4. The meaning of this forked toa sign has already been stated. It stands for the 'end station' of all that is living. The time is late in the year, when it is getting dark and life slows down. The 'Gateway of the Sun' at Tiahuanaco in South America has remarkable pictures carved on its stone blocks and the central figure depicts Sun himself:
In his right hand (at left in the picture - which is not representing a mirror image like the pictures in the rongorongo texts) there is a kind of staff with a halfcircle at its top end. This staff probably represents the first half of the year with the high midsummer sky as the halfcircle at its top end. In Sun's left hand another staff is held, and this one has a fork at its top end. It should represent the second half of the year. In other words, the fork sign probably indicates the 4th quarter of a year. Reading begins at the bottom end of a staff and is completed at the top end, similar to how a rongorongo text is growing from bottom up. There are two 'years', two 'staffs'. |
