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7. I wish to define the front side of the year as that part which includes spring equinox and the back side of the year as that part which includes autumn equinox. From this definition it is clear that the front side of the year north of the equator will be the same time as the back side south of the equator:
The stars which rise heliacally change over the year. If a star rises heliacally on the front side of the year north of the equator it must at the same time also rise heliacally on the back side of the year. Early I decided to call the text on side a of the G tablet its front side (and the text on side b its back side). Intuitively I felt Sun was present on side a but not on side b. Now, when we have succeeded to put some important stars in parallel with glyphs according to a model which counts with right ascension 0h at Gb6-25 it is easy to find the other equinox half a year later:
Right ascension 0h is defined from spring equinox north of the equator. Ga5-11 should therefore also be at an equinox, viz. autumn equinox if we think from a position north of the equator. But if we live on Easter Island we should rather think Ga5-11 represents spring equinox. If the text describes the stars in the night in order for the reader to be able to use the nakshatra method to find stars which are rising heliacally at the same time on the opposite side of the sky roof we can assume the reverse, viz. a position north of the equator will tend to make the reader associate to autumn equinox at Gb6-25 and to spring equinox at Ga5-11 (and vice versa if the reader is living on Easter Island). This dilemma should make us search for a more objective method to define which is the front side of the text and which is its back side. I propose we should define the front side of the year from a stellar point of view and then the solution will be that side a of the G text indeed carries the front side of the year. Why? Because the year evidently is 'born' in Gemini. This is based on ancient history. Today Gemini is not at spring equinox, precession has moved Gemini forward to the solstice. The cycle of precession is ca 26000 years and from a position at spring equinox around 4700 B.C. the position has moved ahead with ca 6700 / 26000 = 26 %, slightly more than a quarter. Therefore the return of light ('land') - if connected with the heliacal rise of the Gemini stars - will nowadays announce the birth of a new year after summer solstice. After the 'death' of Old Sun at summer solstice the new 'life' will come. Gemini, 'The Doublegood Pair', illustrates this event with the concept of twins - the 2nd half of summer has arrived (or a pair of new 'years', mata, are seeing the light). The magical fishing chant of Maui starts with the words 'Blow gently, whakarua, ...' - and haka-rua means to 'make 2'. Or perhaps to make 'pits', rua, for the new star 'pillars', ana. My line of arguments leads to the conclusion that the 'front side' of the year is the part where the twin 'years' are young - i.e. midwinter on Easter Island. The root of this time is where Maui follows his mother down through the hole to the Underworld, flapping like a dove (columba) to alight in the Tree. We remember how he dropped berries (not a dry mustard seed) on the head of his father to catch his attention and we should finish the story of this part of his life here and now: |
