1. Number 29 has in the rongorongo texts a clear meaning, it refers to the 29th night in the month when Moon cannot be seen. It is the night during which Moon miraculously turns around from waning to waxing again. Moon cannot be seen because she is between Sun and us viewers down on Earth. It takes about 1-2 days from the last glimpse of Waning Moon to the first visibility of Waxing Moon. But in the rongorongo system the basic model for the month is 2 * 14 = 28 nights for the period when Moon is visible and 1 night when she is absent. 28 + 1 = 29. When the new moon appeared women assembled and bewailed those who had died since the last one, uttering the following lament: 'Alas! O moon! Thou has returned to life, but our departed beloved ones have not. Thou has bathed in the waiora a Tane, and had thy life renewed, but there is no fount to restore life to our departed ones. Alas ... (Makemson, The Morning Star Rises.) On New Zealand the Maori Polynesians used 'w' where an Easter Islander would have used 'v'. Therefore we can say that Moon during her renewal in the 29th night is taking a bath in Vai-ora a Tane. Tane is here obviously a name for Sun. Vai is 'sweet water' we know, and at left in Gb2-27 the 'old calabash' is 'refilling' - it appears - the 'basin' of Moon:
Hipu in Gb2-27 could refer or allude to Sun and vai to Moon. I have coloured the 29th glyph in the line black in order to remind us of the universal meaning of 29. Furthermore, when we are trying to understand rongorongo texts we can be certain that glyph number 29 in a glyph line is meant to remind us of the time in the month when Moon is turning her back side, which we never are allowed to see, towards Sun. Not the missionary way. |
