11. Also day 60 (in addition to Ana-tipu) could belong to Saturn, because it comes 5 (as in fire) weeks later. Counting according to the style of Sun number 60 is the final day in a double-month (and so is number 360):
Furthermore, maybe I should paint Alphard too black because of its Tahitian star pillar name:
Heuheu means body hair, something which covers the body (hiding it), and po is the black of night. In the Babylonian zodiac Alphard is in Serpent (at the opposite end of the sky compared to winter solstice north of the equator):
With time running clockwise in this picture, following the stations of Sun in the year, it can be seen that land is sinking down - as when ebb is changed into flood - beyond midsummer (at Arrow). Hydra is a water serpent, below the Lion on the ecliptic. Below the surface of the water the light from Sun quickly diminishes. At Eridu the flow of water is depicted in a way which resembles the flow of water at Great One. Land ('ebb') is the stretch of time between them. The solstices are times when Sun 'dies', not moving any more, and it is as if water had extinguished him. Te Pou means something similar, a post which stands still. ... Arrow (Sirius & probably other adjacent stars in Canis Major) Although closely associated with the constellation of the Bow, the Arrow is always treated separately in Babylonian tradition. The annual rising of the Arrow marked the summer solstice when the sun was at its maximum height above the horizon. The Arrow was probably chosen for this role as it is the man-made object that can reach highest into the heavens. Similarly, the bird on a high perch, which is often seen besides the Arrow in ancient artwork, can also be thought of as representing the sun at its highest station ... Beyond solstice comes its opposite, the untrustworthy 'sea'. ... There is a couple residing in one place named Kui and Fakataka. After the couple stay together for a while Fakataka is pregnant. So they go away because they wish to go to another place - they go. The canoe goes and goes, the wind roars, the sea churns, the canoe sinks. Kui expires while Fakataka swims. Fakataka swims and swims, reaching another land. She goes there and stays on the upraised reef in the freshwater pools on the reef, and there delivers her child, a boy child ... ... In the morning of the world, there was nothing but water. The Loon was calling, and the old man who at that time bore the Raven's name, Nangkilstlas, asked her why. 'The gods are homeless', the Loon replied. 'I'll see to it', said the old man, without moving from the fire in his house on the floor of the sea. Then as the old man continued to lie by his fire, the Raven flew over the sea. The clouds broke. He flew upward, drove his beak into the sky and scrambled over the rim to the upper world. There he discovered a town, and in one of the houses a woman had just given birth ... Raven is at the tail of Serpent in the Babylonian zodiac. Early the sign stars must have been carefully chosen from several criteria, e.g. brightness. But the number of days between them was also most important - the distribution of the sign stars was governed by cosmic numbers, such which carried meaning (were beautiful) and which therefore were easy to remember. For instance can we now appreciate why Alphard could have been regarded as day number 1 - it could represent the first day down in the 'water' beyond the solstice in the south:
60 days in 'flood' ought to be followed by 'ebb', and at solstice in the north it should be the same. 360 - 60 - 60 = 240 days of 'ebb' would remain for the year, 120 days in spring and 120 days in autumn, 2 'lands' separated by 'sea'. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
