The transmission
Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona (1913–1992) was a Hawaiian kahuna lapa’au (healer) recognized in Hawaii as a “Living Treasure.” She is the pivotal figure who transformed traditional ho’oponopono — historically a family-based, mediator-led process of conflict resolution and reconciliation — into a modernized, individualized self-help practice she called “Self-Identity through Ho’oponopono” (SITH).
Her innovation was to make the practice something a single person could perform alone, internally, taking 100% responsibility for clearing the “memories” and errors they perceive in their reality. She taught widely, including at the United Nations and World Health Organization, and her work became the direct foundation for the version later popularized worldwide by her student Ihaleakala Hew Len and the author Joe Vitale.
What they gave
Individualized ho’oponopono: Converted a communal reconciliation ritual into a solitary inner cleaning practice.
- Radical self-responsibility: Centered taking 100% responsibility for one’s experienced reality as the engine of healing.
- Internal “cleaning” of memory: Framed problems as replayed memories to be cleared, linking forgiveness to mental reprogramming.
- Lineage seeding: Trained Hew Len, transmitting the practice that became globally famous through Zero Limits.
The line they stand in
Influenced by: traditional Hawaiian ho’oponopono; her Hawaiian healing lineage with Catholic and Hindu inflections.
- Influenced: Ihaleakala Hew Len; Joe Vitale’s Zero Limits; the modern cleaning/forgiveness self-help current.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- Self-Identity Through Ho'oponoponon.d.