The
idea of a Fox at the 5th Chinese station
with all probability was meant to let the
thoughts fly away up to the famous Fox star in
Ursa Major, Alcor close to Mizar:
This
tiny star was traditionally used as a test for the eyes,
to find out how sharp they were. According
to
Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names. Their
Lore and Meaning:
The Arabs in the
desert regarded it as a test of penetrating vision; and they
were accustomed to oppose 'Suhel' to 'Suha'
(Canopus to Alcor) as occupying respectively the highest and
lowest posts in the celestial family. So that Vidit Alcor, et
non lunam plenum, came to be a proverbial description of one
keenly alive to trifles, but dull of apprehension for broad
facts.
And in Hamlet's Mill:
Proclus informs us
that the fox star nibbles continuously at the thong of the yoke
which holds together heaven and earth; German folklore adds that
when the fox succeeds, the world will come to its end. This fox
star is no other than Alcor, the small star g near zeta
Ursae Majoris (in India Arundati, the common wife of the
Seven Rishis, alpha-eta Ursae.
Every
astronomer should have known about the Fox
star and therefore it would have been easy
to associate the Heart ('load stone')
in the Scorpion with Al-cor (a name which
could allude to a 'heart').
The Fox rose at the
same time as Spica (α Virginis) and
there were then 45 (= 360 / 8) days from the Horn (tara)
of Spica to the
Heart (kopu) in the Scorpion:
|
Tara
1. Thorn: tara miro. 2. Spur:
tara moa. 3. Corner; te tara o te hare,
corner of house; tara o te ahu, corner of ahu.
Vanaga.
(1. Dollar; moni tara, id.) 2.
Thorn, spike, horn; taratara, prickly, rough,
full of rocks. P Pau.: taratara, a ray, a beam;
tare, a spine, a thorn. Mgv.: tara, spine,
thorn, horn, crest, fishbone. Mq.: taá, spine,
needle, thorn, sharp point, dart, harpoon; taa,
the corner of a house, angle. Ta.: tara, spine,
horn, spur, the corner of a house, angle. Sa.: tala,
the round end of a house. Ma.: tara, the side
wall of a house. 3. To announce, to proclaim, to
promulgate, to call, to slander; tatara, to make
a genealogy. P Pau.: fakatara, to enjoin. Mq.:
taá, to cry, to call. 4. Mgv.: tara, a
species of banana. Mq.: taa, a plant, a bird.
Ma.: tara, a bird. 5. Ta.: tara,
enchantment. Ma.: tara, an incantation. 6. Ta.:
tara, to untie. Sa.: tala, id. Ha.:
kala, id. Churchill |
| Kopu
Heart, breast, paunch, belly, entrails;
kopu mau, stomach; kopu takapau nui,
big belly; mamae kopu, bellyache. T Pau., Mgv.:
kopu, belly, paunch. Mq.: kopu, opu,
belly, stomach, breast. Ta.: opu, belly,
intestines, spirit, intelligence. Churchill.
Ta.: opu, to rise, of the sun.
Ma.: kopu, the morning star. Churchill. |
|
1 |
Horn |
α
Virginis (Spica) |
Crocodile |
(202.7) |
Oct
9 (282) |
45 |
71 |
|
2 |
Neck |
κ
Virginis |
Dragon |
(214.8) |
Oct
21 (294) |
|
3 |
Root |
α
Librae (Zuben Elgenubi) |
Badger |
(224.2) |
Oct
31 (304) |
|
4 |
Room |
π
Scorpii (Vrischika) |
Hare |
(241.3) |
Nov
17 (321) |
|
5 |
Heart |
σ
Scorpii |
Fox |
(247.0) |
Nov
23 (327) |
26 |
|
6 |
Tail |
μ
Scorpii (Denebakrab) |
Tiger |
(254.7) |
Nov
30 (334) |
|
7 |
Winnowing Basket |
γ
Sagittarii (Nash) |
Leopard |
(273.7) |
Dec
19 (353) |
Since ancient times the Scorpion (represented by
Antares) signified the arrival of the northern autumn
(of better 'fall'). Antares marked
the beginning of the 4th and last quarter of the year, a quarter when Mother
Nature became still as if dead.
... Interestingly,
since another meaning of shi is 'death', the number 4 is
considered unlucky. (For example, the floor numbering in hotels
sometimes jumps mysteriously from 3 to 5; it's also considered
unlucky to give four of something as a present.) (Richard Smith
& Trevor Hughes Parry, Japanese. Language and People.)
Ulu fell on his face and his head was
then buried close to the little spring of running water in order to give
his life to the next generation, which
would come in the spring.
Possibly the creator of the G text marked the
beginning of the 4th quarter by the hatchmarked
'stick' in Ga7-13:
|
SEPTEMBER 17 |
18 (261) |
(182 +
80) |
|
20 |
21 (264) |
22
(EQUINOX) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga7-11 |
Ga7-12 |
Ga7-13
(182) |
Ga7-14
(183) |
Ga7-15 |
Ga7-16 |
|
ψ
Scorpii (244.6),
LESATH =
ν Scorpii
(244.8) |
χ
Scorpii (245.1),
YED
PRIOR = δ Ophiuchi,
δ Tr. Austr. (245.5) |
YED
POSTERIOR = ε Ophiuchi, RUKBALGETHI SHEMALI = τ
Herculis
(246.6). δ Apodis (246.7), ο Scorpii (246.8) |
HEART (5) |
ρ
Ophiuchi (248.1),
KAJAM =
ω Herculis
(248.3),
χ Ophiuchi (248.5),
SHE LOW
(Market Tower) = υ Ophiuchi,
Tr. Austr. (248.7), ζ Tr. Austr. (248.8) |
ANTARES
= α Scorpii
(249.1),
MARFIK =
λ Ophiuchi,
φ Ophiuchi (249.5), ω Ophiuchi (249.8) |
|
σ
Scorpii
(247.0),
HEJIAN = γ Herculis
(247.2),
ψ Ophiuchi (247.7) |
|
November
20 (324) |
21 (261
+ 64) |
22
(64 + 182 + 80) |
23
(327) |
24
(328 = 80 + 248) |
25
(144 + 185) |
|
SEPTEMBER 23 |
24 |
25
(268) |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ga7-17 |
Ga7-18 |
Ga7-19 (188) |
|
γ
Apodis (250.1), σ Herculis (250.3), θ Tr. Austr.
(250.6),
τ
Scorpii
(250.7) |
HAN
= ζ Ophiuchi
(251.0) |
ζ
Herculis, η Tr. Austr. (252.1), η Herculis, β
Apodis (252.5) |
|
November 26 |
27 |
28 (332) |
Then he could have used σ
Scorpii (rising just ahead of α) as a marker for the time when Antares would
initiate spring (<)
on Easter Island, down in the southern hemisphere. At
bottom in Ga7-19 we can perceive a little fire.
|