A tourist from Hawaii mailed three rocks back to Bryce Canyon National Park from where they had been stolen, and a theory as to what prompted this righting of a wrong might relate to Pele’s Curse.
Hawaiian legend has it that Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, becomes angered when tourists take home a lava rock, and bad luck befalls anyone who dares to steal “a sacred piece of the fire goddess.”
Hundreds of superstitious people return lava rocks and other natural items to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and Haleakalā National Park each year, fearing Pele’s Curse has brought them misfortune or bad luck, according to a Bryce Canyon Facebook post.
In 2001, the Los Angeles Times detailed the story of Timothy Murray, who believed he was cursed by Pele. Murray had taken some black sand from Hawaii back home to Florida and experienced some really bad luck, prompting him to send the sand back.
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So, did the tourist who took the rocks from Bryce Canyon suffer a bit of bad luck and, reflecting upon Pele’s Curse, feel the need to return them to appease a goddess from Bryce? It’s possible. Or perhaps they learned it was illegal.
“While no known legends exist for the unfortunate consequences of removing resources from Bryce Canyon, it is punishable by law,” the Utah park stated in its post. “It is also damaging to this fragile geologic formation. While taking a few rocks from the park may not seem like a big deal, imagine if all 2.5 million annual visitors to Bryce Canyon decided to do the same.”
The park gave assurance that the three rocks in question were returned to their natural habitat.
Photos courtesy of Bryce Canyon National Park.