next page previous page return home

4. The spinning top is like the sky dome near the celestial pole, where the 'turtle' has business to do. When sun reaches winter solstice he is as close to the pole as he can come. A new fire is to be lit at the pole, presumably using the friction from the spinning 'roof'.

The expression i ni(k)a (above) is close to nikau = the ni tree:

 

Nikau

Mgv.: The coco palm. Ta.: niau, coconut leaf. Ha.: niau, stem of the coconut leaf. Ma.: nikau, an areca palm. Churchill. Mgv.: niu, the coconut palm when young, ripening into nikau. ... the ni of New Caledonia leads us to infer that niu was anciently a composite in which ni carried at least some sort of generic sense, it being understood that this refers to those characteristics which might strike the islanders as indicating a genus. In composition with kau tree we should then see nikau, the ni-tree, serving in Mangareva for the coconut palm, in New Zealand for the characteristic palm (Areca sapida) of that land, in Tahiti as niau for coconut leaf, and as niau in Hawaii for the leaf stalk of the coconut. The ni-form is found in Micronesia, and in the Marshall Islands ni is the coconut. Churchill 2.

The tree stands in the middle of the 'sea', because winter solstice is located in the middle of the 'watery' part of the year.

At the celestial pole not only the 'turtle' but also the 'snake' is at work (maybe it is Rigi?). In the Mayan picture of the activities we can at middle left see how a long winding snake is adorned with a sun sign (kin):

Furthermore, at right bottom it seems as if the snake is cut in two by what looks like a turtle head. It is as if hônu is liquidating the celestial snake at the proper time.