Pele’s Fury: Photograph by Will Tenney

Pele’s Fury

The Halema‘uma‘u Crater belches fire and molten lava as it bubbles and smokes, lighting up the night. This crater is within the larger crater of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. One is not allowed to get nearer than this observation point, about a mile from the red-hot action, but even at this distance, I was incredibly impressed by the power and majesty of the volcano. Madame Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, is fickle and can be easily angered, her temper demonstrated by eruptions and lava flows. At the time of our visit in late 2016, in addition to the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u, Madame Pele was also disgorging lava from another vent on the flanks of Kilauea, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, whose lava is flowing down to the sea, creating more land and destroying forests and villages as it goes.