2. Excepting Ga3-11 all my examples of poporo are located on side b:
When I once classified glyphs I was careful to include also at least a few dubious or border-line examples for each glyph type and we can therefore now - in a first step - reduce the number of definite poporo glyphs to these 10:
I think we should demand that a poporo glyph must have a mata at bottom. But anyhow Ga3-11 clearly must be regarded as a kind of poporo although it has a 'Sun head' at bottom instead of the normal oval form:
For a discussion of this the 3rd henua period see The Arrow of Time. But we should also remember that Ku descended into the ground until only his head was visible: ... According to an etiological Hawaiian myth, the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god Ku. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Ku married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Ku told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly, she agreed, and at her word, Ku descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been, day and night watering it with their tears until suddenly a small green shoot appeared where Ku had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Ku's family and neighbours gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation ... The front side of the tablet (side a) probably describes 'the growth' of Sun, and we can guess poporo in Ga3-11 is where it is beginning. At the other end there probably is another special case in Gb3-29:
Counting from the π-glyph there are 8 days remaining of line b3 (the line without any henua sign). These 8 glyphs should be divided in 2 groups because we can see the change from mata held high in front (a Sunday) to mata held low in front (a Thursday). This pattern ought to remind us of how Ga7-20 is similarly mirrored in Ga7-24:
Counted from Gb1-1 the ordinal number of Gb3-30 is 91, which probably indicates a quarter of 364 and which may allude to the disappearance of Sun at autumn equinox. In Gb3-26 we can count 32 * 6 = 192. Perhaps we in these numbers can see a reference to the length of summer respectively to the number of days from the end of summer to autumn equinox. 192 + 91 = 283:
Hipu at left in Gb2-27 presumably carries water and possibly the drawing is meant to indicate how the watery character of Sun now is in the past - there are 'flames' in front but not at the back side. Myth says the Sun King must drink before he will leave, e.g.: "Among Hotu Matua's last accomplishments were his attempts to dig wells (anga i te vai, TP:53) along the shore of Akahanga. My informants did not mention these endeavors, but since Easter Island has neither stream nor wells, the supply of fresh water, aside from the three crater lakes, presents a real problem (HM:281-292). Recent trial excavations in the area of Akahanga have shown that this area was ideal for the establishment of wells. The dying king has his foster child bring him his last drink of water (vai maunga mo unu) from neighboring Hua Reva, a sure indication of the success of his last efforts to better the lot of the settlers (TP:55). After leaving the residence at Akahanga, Hotu Matua goes to the northern rim of the volcano Rano Kau." (The Eighth Land.) ... But the time of his predestined defeat by the dark brother, Tezcatlipoca, was ever approaching, and, knowing perfectly the rhythm of his own destiny, Quetzalcoatl would make no move to stay it. Tezcatlipoca, therefore, said to his attendants, 'We shall give him a drink to dull his reason and show him his own face in a mirror; then, surely, he will be lost'. And he said to the servants of the good king, 'Go tell your master that I have come to show him his own flesh!' But when the message was brought to Quetzalcoatl, the aging monarch said, 'What does he call my own flesh? Go and ask!' And when the other was admitted to his presence: 'What is this, my flesh, that you would show me?' Tezcatlipoca answered, 'My Lord and Priest, look now at your flesh; know yourself; see yourself as you are seen by others!' And he presented the mirror ... Omotohi is the full moon night, the night when the 'sucking' is finished. It is the moment of reversal, from which point what has been sucked up must be returned: ... 'The rays drink up the little waters of the earth, the shallow pools, making them rise, and then descend again in rain.' Then, leaving aside the question of water, he summed up his argument: 'To draw up and then return what one had drawn - that is the life of the world.' The events of returning is like the mirror image of the events of growing, and the rains will change the fires into smoke, cfr 'the smoking mirror', Tezcatlipoca. The flames of a fire will rise towards the sky (as if they were compelled by a force of antigravity), but the rain drops will go in the other direction, from the sky to the ground. When a star (hetu'u) is rising (tu'u) in the east it is a true event, but when it later descends beyond zenith it can no longer be more than a mirror image because fires do no descend. The meaning of the pau sign in Gb3-30 was discussed at Hanga Takaure:
Later, at Ana-roto, another piece of the puzzle was added, and with a slight improvement we can imagine that the definite end of Sun comes with Gb3-26:
Hoea in Ga2-26 has a sign to let Sun enter (the uplifted front member) but in Gb3-30 the opening is closed. But poporo in Gb3-29 must be a special case also because there are 2 curved strings growing upwards instead of a single line standing straight. There are 230 glyphs on side a and ordinal number 320 can illustrate the reversal:
Counted from Rogo in Gb5-26 the day number is 64 + 320 = 384 = 13 * 29½ + ½. The single straight line of Sun has changed into 2 curved Moon lines with 4 + 4 feather signs. |
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