1. We are leaving question marks everywhere down in the ditch all along our path of investigation into this 'Terra Australis Incognita'. It cannot be avoided. Questions cannot be answered before the answers appear, and I have not earlier tried to determine what our text example really is saying:
Furthermore, even if I should happen to have some answers (out of an innumerable many, more than you ever could imagine) it is impossible to present everything at once, this is a basic rule of Time. The 'old calabash' (with the woody outer shell) belongs in the mysterious 'forked tree', so much is evident. It seems to be some kind of 'forbidden fruit' (like that which Eve tasted in Paradise). ... The Xibalbans said among themselves: 'No one is to pick the fruit, nor is anyone to go beneath the tree', they said. They restricted themselves, all of Xibalba held back. It isn't clear which is the head of One Hunaphu; now it's exactly the same as the fruit of the tree. Calabash came to be its name, and much was said about it ... With the Chinese and the Polynesians having difficulty in distinguishing between 'l' and 'r' it is easy to recognize the calabash as a carapace, the shell of a tortoise. The hard shell 'bowl' forming the top of a cranium is a related object: "Up to the present time, fertility spells for fowls have played an important role. Especially effective were the so-called 'chicken skulls' (puoko moa) - that is, the skulls of dead chiefs, often marked by incisions, that were considered a source of mana. Their task is explained as follows: 'The skulls of the chiefs are for the chicken, so that thousands may be born' (te puoko ariki mo te moa, mo topa o te piere) ...As long as the source of mana is kept in the house, the hens are impregnated (he rei te moa i te uha), they lay eggs (he ne'ine'i te uha i te mamari), and the chicks are hatched (he topa te maanga). After a period of time, the beneficial skull has to be removed, because otherwise the hens become exhausted from laying eggs." (Thomas Barthel, The Eighth Land. The Polynesian Discovery and Settlement of Easter Island.) Ogotemmêli (Griaule, a.a.) had similar ideas, and his description should be our 'answer' for the moment: "... In the upper part of the façade [of a temple], as a pendant to the calabash on the right which represents the sun, it is a drawing of the moon, either full or as a crescent. This is a reminder, on the left-hand side, of the celestial regions. In the remaining space on the wall there are various ritual objects and animals in no particular order: the priest's forked staff, which is a symbol of both masculinity and femininity; the shaft itself, which is breast-high, is male, the female part is the fork in which the priest rests his forefinger, itself a symbol of the male ..."
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