10. In a moon calendar from Hawaii - I have fetched
the following information from Makemson - various aspects
of the days in a month are described, when to plant, when to go
fishing etc. Often it is stated that in a certain day there is ebb,
though this of course cannot reflect reality because it should be
ebb and flood during all the days of a calendar:
|
1 Hilo |
7 Ole-ku-kahi |
14 Akua |
21 Ole-ku-kahi |
26 Kane |
|
2 Hoaka |
8
Ole-ku-lua |
15 Hoku |
22 Ole-ku-lua |
27 Lono |
|
3
Ku-kahi |
9
Ole-ku-kolu |
16
Mahea-lani |
23 Ole-pau |
28
Mauli |
|
4
Ku-lua |
10 Ole-pau |
17 Kulu |
24 Kaloa-ku-kahi |
29 Muku |
|
5
Ku-kolu |
11 Huna |
18 Laau-ku-kahi |
25 Kaloa-ku-lua |
|
6
Ku-pau |
12
Mohalu |
19 Laau-ku-lua |
| |
13 Hua |
20 Laau-pau |
I have marked with red those day names in the month when
it is said to be ebb. With black I have marked 2 days when a high
sea level is noted. The blue items are defined neither as ebb days nor
flood days.
From number 18 in the list, Laau-ku-tahi (Rakau-tu-tahi
- 'first night of tree rise'), there are 8 days which surely must
belong in the phase of waning moon. In contrast we can count to 16 days
from item number1 - Hilo (Hiro - Mercury) - which should belong in the
phase of waxing moon, i.e. ⅔ of 24 days probably represent the
Waxing Moon and ⅓ of 24 days Waning Moon.
Number 17, Kulu (Turu), should be the
day when 'the rising fish' turns around into a 'descending fish'.
Number 17 also represents, we know, the first item in a new sequence of
events. The first sequence of glyphs - in at least certain glyph lines -
are ending with number 16.
|
Turu To come down, to go down,
to descend; ka-turu-age koe ki tai, go down to the
sea now; turuga, coming down, descent.
1. To fall in drops, to flow, to leak, to
descend, a drop; turu ki tai, to take refuge at sea;
hakaturu, to cause to descend, to lower, to take
soundings; hakaturuturu, to heave and pitch.
Turuga, declivity. Turuvai, water conduit. P
Mgv.: akaturu, to conduct water in a drain. Ta.:
tuturu, to fall in drops. 2. To stay, to prop. T Pau.:
turu, a post, pillar, to sustain. Mgv.: turu,
a support, rod, stay, to sustain. Ta.: turu, stay,
support; turuturu, posts of a house. Ha.: kukulu,
a pillar, a post. 3. To come, to arrive, to overcome;
tehe e turu, through and through; hakarava hakaturu,
quadrangular. |
Of great interest for us is the last 4 items, which
are explicitly stated as being ebb:
|
26 Kane
(Tane) |
Kane
is the twenty-seventh night of the Moon. It was a day of
prayer and on the day following, that of
Lono,
the prayer was freed. That
day and the day of Lono are good days for
planting potatoes. It is a day of
very low tide but joyous for men who fish with
lines and for girls who dive for sea-urchins. |
|
27 Lono
(Rogo) |
Lono
is the twenty-eight night of the Moon.
It is a
day for planting crops. The
tide is low,
the sea calm, the sand is gathered up and returned to
its place; in these days the sea begins to wash back the
sand that the rough sea has scooped up. This is one
account of the night of
Lono. |
|
28
Mauli (Mauri) |
Mauli
is the last night that the Moon is visible and the name
means 'the last breath'. It is a
very good day for planting, a day of
low tide.
'A sea that gathers up and returns the sand to its
place' is the meaning of this single word. The Moon rises just a little
before sunrise and it is the twenty-ninth night
of the Moon. |
|
29 Muku
(Mutu) |
Muku
is the
night on which the Moon does not rise. The name means
'finished' and it refers to the 'dying' of the Moon. It is a
day for planting crops, a day of
low tide,
when the sea gathers up and returns the sand to its
place, a day of diving for sea-urchins, small and large,
for gathering sea-weed, for line-fishing by children,
squid-catching, uluulu [uruuru] fishing,
pulu [puru] fishing and so forth.
Such is the activity of
this day. |
Certainly we must read the ebb statements at the end
of the calendar as a Sign. We are meant to observe it and to
memorize it.
Could it mean we should add 4 nights from the end of
the previous month to those 16 first according to the calendar? 16 +
4 = 20 is the number of nights in a month which should be counted
according to the Polynesians on Gilbert Islands.
20 is the number of fingers and toes (remember
Mahuika, another 'fish') and also the number of years between
the Great Conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter.
Also we must notice the oddity of numbering the
nights, why is for instance Kane night number 27, when it
occurs as item 28? The numbers mentioned in the calendar agrees with
those expected up to and including number 25 Kaloa-ku-lua (Tagaroa-tu-rua),
but night number 26 is conspiciously absent. Should
we remember 26 as the day of the Sun King? From the absent number 26
there is ebb.
|