2. The canoe under the unbroken wing of Rehua could refer not only to the tail of Scorpio but also to the season which lies ahead. If in the sky 'land' terminates after 7 months then 'sea' will follow and Sun could need a canoe. Possibly, also, such a canoe is connected with the 'canoe' under construction which at first was crooked until Taetagaloa arrived. If the G text describes the 'geography' in the sky this will explain why there are 181 glyphs from Ga1-4 (Aldebaran) to Ga7-16 (Antares):
The tail of a mago glyph is 'crooked' compared to the tail of a vaha mea glyph. It ought to mean Rehua is the last part of winter. The broken wing of Rehua could refer to how Ana-tipu divides these 181 days in 2 parts. The idea of a 'break' means one season is terminated when the next arrives, e.g. at day-break or (possibly) at po-poro - when a.m. is terminated at noon or spring is terminated at midsummer. We easily can understand why night can be regarded as one piece of the diurnal cycle and day as another, why the cycle of time is broken at daybreak. And, although less obvious, also we have divided time into a.m. and p.m. - i.e. broken time at noon. The cycle of the year should be designed in a similar way, and we have a break at new year (as if it was comparable to daybreak). Midsummer, on the other hand, does not break our year, there is only one cycle of Sun in a year. Nor does spring equinox breaks winter as I perceive it. Sun rules over the whole year, without being threatened. And it is the true Sun which rules also beyond midsummer, not just an image of him. In the Babylonian zodiac ca 100 days beyond the Bull of Heaven (with Aldebaran) we can find the Abyss:
Above the Abyss there are Furrow and Frond which probably illustrate how Virgo is a constellation which is 'broken'. Half the cycle around there is Field drawn similar to Abytss, and above it is Horse and Stag looking at each other, which could illustrate how also Pisces is 'broken'. Once, a long time ago, Virgo stood at midsummer and Pisces at winter solstice. At that time images describing 'broken' would have been appropriate and easily understood. Ana-roto means the pillar in the middle, and with Sun having 10 months she will be in the center:
Perhaps the firm land as opposed to the unstable sea made it natural to place 'sea' both at midsummer and at winter solstice. Sun died at these times and there was no king in the sky for a while. The 10th month is when no more fingers can be counted and Aquarius represents water, a fluid state. The 5th month is when the fingers counted on the left hand are 'empty' - when once a long time ago the 5th 'month' Virgo had reached midsummer. There are no Tahitian star pillars beyond Rehua and before Ana-muri, because there is no 'land' for the pillars to stand on. The ecliptic is 'submerged'. We should remember how Maui fished up 'land': ... The brothers had no idea what Maui was up to now, as he paid out his line. Down, down it sank, and when it was at the bottom Maui lifted it slightly, and it caught on something which at once pulled very hard. Maui pulled also, and hauled in a little of his line. The canoe heeled over, and was shipping water fast ... Now Maui's hook had caught in the barge-boards of the house of Tonganui, who lived at the bottom of that part of the sea and whose name means Great South; for it was as far to the south that the brothers had paddled from their home ... At length there appeared beside them the gable and thatched roof of the house of Tonganui, and not only the house, but a huge piece of the land attached to it. The brothers wailed, and beat their heads, as they saw that Maui had fished up land, Te Ika a Maui, the fish of Maui. And there were houses on it, and fires burning, and people going about their daily tasks ... Maybe this happened in the season of Pisces, because 'land' would soon rise. We need not question if the fishing trip took place north or south of the equator. 'Land' probably is the stretch of the ecliptic from Taurus to Scorpio and so it has always been. Only when we assume the fishing trip took place down on earth will there be problems, because then Tonganui (Great South) should mean winter and fishing up his submerged land ought to take place in spring. But in spring (south of the equator) the 'land' in the sky is not submerged, not until beyond Scorpio (i.e. in summer) will 'land' sink down. I have above suggested Aquarius could be in line b2 and in the Babylonian zodiac his position is at the Great One, who is standing on a fish. Its picture of flowing water is like that in Gb2-16:
If autumn equinox is defined by number 266, then Sun will have 'descended' at Gb2-16. The picture in Gb2-16 looks more like that of Eridu than of that of the Great One, which in a way makes sense because south of the equator Eridu is located in autumn. But a discussion of the glyphs in line b2 will have to wait. |
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