1. The henua calendar probably corresponds to the 'land of Sun' - where he gradually grows up and during the days moves farther and farther away from his origin: ... 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. She gives him the name Taetagaloa. When the baby is born a golden plover flies over and alights upon the reef. (Kua fanau lā te pepe kae lele mai te tuli oi tū mai i te papa). And so the woman thus names various parts of the child beginning with the name 'the plover' (tuli): neck (tuliulu), elbow (tulilima), knee (tulivae). They go inland at the land. The child nursed and tended grows up, is able to go and play. Each day he now goes off a bit further away, moving some distance away from the house, and then returns to their house ... The 'house' corresponds to the back side of the earth where Sun spends his night. He returns there in the evenings by way of the horizon in the west and in the mornings he goes out again from the horizon in the east. The outside represents the front side (the day) when Sun is shining above (and creating rain). The earth will then grow and produce food. Without Sun this will not happen. When Sun is far away north of the equator in winter earth cannot produce any food. Against this background Easter Island lies dangerously far south, even beyond the limit 26º defined by Antares.
The name Te Varu Kainga for Easter Island seems to express the idea of 'beyond' (cfr at Te Kuhane A Hau Maka). ... The dream soul of Hau Maka moved in the direction of the sun (i.e., toward the East). When, through the power of her mana, the dream soul had reached seven lands, she rested there and looked around carefully. The dream soul of Hau Maka said the following: 'As yet, the land that stays in the dim twilight during the fast journey has not been reached.' ... Easter Island (te pito o te kainga) is the last of all known islands. Seven lands lie before it, but these do not recommend themselves for settlement. Easter Island is the 'eighth land' (te varu kainga). ... The idea of groups of seven, which are surpassed by an eight element, seems to belong to the cosmology of Asian high cultures. For example, there are seven planets circling the world axis, which represents the eighth, and therefore central, position. Another name is Te Pei, 'the small piece', the residence of Easter Island (in the midst of dim twilight):
Te Pei is the name of the 4th kuhane station, a position of Saturn:
The small piece of 'land' is like the small 'eyes' of the Pleiades (Mata-riki) the sign of a new generation, and Saturn is the creator. The henua calendar ends with midsummer and then we can expect Te Pei to follow:
Sun will from his birth high up in the north gradually move south towards Easter Island, first through the land on the other side of the equator and then through the sky above the southern tropics. When he cannot move any further it has become midsummer and Sun is fully grown, he has become a man. His journey is over and he comes to a standstill (he 'dies'). A new halfyear will then be born, and it is the back side of the year. Easter Island has a position which corresponds to the time just beyond midsummer, it is on the threshold to the back side. If we update our map of the front side we can add 7 + 1 days beyond day number 177 in order to reach day number 185. We should also begin the description from Rogo in Gb6-26 (5 days earlier than tamaiti in Gb7-3):
I have played around with the numbers to see if we can find any more of value, and the equation 185 = 165 + 20 does seem to agree with the glyph signs. Glyph number 165 is Ga6-24:
Counting from Rogo in Gb6-26 there evidently is a change in two steps, both at 185 and at 230. In Ga5-10 and Ga6-24 (where 5 * 10 = 50 respectively 62 * 4 = 248) - both Fridays - Rogo is at left and his neck is no longer as tall as at the beginning of the front side. Furthermore, the front line of his neck is shorter and curved. I have in my 'map' above blackmarked numbers which possibly could represent days during which one regular season is changing into the next. 5 + 8 = 13 and added to 8 * 29½ it becomes 249 and 24 * 9 = 216, which could allude to the back side:
The empty-handed person in Ga7-15 seems to stand on the threshold to the back side of the year. His position is that of Mercury (the weak little child). At Ga7-15 we can count 71 * 5 = 355, which suggests a position just beyond those 354 (= 12 * 29½) days which measure a year. In the interval between midsummer and the new year Moon will rule, accompanied by the mirror image of Sun: ... The three of them had their copal, and this is what they burned as they incensed the direction of the rising sun. They were crying sweetly as they shook their burning copal, the precious copal. After that they cried because they had yet to see and yet to witness the birth of the sun. And then, when the sun came up, the animals, small and great, were happy. They all came up from the rivers and canyons; they waited on all the mountain peaks. Together they looked toward the place where the sun came out. So then the puma and jaguar cried out, but the first to cry out was a bird, the parrot by name. All the animals were truly happy. The eagle, the white vulture, small birds, great birds spread their wings, and the penitents and sacrificers knelt down. They were overjoyed, together with the penitents and sacrificers of the Tams, the Ilocs. And the Rabinals, Cakchiquels, those of Bird House. And the Sweatbath House, Talk House, Quiba House, those of Yokes House. And the Mexican Sovereigns - however many tribes there may be today. There were countless peoples, but there was just one dawn for all tribes. And then the face of the earth was dried out by the sun. The sun was like a person when he revealed himself. His face was hot, so he dried out the face of the earth. Before the sun came up it was soggy, and the face of the earth was muddy before the sun came up. And when the sun had risen just a short distance he was like a person, and his heat was unbearable. Since he revealed himself only when he was born, it is only his reflection that now remains. As they put it in the ancient text, 'The visible sun is not the real one ... ' ... What might lie behind this statement is revealed by a contemporary Mopán Maya tale in which Lord K'in (the sun) goes from his home in the east to the center of the sky and then back to the east again; it appears that he goes clear across the sky because he has placed a mirror at its center ... Obviously Lord K'in cannot begin to create spring north of the equator and at the same time remain south of the equator (where his work is finished). By the rule of correspondences he must therefore be absent also after noon. |
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