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ADDENDA
11. Let's look again at the pair of glyphs preceding 0h with the sitting figure calling out (ragi) at the beginning of the season of growth: 1. Sky, heaven, firmament; ragi moana, blue sky. 2. Cloud; ragipuga, cumulus; ragitea, white, light clouds; ragi poporo, nimbus; ragi hoe ka'i cirrus (literally: like sharp knives); ragi viri, overcast sky; ragi kerekere, nimbus stratus; ragi kirikiri miro, clouds of various colours. 3. To call, to shout, to exclaim. Vanaga.
Quite possibly it was anciently the custom to call out for all to hear when there was a major change of seasons, e.g.: ... In China, every year about the beginning of April, certain officials called Sz'hüen used of old to go about the country armed with wooden clappers. Their business was to summon the people and command them to put out every fire. This was the beginning of the season called Han-shih-tsieh, or 'eating of cold food'. For three days all household fires remained extinct as a preparation for the solemn renewal of the fire, which took place on the fifth or sixth day after the winter solstice ... ... In the morning of the world, there was nothing but water. The Loon was calling, and the old man who at that time bore the Raven's name, Nangkilstlas, asked her why. 'The gods are homeless', the Loon replied. 'I'll see to it', said the old man, without moving from the fire in his house on the floor of the sea. Then as the old man continued to lie by his fire, the Raven flew over the sea. The clouds broke. He flew upward, drove his beak into the sky and scrambled over the rim to the upper world. There he discovered a town, and in one of the houses a woman had just given birth ...
... And here is the dawning and showing of the sun, moon, and stars. And Jaguar Quitze, Jaguar Night, Not Right Now, and Dark Jaguar were overjoyed when they saw the sun carrier. It came up first. It looked brilliant when it came up, since it was ahead of the sun.
After that they unwrapped their copal incense, which came from the east, and there was triumph in their hearts when they unwrapped it. They gave their heartfelt thanks with three kinds at once: Mixtam Copal is the name of the copal brought by Jaguar Quitze. Cauiztan Copal, next, is the name of the copal brought by Jaguar Night. Godly Copal, as the next one is called, was brought by Not Right Now. The three of them had their copal, and this is what they burned as they incensed the direction of the rising sun. They were crying sweetly as they shook their burning copal, the precious copal. After that they cried because they had yet to see and yet to witness the birth of the sun. And then, when the sun came up, the animals, small and great, were happy. They all came up from the rivers and canyons; they waited on all the mountain peaks. Together they looked toward the place where the sun came out. So then the puma and jaguar cried out, but the first to cry out was a bird, the parrot by name.
All the animals were truly happy. The eagle, the white vulture, small birds, great birds spread their wings, and the penitents and sacrificers knelt down. They were overjoyed, together with the penitents and sacrificers of the Tams, the Ilocs. And the Rabinals, Cakchiquels, those of Bird House. And the Sweatbath House, Talk House, Quiba House, those of Yokes House. And the Mexican Sovereigns - however many tribes there may be today. There were countless peoples, but there was just one dawn for all tribes. And then the face of the earth was dried out by the sun. The sun was like a person when he revealed himself. His face was hot, so he dried out the face of the earth. Before the sun came up it was soggy, and the face of the earth was muddy before the sun came up. And when the sun had risen just a short distance he was like a person, and his heat was unbearable. Since he revealed himself only when he was born, it is only his reflection that now remains. As they put it in the ancient text, 'The visible sun is not the real one ...' ... I must here take the opportunity to document, before it vanishes from my memory, how scientists (according to a TV program I happened to stumble on yesterday) had found out that the 91 vertical stone segments clearly had been arranged in order to produce a remarkable acoustical phenomenon - viz. how someone (like a priest) when clapping his hands standing on the ground in front of the pyramid would receive an echo of approval from the stones, sounding exactly like the chirp of the Flying Serpent (Kukulkan, the Quetzal Coatl) ...
Clearly the essence of calling out was to establish contact, to evoke a response, to create a common ground. ... Long ago in the very beginning of time there dwelt within a shell an infant god whose name was Ta'aroa. He was Ta'aroa the unique one, the ancestor of all gods, the creator of the universe whose natures were myriad, whose backbone was the ridgepole of the world, whose ribs were its supporters. The shell was called Rumia, Upset. Becoming aware at last of his own existence and oppressed by a yearning loneliness Ta'aroa broke open his shell and, looking out, beheld the black limitless expanse of empty space. Hopefully, he shouted, but no voice answered him. He was alone in the vast cosmos. Within the broken Rumia he grew a new shell to shut out the primeval void ... |
