海角大神

The scene could be described as apocalyptic. Lava and poisonous gas spew out of black gashes in the earth. Molten rock crawls through green lawns, down tree-lined streets, devouring cars, houses, and anything else in its way. The contrast between the raw volcanism and the subdivision it鈥檚 invading is unmistakable.

With 20 fissures opening up in residential neighborhoods situated on side of the shield volcano Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island since May 3, some 2,000 people have been forced to evacuate and more than two dozen houses have already been destroyed. There is also the added threat of an explosive, steam-driven eruption from the summit.

These homes hold residents鈥� worldly possessions, valuables, keepsakes, and memories of children grown. Despite these losses, the default reaction has not been one of anger. Instead, in a demonstration of resilience, evacuees are responding with acceptance, and even reverence for the power of nature.

鈥淲ho am I going to be mad at, Mother Nature?鈥� says Eddie Chatman, a self-employed landscaper who has been living at an evacuation shelter since lava drove him from his home of 14 years in Leilani Estates.

鈥淭his is part of the lifestyle for all of us,鈥� says Henry Poe, who volunteered to stand in the driving rain last Thursday directing traffic into one of the aid centers established for the evacuees. Mr. Poe himself evacuated his neighborhood of 28 years.听

Relinquishing control

Volcanic eruptions serve as a reminder of nature鈥檚 dynamism and unpredictability, says Judith Schlehe, a sociocultural anthropologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany. The natural world isn鈥檛 the controllable backdrop to human activities that it might seem.

Around the world, people who live on land which they cannot control 鈥撎齩n volcanoes, atop fault lines, or near glaciers 鈥撎齢ave found a sense of stability and control within.

鈥淧eople want to make sense of something that is beyond control, beyond understanding, beyond technological measures, and then we find all kinds of explanations,鈥� Dr. Schlehe says.

In Hawaii, that takes the form of Pele: the goddess of fire.

鈥淧ele is the life-force of the volcano,鈥� explains Davianna P艒maika驶i McGregor, a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawai鈥檌, Manoa, 听and a historian of Hawaii and the Pacific.

All of the phenomena associated with an eruption 鈥� earthquakes, explosive eruptions, slow eruptions, ash clouds, lighting, etc. 鈥� are part of Pele鈥檚 energy. 鈥淚t helps us always be aware, be alert, and never take anything about this dynamic volatile force for granted,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you choose to live there, you are always living at the grace of this force.鈥�

A sense of respect

Volcanoes also underscore the division between human society and natural forces.

鈥淎 volcanic eruption is just a volcanic eruption unless there happens to be people in its way, and then it鈥檚 a natural disaster,鈥� says Karen Holmberg, an archaeologist who specializes in volcanism and a visiting scholar at New York University鈥檚 Institute for Public Knowledge.

The destruction at Pompeii in particular influenced thinkers of the 17th and 18th century, Dr. Holmberg says, because the volcanically entombed city was a site along the Grand Tour, a route through different European sites toured by wealthy young men as they came of age. A relationship to nature emerged that endures in Western literature today: that nature is dangerous, and imperils culture, and therefore must be kept separate from humanity.

When a volcano erupts, it is initially a destructive force, spewing poisonous gas, smothering ash clouds, and fiery lava. But it has a rejuvenating side, too. The once-molten rock and ash form new earth. Then rain falls and weathers the volcanic rock. Eventually, seeds and spores begin to take hold on the new ground, and there is recolonization, rebirth.

Although the volcanic allegories around the world vary, many serve to integrate these two halves, showing the way toward humans living in harmony with the rest of the natural world.

鈥淲hat is constant鈥� in these legends, Holmberg says, 鈥渋s this sense of respect for that double-edge of destructiveness and creativity that an active volcano embodies.鈥�

In Indonesia, for example, some residents speak of the volcanic Mount Merapi as a friend.

