TRANSLATIONS
After examples of haú in
the Mamari moon calendar
and in the last period of the
Keiti calendar the next page
(in the dictionary) refers to
the Small Santiago calendar:
In the 3rd period
of the Small Santiago calendar for the year a haú glyph with
different feather sizes indicates different 'fire' sizes:
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga3-10 |
Ga3-11 |
Ga3-12 |
Ga3-13 |
Ga3-14 |
Ga3-15 |
Ga3-16 |
2 + 4 = 6 big
feathers at left presumably refer to how the calendar is regulated by the sun
into 2 halves ('winter' and 'summer') and 4 quarters.
The following 8 feathers of lesser size
is presumably the result of numerical progression (1, 2, 4, 8 ... ).
The sum of
the 4 first terms in the progression is 15 (as in the 15th, Otua, moon night).
15 is 1 less than 16, the term which follows beyond 8 in
the progression and which number is equal to the period number for autumn equinox:
In Small Santiago
Tablet there are 3 periods (16-18) devoted to autumn equinox (while
there is only one, the 16th period, in the parallel calendar of
London Tablet).
Close to the tip
of the 'branch' (in Ga3-14) follows 3 dot-like small 'feathers'. These
correspond in design and number to the 'toes' at bottom left, and
also to the number of glyphs in the 16th period (while in London
Tablet there are 3 glyphs in the 15th period).
The dot-like small
'feathers' (and the 'toes')
look 'spooky' - they are not in touch with the 'branch'. It
means they are outside the regular order of the calendar, they
indicate 'extra-calendrical'. The 3 extra-calendrical periods
(16-18) may equally
well be regarded as belonging to the end of the 'summer year' as to the
beginning of the 'winter year'.
|
In Ga3-15 (notice the ordinal
number) there is an upwards
pointed fish (ika)
combined with mea ke
(GD46), presumably marking
'death' (or at least 'inside').
In Ga3-10 there is confirmation
by way of the vero (no
moon sickles as in the ragi
glyphs) and by way of the ordinal number
10.
Tamatea |
4 |
10 |
Rakau |
3 |
Kokore |
3 |
At the top of the
mea ke glyph there is a
'roof' which differs from the
expected triple vertex.
Presumably it is a sign
congruent with the spooky 'toes'
and the 'feathers' in Ga3-14.
The distribution pattern is 2 +
1.
In the 6th period
of Small Santiago another haú glyph, designed in a different
way, presumably tells about when the 'gods' descend to the earth:
16 (mostly
dot-like) marks are distributed rather evenly around the outer
perimeter, but they come into contact with the 'branch' at only two
points. Otherwise they fly above.
The 9th and 10th
marks are feather marks - not dots. They touch the ground (the
'branch'), they do not fly above (dots). Equally: the 13th, 14th and
15th marks are feathers (not dots).
The
'branch' presumably illustrates the path of the sun over the 'summer year', and at
crucial times the gods assemble, come down to earth. In the 11th and
16th periods (those immediately following the 9th and 10th
respectively the 13th, 14th and 15th periods) we can read how the gods have
departed again:
11 |
|
|
|
Ga4-11 |
Ga4-12 |
Ga4-13 |
16 |
|
|
|
Ga5-1 |
Ga5-2 |
Ga5-3 |
Ga4-13 and Ga5-3 are
the only
end-of-period glyphs
in the calendar
where the top of the
rectangular
vertically oriented
shape at right (henua)
is open, possibly
a sign of the
emptíness after the
gods have left. |
I don't really believe it is a
sign of emptiness. Instead I
remember the dusk phenomenon -
it is no longer possible to
distinguish clearly where the
border lines are. Or maybe it is
a sign of dryness - the light
fluid has evaporated. Though the
main meaning must be
'spookiness' - the 10-period
season respectively the
15-period season are no longer
with us.
I decide to change the last
sentence of the dictionary text
into:
Ga4-13 and Ga5-3 are
the only
end-of-period glyphs
in the calendar
where the top of the
rectangular
vertically oriented
shape at right (henua)
is open,
probably a sign
which indicates that the
10-period season (respectively
the 15-period season) has left.
There is one more
important haú glyph worth mentioning, viz. Ga2-23:
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga2-20 |
Ga2-21 |
Ga2-22 |
Ga2-23 |
Ga2-24 |
Ga2-25 |
Ga2-26 |
The number of
feather marks are 4 (dots) + 2 (great) + 8 (normal) + 2 (dots) = 16.
We should compare with Ga3-14:
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga3-10 |
Ga3-11 |
Ga3-12 |
Ga3-13 |
Ga3-14 |
Ga3-15 |
Ga3-16 |
Whereas in
Ga3-14--15 there is a triplet of 'spookiness' (3 at the tip of the
'branch', 3 'toes', and the sign 3 - instead of the normal 6 - at
the top of the left part of Ga3-15), in Ga2-24--26 we can read the
opposite - new life (new fire) formulated as triplets of fingers
(thumbs not counted).
