WRITTEN BY PAULA BOCK PHOTOGRAPHED BY BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER
ON THE COVER: As a house blesser and spiritual teacher, kahuna Aupuni Iwi'ula follows the traditional practices of his native Hawai'i. The color purple of the formal kikepa he is wearing signifies his family is from Kaua'i. The bowl of koa wood he is holding usually contains blessed salt water, which he sprinkles around by using a ti leaf.