2. Odd numbers are unlucky. Yet the week has 7 planets. Counting should therefore be done in fortnights. 14 days can then be taken twice in order to reach 28 days as the measure for the length of a month. The black 29th night of the Moon cannot belong at the end of the month because it would cause an odd number. Therefore it should be the first night of next month. But then next black night of Moon will arrive not as number 29 but as number 30. And the night cannot be transferred to the following month because it would cause the number of nights in the current month to be odd. The solution should be to avoid counting the dark nights of Moon:
This is a system with 2 fortnights in a row forming the sequence of nights when the face Moon is illuminated by the rays from Sun. Then he moves to her back in order to rejuvenate her. Continuing on the same principles the months should also be taken in pairs. It means there will be 8 weeks in such a pair of months. And considering also the dark nights of Moon, there will be 8 * 7 + 2 = 58 nights in such a doublemonth. The idea to add 2 in order to be more true to the observations seems to be a general feature of the system of thought. Counting with 29.5 nights in a month and using the same basic concept of 14 periods ('a greater fortnight') an odd number will be the result: 14 * 29.5 = 413. The solution to the problem could be to count with 2 more months and thereby to reach 16 * 29.5 = 472 (equal to the number of glyphs in the text of G). We should remember what Whare-patari said: 'Know you not that there are two odd feathers in a bird's tail? Likewise there are two odd months in the year.' There are also 2 odd (dark) nights in a doublemonth. |
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