I have included Gb8-30 because the text evidently is describing a calendar with a cycle of 16 * 29.5 = 472 days, although there are only 471 glyphs incised on the tablet. Probably each glyph corresponds to a day. The beginning of this 16 month long lunar calendar could be at Gb8-30, and if so this glyph will also be its final glyph, it has to be counted twice.

The glyph type at Gb8-30 (a day of Jupiter) is puo, according to my systematic investigation of what words Metoro Tauga Ure used when reading the rongorongo texts A, B, C, and E, for Bishop Jaussen. Puo means 'covered by earth'. Thus we can interpret the calendar to say that at the beginning there was no light, only darkness. In the expression ata puo (to hill up a plant) I interpret the word ata as 'early dawn before sunrise':

Puo

(Also pu'a); pu'o nua, one who covers himself with a nua (blanket), that is to say, a human being. Vanaga.

1. To dress, to clothe, to dress the hair; puoa, clothed; puoa tahaga, always dressed. 2. To daub, to besmear (cf. pua 2); puo ei oone, to daub with dirt, to smear. 3. Ata puo, to hill up a plant. Churchill.

Vanaga was an internet site, taken out of service 2007-12-29. Churchill refers to William Churchill's Easter Island. The Rapanui Speech and the Peopling of Southeast Polynesia, and Churchill 2 (which also sometimes occurs in my Polynesian word list) refers to Churchill's The Polynesian Wanderings.

Fornander refers to Abraham Fornander's An Account of the Polynesian Race. Its Origin and Migrations, and Henry to Teuira Henry: Ancient Tahiti. Starzecka means D. C. Starzecka: Maori Art and Culture, and Makemson is Maud Worcester Makemson's The Morning Star Rises. An Account of Polynesian Astronomy.

Barthel refers to his Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift and Barthel 2 to The Eighth Island, while Wehewehe and Text Centre are internet sites.

These are the main sources for my word list.

Vaha mea in Ga1-4 (a day of Saturn) ought to illustrate how a new season of light is 'opening' (vaha), and mea is the red colour of gills. This rising fish can be interpreted to show how Sun is rising like a fish at dawn.

Vaha

Hollow; opening; space between the fingers (vaha rima); door cracks (vaha papare). Vahavaha, to fight, to wrangle, to argue with abusive words. Vanaga.

1. Space, before T; vaha takitua, perineum. PS Mgv.: vaha, a space, an open place. Mq.: vaha, separated, not joined. Ta.: vaha, an opening. Sa.: vasa, space, interval. To.: vaha, vahaa, id. Fu.: vasa, vāsaà, id. Niuē: vahā. 2. Muscle, tendon; vahavaha, id. Vahahora (vaha 1 - hora 2), spring. Vahatoga (vaha 1 - toga 1), autumn. 3. Ta.: vahavaha, to disdain, to dislike. Ha.: wahawaha, to hate, to dislike. Churchill.

Mea

1. Tonsil, gill (of fish). 2. Red (probably because it is the colour of gills); light red, rose; also meamea. 3. To grow or to exist in abundance in a place or around a place: ku-mea-á te maîka, bananas grow in abundance (in this place); ku-mea-á te ka, there is plenty of fish (in a stretch of the coast or the sea); ku-mea-á te tai, the tide is low and the sea completely calm (good for fishing); mau mea, abundance. Vanaga.

1. Red; ata mea, the dawn. Meamea, red, ruddy, rubricund, scarlet, vermilion, yellow; ariga meamea, florid; kahu meamea purple; moni meamea, gold; hanuanua meamea, rainbow; pua ei meamea, to make yellow. Hakameamea, to redden, to make yellow. PS Ta.: mea, red. Sa.: memea, yellowish brown, sere. To.: memea, drab. Fu.: mea, blond, yellowish, red, chestnut. 2. A thing, an object, elements (mee); e mea, circumstance; mea ke, differently, excepted, save, but; ra mea, to belong; mea rakerake, assault; ko mea, such a one; a mea nei, this; a mea ka, during; a mea, then; no te mea, because, since, seeing that; na te mea, since; a mea era, that; ko mea tera, however, but. Hakamea, to prepare, to make ready. P Pau., Mgv., Mq., Ta.: mea, a thing. 3. In order that, for. Mgv.: mea, because, on account of, seeing that, since. Mq.: mea, for. 4. An individual; tagata mea, tagata mee, an individual. Mgv.: mea, an individual, such a one. Mq., Ta.: mea, such a one. 5. Necessary, urgent; e mea ka, must needs be, necessary; e mea, urgent. 6. Manners, customs. 7. Mgv.: ako-mea, a red fish. 8. Ta.: mea, to do. Mq.: mea, id. Sa.: mea, id. Mao.: mea, id. Churchill.

