Taking lava rocks from Hawaii
Taking lava rocks from Hawaii is tied to Pele's curse, though park staff call the curse a modern myth. People still mail rocks back with apologies, which says more about conscience than curses.
What it may mean
Packages of black rock and sand keep arriving in Hawaii from people who took them home, often with a note: sorry, please put this back. Many of the senders believe in Pele's curse, the idea that the volcano goddess punishes anyone who carries off her stones. Staff at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park call the curse a myth with no basis in the oral traditions, and the story's origin is unclear. What does run deep is respect: in Hawaiian thought, stones carry spiritual power, and moving them carelessly is rude to the place. Seen that way, the returned packages say more about conscience than about curses. A rock in your suitcase can lead to a wider question about souvenirs of every kind: what you take from places and people, and what you leave so the next person can find it whole.
Depending on how you saw it
Black sand in a jar from the beach
Black sand beaches form from lava shattered by the sea, and every scoop carried away is a little less beach. The jar on a shelf at home looks smaller than the shore did. Which beautiful thing would you rather leave in place for the next visitor?
Mailing a rock back with a letter
Post offices on the islands receive returned stones with notes of apology, sometimes listing a run of bad months. The letters are often more moving than the rocks. Which apology have you been composing in your head, and for whom?
A pebble from another national park
Removing rocks, plants or other natural objects from a United States national park is against federal rules, in Hawaii and everywhere else. The rule exists because millions of visitors each taking one stone adds up. Where do you take a little without asking, simply because everyone seems to?
Why it happens in nature
Lava rock and black sand form when molten rock cools quickly, and on the young volcanic islands of Hawaii they are part of a landscape still being built. Taking rocks or other natural objects from a national park, Hawaii Volcanoes included, is prohibited.
To reflect on
What have you taken from a place or a person that you would gladly give back?