sense of peace and also security and connection like I have not felt before, it was pure magic and I enjoyed it immensely. There is no doubt in my mind or “being” that this was a very spiritual place indeed."
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"we looked at the first set of stones the moved to the grove of trees and the cluster of rocks when something caught me eye… there was a man standing with a black hoodie or black hooded cape not moving facing the field behind a tree, I told my wife that something was wrong and we needed to leave soon… she took a few photos then the man turned to look at us, his eyes were crazy white looking out from under the hood he put his head down and turned back to face the field, then all at once he stepped out from behind the tree with his head down but eyes looking right at me and slowly moved in my direction with his arms held out to his side in a Christ type pose moving very slow… I told my wife we must go now and we turned and walked away. I did not want to seem like we were scared so I had my wife keep walking and I faked taking a photo in front of me with my phone but really was taking a photo over my shoulder to see where he was… he was gone!!!!"
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"I started to step past the stones to enter the site and immediately a giant swarm of what I can only describe as gnats descended upon me. (I’ve seen these bugs swarming under tamarind trees and always assumed them to be gnats.) Anyway, I stepped back and was amazed to see a thick cloud of these insects swirling right in front of me next to one of the rocks. The swarm was about 8-10′ high and 6′ wide and not moving just hovering in place. I watched this for about 30 seconds and then, for some reason, I remembered that this is a sacred place and that I should take off my slippers. I took off my slippers and put them to the side in case someone came along and wanted to “borrow” them. I looked up and the cloud of bugs was gone. "
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"Content that my experience here was over I began to leave when I heard a rustling in the tall grass surrounding the site. I looked at the area where I heard the sound coming from and then I saw a white hawaiian owl launch out from the tall grass which then flew no more than four feet above my head and dive bombed into the grass on the other side. This owl was massive and from the crouching position I had assumed to avoid it I felt my heart pounding. I thought to myself that this place is powerful. Then I heard the same rustling in the grass and the owl shot up a second time and flew in a half circle around the back of the site and right back into the same area it had just come from."
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"As soon as we started up the path from the parking area, we both started feeling pressure in our solar plexus area. It intensified as we walked around the site. I started feeling extremely nauseous and was sure I would need to throw up – this was at the far side closest to Kole Kole Pass. My friend also felt nauseous, though hers dissolved much quicker than my own did."

I'm glad I didn't read any of those before we went, but now Ben wants to go because he would love to have a creepy experience. We did have our own odd little experience there, which I was fortunate enough to catch on video:





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