In Polynesia Aldebaran was at the rear (Ana-muri) and Antares (Ana-mua) at the entrance:
South of the equator Antares announced the arrival of summer and this may have motivated the name 'entrance' pillar. At the 'foot' of the 'rear' pillar (Aldebaran) was the place for tattooing. Regarded from a position south of the equator Aldebaran was not in spring but in autumn, when darkness would rule. Summer was at the 'rear'. The foot of something ought to mean early. For instance will you begin at the foot of a mountain when intending to climb it. The place for tattooing should therefore be earlier than Aldebaran and possibly 14 * 29½ = 413 nights after the March equinox - given that February 29 was among them (127 + 366 - 80 = 413):
We can imagine a pair of 'leaves' at left in Gb1-21 and a sharp point upwards in front. The picture appears to relate to the season south of the equator, because the point is below the middle. Zuben Elschemali is β Librae and the balance may have been upset by the big toe of the Virgin's right foot:
After an ordered structure once has been set up it can be destroyed, upset. ... Long ago in the very beginning of time there dwelt within a shell an infant god whose name was Ta'aroa. He was Ta'aroa the unique one, the ancestor of all gods, the creator of the universe whose natures were myriad, whose backbone was the ridgepole of the world, whose ribs were its supporters. The shell was called Rumia, Upset. Precession would sooner or later create an imbalance between the old images in the sky and what took place according to the seasons of the Sun down on earth. |