Breath & Energy · “Breath Is the Bridge”
The Ha Prayer-Rite
Consciously build up a surplus of vital force (‘mana’) with deep, deliberate ‘Ha’ breathing, form a clear mental picture (‘thought-form’) of the desired condition, and send both up the ‘aka cord’ to the High Self (Aumakua) to be grown into reality.
Ha prayer-rite in brief: Decide clearly what you want. Breathe deeply and deliberately to “charge up” (the Ha breath). Build a vivid mental picture of it already done. Send that picture, on the charge, up to your High Self. State the request, give thanks, and release it. Repeat daily. (Frame honestly: a breath-paced visualisation from Long’s modern Huna reconstruction, not ancient Hawaiian doctrine.)
What it is
This is the central practical exercise of “Huna” as systematised by Max Freedom Long: a short prayer-rite combining deep breathing with deliberate mental imagery.
In Long’s model the person has three “selves” — the Aunihipili (low/subconscious self), the Auhane (middle/conscious self), and the Aumakua (High Self). The conscious self decides what is wanted; the low self accumulates extra life-force (mana) through stronger breathing and holds the mental picture; and that picture, carried on a surge of mana up a connecting “aka thread” or cord, is delivered to the High Self, which (in the teaching) uses it as a “seed” and grows it into a future event.
The word “Ha” means “breath of life” and signals the heavy, deliberate breathing that charges the rite. Honestly framed, it is a breath-paced visualisation/affirmation practice dressed in a particular metaphysical vocabulary.
(See Source & Lineage for why that vocabulary is itself a modern construction.)
The Method
Drawn from Long’s The Secret Science Behind Miracles and his bulletins. Wording below is paraphrased, not quoted verbatim.
- Decide clearly what you want, and check it harms no one. Long stressed the low self will not cooperate with a request it feels guilty about; the aim should be clean and definite.
- Build a surplus of mana (“the surcharge”). Sit, and breathe more deeply and deliberately than normal for a short while — the “Ha” breathing — with the intention of accumulating extra vital force. Long described mentally accumulating mana “like water” filling up in the body, and suggested feeling it as a rising charge.
- Form the thought-form picture. Make a clear, present-tense mental picture of the desired condition as already fulfilled — vivid and specific. In Long’s terms this picture is the prayer; it is built of “thought-forms” the High Self can use.
- Send the picture up the aka cord to the High Self. With the accumulated mana, mentally “send” the picture upward/outward to the Aumakua along the connecting thread — a deliberate act of offering the charged image to the higher self for realisation.
- State it and release it. Close with a brief verbal statement of the request and gratitude, then let it go — Long taught not to keep anxiously re-grasping the prayer, but to send it and allow the High Self to work.
- Repeat regularly. Long advised repeating the rite (often daily) to keep “feeding” the thought-form with mana until it manifests, rather than relying on a single attempt.
Source & Lineage
Max Freedom Long (1890–1971) was an American who taught in Hawaii in the 1920s and later founded the Huna Research Associates.
Unable to get traditional kahuna to explain their practices, he reconstructed what he called “Huna“ (Hawaiian for “secret”) largely by analysing Hawaiian words and combining that with New Thought, psychology, and his own theorising.
This is critical to state plainly: “Huna” as a system is Long’s 20th-century reconstruction — it is not a surviving body of ancient Hawaiian religion, and many Native Hawaiian scholars and practitioners reject it as a non-indigenous, appropriative invention. The three-selves model, “mana as chargeable vital force,” “aka cords,” and the Ha-breathing prayer-rite are best understood as Long’s synthesis, not authentic kahuna doctrine. → suggested author node at.
Common refinements
Over-breathing into dizziness. “Stronger” breathing does not mean hyperventilating; keep it gentle and seated.
- Vague pictures. The thought-form must be specific and felt as real now, not a wishful abstraction.
- Clinging after sending. Long was explicit: send the prayer, then release it — anxious re-checking undercuts the rite.
- Mistaking it for ancient Hawaiian tradition. Present and use it honestly as Long’s reconstruction, with respect for actual Hawaiian culture.
- Treating it as a substitute for action. The “footwork” still matters; this is a focusing practice, not a replacement for doing the work.