My intention is to gradually build up a 'vocabulary' of glyph types and their basic meanings by cautiously interpreting the G text. This pair of glyph types is the beginning of my outline dictionary of rongorongo signs:


puo	*vaha mea*

We must be aware of the risks involved in using my names for the glyph types, because Metoro did not read mechanically but with care and afterthought. For instance did my investigation of the expression vaha mea result in the following:

text	glyphs of the vaha mea type		other glyph types where Metoro said vaha mea
text	Metoro said vaha mea	Metoro said something else	other glyph types where Metoro said vaha mea
A	2	7	-
B	3	4	5
C	-	-	1
E	3	9	-
sum	8	20	6

8 out of 14 times when Metoro said vaha mea it was at a glyph of the vaha mea type, but the rest of the cases were at other types of glyphs.

Furthermore - and this is more relevant for the current discussion - the glyph type which I have labelled vaha mea apparently was used to illustrate also other types of seasonal 'openings', e.g. vaha toga (spring, the beginning of the winter half of the year, toga) or vaha hora (autumn, the beginning of the summer half of the year, hora). Some extra signs were then used:


Aa6-67	*Ha7-31

The glyph type vaha mea shows a rising fish with widely open mouth primarily in order to illustrate the concept of an 'opening' (vaha), not to indicate the red opening of dawn (vaha mea). But stripped from extra signs it evidently means the light which arrives at the beginning of the year. At vaha mea in Eb7-27 Metoro said te vaha:


Eb7-27	Ga1-4

The definite article te presumably refers to a season with Sun present and probably the meaning of Eb7-27 is identical to that of Ga1-4, because the glyphs are drawn alike and 72 * 7 = 504 which can be understood as 4 more than a completed Sun cycle.

I had earlier (before beginning my work with creating Dream Voyager) summarized what I at that time could deduce about vaha mea and this summary is still useful:

The glyph type vaha mea without signs added seems to mean the 'red opening' which is located in midwinter and through which a new sun (year) will enter.

Metoro's name vaha mea is probably correct, and together with vaha hora (entrance into summer) and vaha toga (entrance to winter) creates a logic of words. Vaha mea can therefore be thought of as the entrance of the new year (into spring).

The openings in question presumably were not merely abstractions but imagined as real holes in the sky roof. A consequence is that the midwinter hole (entrance into spring) north of the equater (e.g. as observed from Hawaii) will be the midsummer hole (entrance into autumn) south of the equator. In Tahua there is such a special vaha mea glyph (denoting the midsummer hole).

The red gills (mea) seen in the open mouth of a fish may be the origin of the word for the colour red (mea). The new sun brings a red dawn, as can be observed looking towards east. Before sun himself is seen sky and sea are coloured red from his rays. The sun comes up where sky and sea meet - it is as if he was a mighty fish.

I have chosen a vaha mea glyph with extra signs (far too fat a fish for midwinter) as my prototype, and therefore the beginning of my dictionary can be:


puo	*vaha mea*
covered by earth	opening
early dawn before sunrise	the beginning of a new season

To complete this 'chapter' we ought to once again look at our primary text example:


Eb7-17	Eb7-18	Eb7-19	Eb7-20	Eb7-21	Eb7-22	Eb7-23
te ragi	te takaure	te henua	te takaure	te ragi	te pepe	te hau tea - te takaure


Eb7-23	Eb7-24	Eb7-25	Eb7-26	Eb7-27	Eb7-28	Eb7-29
te hau tea - te takaure	te henua	te veveke	te henua	te vaha	tagata - te kihikihi	hagahaga mai o te ragi

Gb8-30	Ga1-1	Ga1-2	Ga1-3	Ga1-4	Ga1-5	Ga1-6


Eb7-30	Eb7-31	Eb7-32	Eb7-33	Eb7-34	Eb7-35
te koka	te hokohuki	kua rere te veveke	te makere	te takaure	kua oho mai kua hua

From comparing vaha mea in Eb7-27 with Ga1-4 it becomes evident that also Eb7-26 and Ga1-3 are similar. And ragi at right in Eb7-29 corresponds to ragi at right in Ga1-6.

I have included Eb7-23 twice following the order in G where Gb8-30 occurs twice. This method is supported by Metoro who said te hau tea - te takaure, a double name. Counting the number of te from Eb7-17 up to and including that in te vaha (Eb7-27) the sum is 12.