1. When there is a 'person' attached to henua there usually are no hatchmarks across the staff, e.g. (Qb4-39):

because this 'person' is a 'sun cat'. In the Swedish language 'solkatt' ('sun-cat') means the reflection of the sun cast by a mirror or other reflecting surface.

"The supreme god Makemake was also carved at Orongo as a feline figure. Thomson thus said of some Orongo rock carvings which he estimated to antedate all others: 'the most common figure is a mythical animal, half human in form, with bowed back and long claw-like legs and arms. According to the natives this symbol was intended to represent the god Meke-Meke... ' He claimed it bore a 'striking resemblance' to a form he had seen in Peruvian art.

A feline figure with arched back, drawn-up abdomen, tall legs, and a round head with gaping mouth is commonly found incised with bird-men on the Easter Island tablets. Bishop T. Jaussen's much quoted theory that this animal is a 'rat' is as farfetched as at all possible and solely dictated by the fact that rats were the only animals on Easter Island and, what is more, feline animals do not exist on any Pacific island.

Yet felines were present in America and dominated the religious and symbolic art all the way from Mexico to Peru since Tiahuanaco times, and, in Mesopotamia and Egypt, consistently as a symbol of the creator god." (Heyerdahl 2)

We already know that henua indicates the presence of the sun (or - if henua has hatchmarks - the absence of the sun). Why then the cat? Because there is an additional meaning: One period is at its end and another is starting and we can notice the differences between these two periods, all these differences being due to the influence of the sun. Reflections from the sun.

The arched back of the cat illustrates these differences, this 'bending' of events, which of course takes place all the time, not only at cardinal points.

Though around solstices the bending is barely noticeable, the cat has lost its footage. This is illustrated in e.g. Eb4-12

"There is a mill which grinds by itself, swings of itself, and scatters the dust a hundred versts away. And there is a golden pole with a golden cage on top which is also the Nail of the North. And there is a very wise tomcat which climbs up and down this pole. When he climbs down, he sings songs; and when he climbs up, he tells tales. (Tale of the Ostyaks of the Irtysh)" (Hamlet's Mill)

To mind also comes the slender tower, minaret, from which the five prayer times is shouted:

"minaret ... tall slender tower of a mosque. XVII. - F. minaret or Sp. minarete, It. minaretto - Turcized form of Arab. manarat, f. nar fire (cf. manar lighthouse)." (English Etymology)

2. Presumably, though, on Easter Island the 'sun-cat' really was a rat, the only fourlegged creature within reach. If so, it was - according to my reading of the system of rongorongo characters - a dark rat, that the arched back tells us.

Structurally analyzed, the opposite to the path of the sun - the tree stem - must be a bent branch (GD36).

Furthermore, 'back' (tu'a) also seems to mean the dark side, what no longer is here with us (in the light) but has passed away, no longer visible.

"... the 'dark rat' ... is the animal representative of the spirit ... of Hotu Matua ... "

Here it is necessary to enter into the time-space structure of the months on Easter Island. This is a table over the months (ref. Barthel 2):

The numbers are twice the expected 12 because each month had two parts, a male and female part.

"On the first of the new year the Moriori launched a small canoe to Rongo, although they built and used only rude craft for their fishing excursions. The canoe was manned by twelve figures symbolizing the personifications of the twelve months.

Sometimes twenty-four figures were placed in the canoe, and Skinner interprets the additional twelve as representing the female counterparts of the months." (Makemson according to Barthel 2)

The numbers in the table above refer to the stations along the route of the dream soul of Hau Maka:

"Now there was on one of the islands {i.e., Marae Renga or Marae Tohio} a certain Haumaka, who had tatooed Hotu [Matua], and received from him in return a present of mother-of-pearl which had been given to Hotu's father by an individual called Tuhu-patoea.

Tuhu had seen that the men who went down to get pearls were eaten by a big fish, so he invented a net by which the precious shell could be obtained without risk, and the pearl so procured he had presented to his chief, Ko Riri.

This man, Haumaka, had a dream, and during it his spirit went to a far country, and when he awoke he told six men whose names are given, to go and seek for it; they were to look for a land where there were three islets and a big hole, also a long and beautiful road." (Routledge, according to Barthel 2)

The dream soul reached Easter Island at the southwestern point finding the three small islets:

"She descended on one of the small islets (off the coast). The dream soul of Hau Maka looked around and said, 'These are his three young men.'

She named the three islets 'the handsome youths of Te Taanga, who are standing in the water'." (Manuscript E according to Barthel 2)

This explains why the word vai (= water) in Vaitu. The rest of the names of the months are similarly connected to the explorations of the dream soul of Hau Maka.

The Rapanui new year started at winter solstice with the month Anakena (July):

"The last month of the Easter Island year, 'Maro' (Te Maro, He maro), refers to the feather garlands (maro) the people presented to the king, while the first month, 'Anakena', has the same name as the royal residence, which was the scene of such offerings.

'Maro' and 'Anakena' are closely related, one preceding and one following the change from one year to another.

There also seems to be a play on words between 'Maro', the month of the winter solstice, and maru 'shadow' as in MGV (compare Hiroa 1938:415).

Place names 5 and 6 can be decoded as follows: as a spirit in the form of a beast, 'the dark rat' (te kioe uri) represents King Hotu Matua in his role as recipient of gifts." (Barthel 2)

Geographically Vinapu seems to be associated with 'the dark rat':

"1. Hanga Te Pau, the landing site of Ira and his band of explorers, is the natural anchorage for those approaching Vinapu by sea.

The remarkable stone fronts of the ahu of Vinapu are all facing the sea.

The explorers landed at Hanga Te Pau during the month 'Maro', that is, June.

2. The cult place of Vinapu is located between the fifth and sixth segment of the dream voyage of Hau Maka. These segments, named 'Te Kioe Uri' (inland from Vinapu) and 'Te Piringa Aniva' (near Hanga Pau Kura) flank Vinapu from both the west and the east.

The decoded meaning of the names 'the dark rat' (i.e., the island king as the recipient of gifts) and 'the gathering place of the island population' (for the purpose of presenting the island king with gifts) links them with the month 'Maro', which is June.

Thus, the last month of the Easter Island year is twice connected with Vinapu. Also, June is the month of the summer [sic!] solstice, which again points to the possibility that the Vinapu somplex was used for astonomical purposes ..." (Barthel 2)

In GD37 we can recognize darkness (at left) and light (at right), the phonemes 'r' and 'l' are inseparably one in the the Polynesian languages.

The word henua (heenua) means 'land' etc, but from that concept to a period of time, season etc the distance is very short. When the king, the dark rat (left in GD37) is said to be receiving gifts from the people, these gifts in reality are the gifts delivered by Mother Nature, the land (and sea). We can compare with a similar Eskimo concept:

Gods shall always have the first and best of Mother Nature's gifts. However, the King is close to the gods and must also have such favours:

"... the English (or French) distinction between 'god' and 'man' is not the same as the apparent Hawaiian parallel of akua and kanaka, because kanaka as designating '(ordinary) men' thus stands in definitional contrast as well to ali'i or 'chief'. 

In the Hawaiian, 'chief' and 'god' are transitively alike by opposition to men; nor would the difference of gods and men correspond to that between spirits and mortals, since some mortals (chiefs) are also gods." (Islands of History)

The figure sitting down (left in GD37) surely is GD52.