"In the Hawaiian language, Piko can be translated as "the very center." As a society, we understand that before we can make sense of the results of our culture, we must remember the very design of it, or its piko. Jennifer Lighty, with her provocative "Piko: A Return to Dreaming," coaxes its readers back into this center and, with masterful literation, weaves the patterns that bleed from this center to result in what we know as the human condition. Although the core concept is poetic, Lighty expresses this work in such a relatable way that anyone can position themselves as the lead character(s) whom, through the beauty of words, symbols, art, and consequence, truly affirm the core design which all results from."-Ke'oni Hanalei, founder Pōhala Hawaiian Botanicals.
Piko: A Return To The Dreaming is an account of a 21-day ceremony enacted by a modern woman in search of mythic ground in an ancient Place of Refuge on Moku O Keawe, Hawaii' Island. Weaving together memoir, fairy tales and myths, Hawaiian history and culture, and reflections gleaned on the state of humanity's relationship to nature as the ceremony unfolds, the book explores the trauma of colonialism in Hawai'i through the author's personal experience, and the trauma enacted upon Earth by traumatized members of civilizations that have lost their connection to a mythic perspective that links the experience of being human to a wider matrix of meaning still held by some present day indigenous cultures. Incorporating fairy tales and myths from worldwide cultures, the book itself is a ceremony, an offering of healing to Earth, to the past, to the future, and a place of refuge for whoever needs it in the present moment as our unsustainable patriarchal systems collapse to create space for new ways of holistic being to evolve and emerge on Earth.
