3. North of the equator, on Hawaii, there were 33 days from the reappearance of the Pleiades in the evening sky to the winter solstice, and as Celaeno was the first star to disappear in the 'morning light' she must also be the first star to reappear in the evening. ... the renewal of kingship at the climax of the Makahiki coincides with the rebirth of nature. For in the ideal ritual calendar, the kali'i battle follows the autumnal appearance of the Pleiades, by thirty-three days - thus precisely, in the late eighteenth century, 21 December, the winter solstice. The king returns to power with the sun ... If we add 33 days to 56 (for Celaeno) the result is 89 days. If we add 33 to 57 (for Alcyone) the result is a more satisfactory 90 (= 360 / 4) days:
A quarter of a year is needed from the Pleiades to the end of the takaure season. The Pleiades will be 'above' also on Easter Island when the Hawaiians celebrate their Makahiki festival. There are only 8 glyphs from Gb8-23 to the end of side b and the beginning of side a could indicate the reappearance of Sun (after having been 'uphilled', puo). Also Venus disappears for 8 night when changing from her evening to her morning appearance. The Halcyon bird was said to nest at winter solstice, perhaps the origin of the reborn Sun. Celeano could be the opposite, located at summer solstice where Spring Sun disappears at his summit ('lost' among the clouds of rain):
Since the time ca 4,000 years ago when the Pleiades could mark the beginning of the summer year the precession of the equinoxes presumably has forced a change from looking for them in the early morning sky to looking for them in the early evening sky. The Atlas Mountains and the 'Atlantis' region (Tartessos) are far in the west, at the end of land. Their 'daughters' have already gone down into the Atlantic Ocean. This picture of mine serves to illustrate the myth about Atlantis as a land which once suddenly sank into the sea. We ought to be able to date this event by counting from the position of Atlas, who straddles Gb8-23 and Gb8-24:
465.3 - 365¼ = 100.05 days, and 100.05 / 365¼ * 25,900 = ca 7095 years ago. I have here used not 26,000 years but an estimate I have found in Allen. I do not suggest we should take this calculation 'literally' - instead it is just a symbolic measure. 25,900 * (465.3 - 364) / 364 = 7208 years ago would be a better measure (with more symbolic power). |