4. There is only one inversed henua ora sign in the whole corpus of rongorongo texts, viz. towards the end of the K calendar, and its meaning should be similar to the meaning of the parallel Ga7-15, where hua poporo has a sign of darkness:
In the following Ga7-20 a closed fist (meaning 'full' and 'not emitting any light') is held high with all fingers inside so nothing can emerge. But the fist will soon open up, letting the fingers (fire) loose one by one, so the light (life) can flow out. In South Pacific the islands have a dark side and a light side, and - somewhat surprisingly - it is the east side which is 'black' and the west side which is 'white'. Although sun of course is rising in the east, his companion the moon (Hina) is rising in the west, and she has always been regarded as 'white' (in opposition to the red or yellow sun). "The veil of Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana (Sun and Moon), was black. The Hindus of north-west India still worship 'Suria', the sun, under the emblem of a black stone. The colour of the Egyptian bulls Apis and Mnevis was black, and in the hieroglyphic representations of acts of consecration or anointing, the officiating priests is painted black, and the recipient of the ceremony is painted red; this more especially in upper Egypt. Hence the black colour would seem to indicate superior sacredness. It is possible that from these and similar considerations of superiority or sacredness arose the Polynesian proverb (in Hawaiian), 'he weo ke kanaka, he pano he alii', red is the common man, dark is the chief. In 'Polynesian Researches' the Rev. Mr. Ellis explains a similar expression in Tahiti, from the fact that a dark and bronsed complexion was looked upon, among the chiefs, as a sign of manliness, hardihood, and exposure to fatigue and danger, and a pale complexion was considered a sign of effeminacy. The probable reason and explanation of the proverb may be found in the grander amount of tattooing with which the bodies of the chiefs were adorned. As late as the time of Kamehameha I of Hawaii, his rival, Kahekili, King of Maui, had one half of his body entirely blackened by tattooing. The connection of the black colour with Siwa's symbols may be found in the Hindu legend, according to which, at the churning of the sea of milk for the production of Amutham (the Ambrosia of immortality) Siwa, the supreme, was appealed to by the other gods to remove the poison vomited in the Ambrosia by the serpent Vasuke. He complied with their request by drinking up the poison, but from that time he was known by the name of 'the azure-necked one' , because the colour of the poison remained on his neck as a sign of what he had done. - See Oriental Illustrations, by J. Roberts, p. 6." (Fornander) To express it concisely: Both Apollo (sun) and Diana (moon) had the black veil of Latona as their mother. The beginning is black, and the black cloth recovers her progeny when they fall on their faces. |
