1. We should notice where Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are mentioned in the Tahitian star pillar list:
1 |
Ana-mua, entrance pillar |
Antares, α Scorpii |
-26° 19' 16h 26 |
2 |
Ana-muri, rear pillar (at the foot of which was the place for tattooing) |
Aldebaran, α Tauri |
16° 25' 04h 33 |
3 |
Ana-roto, middle pillar |
Spica, α Virginis |
-10° 54' 13h 23 |
4 |
Ana-tipu, upper-side-pillar (where the guards stood) |
Dubhe, α Ursae Majoris |
62° 01' 11h 01 |
5 |
Ana-heu-heu-po, the pillar where debates were held |
Alphard, α Hydrae |
-08° 26' 09h 25 |
6 |
Ana-tahua-taata-metua-te-tupu-mavae, a pillar to stand by |
Arcturus, α Bootis |
19° 27' 14h 13 |
7 |
Ana-tahua-vahine-o-toa-te-manava, pillar for elocution |
Procyon, α Canis Minoris |
05° 21' 07h 37 |
8 |
Ana-varu, pillar to sit by |
Betelgeuse, α Orionis |
07° 24' 05h 52 |
9 |
Ana-iva, pillar of exit |
Phaed, γ Ursae Majoris |
53° 58' 11h 51 |
10 |
Ana-nia, pillar-to-fish-by |
North Star, α Ursae Minoris |
89° 02' 01h 49 |
The Big Bear comes in positions 4 and 9, while the minor one is at the last position of 10 (probably corresponding to the month after Sun has left and Moon has taken command).
Thus the 'bears' (or 'wagons') in the far north close to the pole evidently have been inserted in the star list like 'joints' between 3 + 4 = 7 'limbs' of the year:
Ana-mua |
Ana-muri |
Ana-roto |
Ana-tipu |
Ana-heu-heu-po |
Ana-tahua-taata-metua-te-tupu-mavae |
Ana-tahua-vahine-o-toa-te-manava |
Ana-varu |
Ana-iva |
Maybe the structure of the G text resembles the structure of the Tahitian star list. For instance could the 9th glyph line (b1) correspond to the time of Phaed (Ana-iva):
|
142 |
|
|
5 |
|
Ga4-9 (93) |
Gb1-6 (236) |
Gb1-7 |
Gb1-13 (243) |
150 |
|
11 |
|
|
133 |
|
|
|
Gb1-14 |
Gb1-26 (256) |
Gb2-1 |
Gb6-8 |
Gb6-9 |
Gb6-10 (393) |
12 |
138 |
Both Gb1-7 and Gb1-13 illustrate the idea of turning upside down, and evidently a major division in time takes place between position 256 (= 8 * 32) and Gb2-1. From Gb2-1 to the end of the text there are 216 (= 8 * 27) glyphs, and 8 * (32 + 27) = 8 * 59 = 472.
Iva means 9 and varu means 8.
Iva Nine. P Mgv., Mq., Ta.: iva, id. Churchill. |
Varu 1. To cut one's hair (te puoko). 2. To shave. 3. To paint, to put on make-up: he varu te kiea. Varu a-roto, to have diarrhoea. Vanaga.
1. Eight. 2. To shave, to remove the beard, to shear, to clip, to rasp, a plane. Varuvaru, to peel, to remove the bark, to plane, to scrape, to shear. Churchill. |
Varua Spirit, soul; sleep, dream. This is a Tahitian word, but the same term may have been used in ancient times. Vanaga. |
Maybe Sun falls asleep in line a8, because varua seems to mean dream soul. If so, then his front side will have only 7 stations:
1 |
Ana-mua, entrance pillar |
Antares, α Scorpii |
-26° 19' 16h 26 |
2 |
Ana-muri, rear pillar (at the foot of which was the place for tattooing) |
Aldebaran, α Tauri |
16° 25' 04h 33 |
3 |
Ana-roto, middle pillar |
Spica, α Virginis |
-10° 54' 13h 23 |
4 |
Ana-tipu, upper-side-pillar (where the guards stood) |
Dubhe, α Ursae Majoris |
62° 01' 11h 01 |
5 |
Ana-heu-heu-po, the pillar where debates were held |
Alphard, α Hydrae |
-08° 26' 09h 25 |
6 |
Ana-tahua-taata-metua-te-tupu-mavae, a pillar to stand by |
Arcturus, α Bootis |
19° 27' 14h 13 |
7 |
Ana-tahua-vahine-o-toa-te-manava, pillar for elocution |
Procyon, α Canis Minoris |
05° 21' 07h 37 |
The first 3 are stars of major importance and evidently they could constitute a group by themselves.
