When I wrote my book Women Healers of the World, I traveled to meet many of the women in-person, to talk with them, learn about their traditions, and honor the vast and incredible history of herbal medicine. One of my favorite people to meet was Auntie Velma dela Pena, who invited me into her home on Oahu and shared with me many of her thoughts, aspirations as a kahuna (healer), and methods of serving her community. Auntie Velma died in 2018, the proud grandmother and great-grandmother of many, many children who adored her. 

The following is an excerpt from Women Healers of the World to inspire you:

Kahuna Auntie Velma DelaPena is a Polynesian healer with a calm, comfortable demeanor that puts one at ease. When we met in Waimanola, O’ahu, Hawaii, Auntie Velma welcomed me with a soft, merry voice to her home: a large tarp-tent with gravel flooring, a long table, a refrigerator, stove, television and a healing/massage table. It is a chilly winter day on Oahu—70 degrees with a light rain blowing sideways into the tent. Auntie Velma brings me a mug of hot water, smiles, and sits in a folding deck chair. 

At 70 years young, Auntie Velma finds happiness in her children, her 23 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, many of whom visit her every Sunday. Born in 1939, Auntie Velma is a traditional Hawai’an healer, a kupuna (elder) and a kahuna (healer). She had no teacher (“I’ve never taken a class,” she says) but she learned by listening to the spirits. “They were my teachers, my inspiration. The spirits are my mentors.” She was born, she says gently, with the spirits guiding her. “When I was three, they’d show me things I needed to learn. I told them to go away and leave me alone. But they didn’t! They taught me how to survive, how to look at things and see how to use them.” Auntie Velma spent her life teaching lomilomi (massage), herbal medicine, spiritual healing, and leading workshops.

“It’s not hard to do what I do,” she says. “It’s easy to let go, to release, to do what you have to do. I love to share what I know,” and she notes that conventional medical doctors are fairly open to what she has to share, especially doctors who grew up in Hawaii.

“I love helping people, it makes me feel good to see their faces with big smiles after I’ve worked with them. I work with the elders—the tutus, they like to be worked on and it makes them feel better. They love to vent,” she laughs. “You have to be a good listener.”

To read more about Auntie Velma and the other 21 amazing women healers I interviewed, see the book Women Healers of the World, available here, now celebrating its 10-year publication anniversary.