鈥淚t gives them wealth and prosperity, whether it鈥檚 through mining volcanic ash or whether it鈥檚 just because of the richness of the soil,鈥� says Gavin Sullivan, a scholar in the听Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University in England.

But when the volcano erupts, as happened in Indonesia on May 11, there鈥檚 a sense among the communities living around the mountain that they somehow angered the gods.

Finding meaning in destruction

Many of the legends around volcanoes involve some sort of agent behind the natural disruption of an eruption, be it a god, goddess, or some other spiritual entity. Usually that being has human-like characteristics.

With such a familiar actor associated with the eruption, 鈥渢hen we have an entity that we can relate to, and that gives us a kind of symbolic control back,鈥� Schlehe says. 鈥淲e can give offerings, we can ask for support, or we can find explanations for what happened.鈥�

But it鈥檚 not just about finding meaning in one specific overwhelming event. Stories of eruptions, usually imbued with metaphor, are passed on from generation to generation so that knowledge of what happens during an eruption is not lost, Holmberg explains. As a result, eruptions are less foreign and scary for generations that haven鈥檛 experienced one themselves.

In Hawaii, for example, 鈥淥ur ancestors were very keen observers and scientists, and they recorded their observations in chants that honor this volcanic energy, or Pele,鈥� McGregor says. These chants both honor Pele and relay details of past eruptions and the natural grumblings that happen before an eruption that can help people know what鈥檚 coming.

鈥淰olcanologists take oral traditions and indigenous stories about volcanoes pretty seriously,鈥� says Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge. 鈥淭hey quite often turn out to have very scientifically relevant and useful information.鈥�

At home on the flow

Not everyone who lives on an active volcano has the same relationship to the land. Some chose to live there for various reasons, others inherited the land from generations that came before, or had little choice in the matter. And those varied connections to the land influence someone鈥檚 calculation of the risk they face, Dr. Sullivan says.

Lava may have claimed Del Pranke鈥檚 Leilani Estates home of seven years, but he doesn鈥檛 plan on leaving the area. 鈥淧eople have asked me if I鈥檓 gonna move away,鈥� he said as he sat on an air mattress with his dog at the Pahoa evacuation shelter Hawaii County is running the town鈥檚 gymnasium. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 ridiculous. I would never think of leaving Puna.鈥�

Besides being seismically hyperactive, this region is one of the least developed in an island chain distinguished as the most isolated land mass on Earth. People don鈥檛 stumble on the district of Puna. Regardless if they were 鈥済rown or flown鈥� here, residents are hearty. Many forgo the pitfalls of urban life to rely on generators, dirt roads, and captured rainwater for basic needs.

Mr. Pranke is a self-described 鈥淧unatic,鈥� a common term that can be seen on bumper stickers in the area to describe someone who loves living in Puna. And he isn鈥檛 the only person who plans to return 鈥� whether their home still stands or not.

鈥淚 plan to stay and live here. I love it here. This is my home. I don鈥檛 want to move anywhere else,鈥� said Mr. Chatman, whose family moved to Hawaii Island from California when he was 2 years old. For the past 14 years, he鈥檚 resided in Leilani Estates, the larger of the two neighborhoods under emergency evacuation.

This sentiment isn鈥檛 exclusive to Hawaii. A study Sullivan and Indonesian colleagues conducted听of people living around Mount Sinabung in Sumatra when it erupted in 2010 revealed that the people who remained in their village after the eruption had a higher self-perceived social status听than those displaced, despite knowing that they were exposed to more eruptions by staying.

鈥淚 want to go back,鈥� Leilani Estates evacuee Cecilia Ascher says. 鈥淚鈥檓 positive of going back.鈥� She adds that people who choose to live on a volcano 鈥渉ave to be strong and go with the flow.鈥�

Staff writer听Eva Botkin-Kowacki contributed reporting from Boston and听contributor Jason Armstrong contributed reporting from Pahoa, Hawaii Island.

[Update:听This story was updated at 3:30 pm to include the latest fissure to open up on Kilauea. There are now 20 open fissures.]