36 in Hb9-36 is probably alluding to the sun (with his 360 day calendrical cycle). Mercury is always close to the sun, sometimes on one side of him, sometimes on the other. The Venus cycle is 584 days, with ca 263 nights as morning star, followed by 50 nights when she is invisible, 263 as evening star, and 8 further absent days. 263 / 7 is ca 37½, and the 7 'feathers' cannot be translated into nights of visibility. Maybe the Easter Islanders did as the Maya Indians - bent reality to suit a greater pattern. Maybe they counted with 7 * 36 = 252 nights of visibility? That would leave 584 - 2 * 252 = 80 dark nights. 4 * 20 = 80. Or rather 40 * 2 = 80. Or 72 + 8 = 80. The numbers give hints: 9, 49 and the twice 7 'feathers' naturally should be translated as a solution with 263 + 49 + 263 + 9 = 584. Dark nights ought to have odd numbers. |