The open mouth probably refers to sun as such, only indirectly to eating. Sun is necessary for growing food, and an open mouth could suggest this fact. Sun is high in the sky, and in a glyph with sun vertically adjoining another sign, such as henua for instance, he should be above and looking down in order to mark the connection with the other sign. Therefore, the constellation sun and henua is rather primarily to be read as 'the season of spring' (shown by the periods ending with kiore + henua glyphs). Ga3-2 is consequently an indicator of the beginning of spring, not very different in meaning from Ga3-1. The very special Aa6-66 can be read as sun above and a flow of water below - the season of water is coming:
But here we can definitely read the water as arriving from the mouth of the sun (he has taken on his 'Rain God garment'). With henua (Ga3-2) there is no such connection, instead there is a gap between sun in the sky and earth below. Time begins in the dark, when sky is lying down on earth, when light cannot come in between. Vaha meha in Aa6-67 shows the absence of light. Vaha mea in Ga3-4 has a similar position (only moa has intruded). It is a fat vaha mea, the spring sun is inside, and at the top a mea ke sign shows that the shadows of winter solstice are still present. |
