Pele, also referred to as Madam Pele, is the goddess of Hawaii. She is the main deity of a pre-western contact culture that was centred around a volcano and had priests, temples, and rituals. During this time, Hawaiians lived near the volcano and experienced volcanic activity and the Pele cult was the strongest near the volcano.

Today, we barely know what Pele is and how she is related to Hawaiian religion. There are several reasons why this lack of knowledge is so significant, including the lack of a written language, the spread of Christianity, and Europeans who visited the islands often making limited observations. While the volcano goddess was highly regarded, Pele was not at the top of the hierarchy. The four major gods that were considered significant during this period were Kane, Lono, Ku, and Kanaloa. There were also hundreds of gods beneath these four and Pele and her family were among the lesser gods.

Although the gods were not as mysterious as the people living in Hawaii, families would often trace their ancestors back to certain gods. Many people in the Big Island consider Pele to be an ancestral relation. There are many myths about Pele, and she is regarded as the most feared goddess in the region. Although the images of Pele are pretty, she is also known for being very cruel.

Read more at https://mythlok.com/pele/