Ana-mua |
Ana-muri |
Ana-roto |
Likewise the last 3 can be seen as a group:
Maybe Ana-nia alludes to Matarii i nia ('the Pleiades above'), because 10 could perhaps be named haga-uru ('the harbour of the stuffed up old bird') or something similar - the beginning of a new year (which once the Pleiades announced) should be based on the 'calabash' (the dry seed) of the old year. The end continues with a new beginning:
Nika 'Savage tribes knew the Pleiades familiarly, as well as did the people of ancient and modern civilization; and Ellis wrote of the natives of the Society and Tonga Islands, who called these stars Matarii, the Little Eyes: The two seasons of the year were divided by the Pleiades; the first, Matarii i nia, the Pleiades Above, commenced when, in the evening, those stars appeared on the horizon, and continued while, after sunset, they were above. The other season, Matarii i raro, the Pleiades Below, began when, at sunset, they ceased to be visible, and continued till, in the evening, they appeared again above the horizon.
Gill gives a similar story from the Hervey group, where the Little Eyes are Matariki, and at one time but a single star, so bright that their god Tane in envy got hold of Aumea, our Aldebaran, and, accompanied by Mere, our Sirius, chased the offender, who took refuge in a stream. Mere, however, drained off the water, and Tane hurled Aumea at the fugitive, breaking him into the six pieces that we now see, whence the native name for the fragments, Tauono, the Six, quoted by Flammarion as Tau, both titles singularly like the Latin Taurus. They were the favorite one of the various avelas, or guides at sea in night voyages from one island to another; and, as opening the year, objects of worship down to 1857, when Christianity prevailed throughout these islands.' (Allen) |
Hagahuru Ten (agahuru, hagauru). P Mq.: onohuú, okohuú, id. Ta.: ahuru. id. Churchill.
The Maori recognized two main divisions of the year: winter or takurua, a name for Sirius which then shone as morning star, and summer, raumati or o-rongo-nui, 'of the great Rongo', god of agriculture. They occasionally recognized spring as the digging season koanga, from ko, the digging stick or spade. The autumn or harvest season was usually spoken of as ngahuru, 'tenth' (month), although it was considered to include also the last two months of the year. Mahuru was the personification of spring. Makemson. |
Huru Custom, tradition, behaviour, manners, situation, circumstances; poki huru hare, child who stays inside (to keep a fair complexion); te huru o te tagata rivariva, a fine person's behaviour; pehé te huru o Hiva? what is the situation on the mainland? Huruhuru, plumage, feathers (the short feathers, not the tail feathers), fleece of sheep. Vanaga.
Samoa: sulu, a torch; to light by a torch; sulusulu, to carry a torch; susulu, to shine (used of the heavenly bodies and of fire). Futuna: susulu, the brightness of the moon. Tonga: huluaki, huluia, huluhulu, to light, to enlighten; fakahuhulu, to shine; iuhulu, a torch or flambeau, to light with a torch. Niuē: hulu, a torch; huhulu, to shine (as the moon). Maori: huru, the glow of the sun before rising, the glow of fire. Churchill 2. |
Mahuru personified spring (the beginning of a new year) and Ngahuru was its opposite. Furthermore huruhuru must be the opposite of huru, and therefore huru are the tail feathers (of the old year), those who are like the glow of an old fire, or like the feelers of a lobster (vaero ura) hiding in his hole.
Alice in Wonderland has a Lobster-Quadrille in its 10th (out of 12) chapter and we can see Mr Lobster stretching himself in front of the mirror and evidently is intending to comb his hair (huruhuru):
But the text is cryptic:
´Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare |
'You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.' |
As a duck with his eyelids, so he with his nose |
Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes. |
When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark, |
And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark: |
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around, |
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound. |
In Great Britain a quadrillion is the 4th power of a million (24 zeroes), but in France and in U.S.A. it is the 5th power of a thousand (15 zeroes).
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