Ragi means (among other things) the sky, the abode of the gods.

1. The sky (the 'tree' in the centre) is adorned with the crescent of the moon, sailing along like a canoe (as it looks when observed from a point close to the equator).

Another interpretation is that this canoe is the ship of the sun, sailing on top of the air, as if it was sailing on water. The ship of the sun can be regarded as the crescent of the moon, but the moon sign in GD22 presumably indicates that we are looking at the night sky. The 'horns' of this crescent canoe are the only parts visible and they are like the 'adornments' (rei) at the bow (mui) and stern (mura) of a Polynesian vessel.

The illuminated part of the moon, the crescent, is in ragi glyphs always oriented in 'living' position, i.e. looking like a travelling canoe (with upside open against the sky and bottom closed against the sea).

A canoe turned upside down is a 'dead' canoe, not moving. Movement is a sign of life. Death means being still. Waxing moon appears in the west close to the horizon, looking as if riding on the waves. Waning moon is instead to be seen in the east. Moon is 'born' in the west and 'dies' in the east, travelling in the opposite direction compared to the diurnal path of the sun.

Waning moon could then be expected to look like a canoe turned upside down. However, waning moon in the east still looks as if riding right side up, because the eastern horizon - which the eye now is using as a reference - is below the moon. The moon canoe is never turned upside down, it is always 'living'.

When GD22 glyphs are without any sign of the crescent, Metoro never said ragi, e.g. Cb7-19:

Mostly he instead said vero (the season of the 'spear' - when 'light is killed'). The vero glyph type may have been used to indicate a time when sun 'disappears'.

GD22 with crescent sign therefore could mean the opposite of vero - 'light is being born'.

Sun is being born at new year, at winter solstice, and 'lives' - it seems - during 10 'sunlit' lunar months (280 nights). Around autumn equinox sun 'dies'.