There are more
reversals between period 0 and period 3. Reversal
is also expressed in how the 4 spooky dot-like feathers in Ga2-23
have 'come down to earth' (are 'alive') in Ga3-14. The 2 great
feathers following the 4 dots in Ga2-23 have, moreover, changed
places in Ga3-14, where basically we have at first the 2 feathers
meaning the 2 half-years and then the 4 feathers meaning the
quarters.
Ga3-14 probably
describes the new year, while in Ga2-23 we see the 4 old quarters as
'spooky', no longer present with us (more than in our memory).
4 glyphs
have been added above (Ga2-20--23) at the beginning of what in the
preliminary exploration of the calendar (in the niu part of
the dictionary) was referred to as period 0 (coming before the
regular calendar). The total number of glyphs
in the calendar thereby is raised from 136 to 140 (maybe
meaning 10 fortnights, or 20 weeks, or 5 * 28, or 4 * 35).
The 7-glyph
sequence Ga2-20--26 has many parallel
sequences in other texts, and certainly the 'period' was
important. It refers to the time between the end of one year and the
beginning of the next, when at first the old fire must be
extinguished. |
The reversals may be expressed
in a table:
0 |
|
|
|
|
old year |
in the darkness a new
fire is alighted |
3 |
|
|
new year |
from the old year a new
'fish' is rising |
The rising fish
probably alludes to the waxing
moon (cfr e.g. the full moon
sign at its head), while it is
the sun who comes back again
from behind the mauga
world mountain shadows. Moon is
watery in character, while sun
is fiery (as also some volcano
mountains).
Maybe the 4 quarters are
reflected in periods 0-3? The
number of glyphs is 26:
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga2-20 |
Ga2-21 |
Ga2-22 |
Ga2-23 |
Ga2-24 |
Ga2-25 |
Ga2-26 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga2-27 |
Ga2-28 |
Ga2-29 |
Ga3-1 |
Ga3-2 |
Ga3-3 |
Ga3-4 |
Ga3-5 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Ga3-6 |
Ga3-7 |
Ga3-8 |
Ga3-9 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga3-10 |
Ga3-11 |
Ga3-12 |
Ga3-13 |
Ga3-14 |
Ga3-15 |
Ga3-16 |
In Ga2-22 the old
'fish' is at left (in the past).
In Ga2-28 we see the 'fish'
turned upside down and from its
body grows a new branch with 4
feather marks. In Ga2-29 we can
read the next stage in the
development of the 'fish',
because the unusual (non-spooky)
niu obviously is the
reincarnation of the upside down
fish.
In Ga3-13,
presumably, the 3 'spooky' limbs
illustrate the same situation as
in Ga2-21. In Ga3-4 'fins'
hanging down at the sides may
allude to the moon sickle, in
which case we see the reversal
of the top sign in Ga3-13, where
the tu'a part is 'living'
(the 3 non-spooky limbs). Upside
down canoe means 'dead'.
Period 2 (with
manu rere marking the high
point of the year) has signs of
'fruit' (hua), a
characteristic of the 2nd
'year'. Also, the season has one
'sun eye' (in Ga3-7) and one
'moon sickle' (in Ga3-6), which
should be compared with double
'sun eyes' (Ga3-10 and Ga3-12)
and none 'moon sickle' (Ga2-10)
in the 3rd period.
But to present the new
interpretation in the glyph
dictionary would be to
premature. Instead the page with
updated calendars will look like
this:
G |
period no. |
number of
glyphs |
1, 2, 3 |
8 + 4 + 7 = 19 |
35 |
19 |
4, 5, 6 |
3 + 2 + 3 = 8 |
27 |
7, 8, 9 |
4 + 2 + 2 = 8 |
35 |
10, 11, 12 |
2 + 3 + 2 = 7 |
35 |
42 |
13, 14, 15 |
4 + 3 + 5 = 12 |
54 |
16, 17, 18 |
3 + 6 + 7 = 16 |
70 |
19, 20, 21 |
5 + 8 + 5 =
18 |
30 |
88 |
22, 23, 24 |
4 + 3 + 5 =
12 |
100 |
25, 26, 27 |
2 + 2 + 3 =
7 |
30 |
107 |
28, 29, 30 |
3 + 3 + 4 =
10 |
117 |
31, 32, 33 |
6 + 4 + 3 =
13 |
130 |
34, 0 |
3 + 7 = 10 |
10 |
140 |
K |
period no. |
number of
glyphs |
1, 2, 3 |
7 + 3 + 4
= 14 |
28 |
14 |
4, 5, 6 |
3 + 2 + 3
= 8 |
22 |
7, 8, 9 |
2 + 2 + 2
= 6 |
28 |
10, 11,
12 |
2 + 3 + 2
= 7 |
*28 |
35 |
13, 14,
15 |
3 + 2 + 3
= 8 |
43 |
16 |
*13 |
*56 |
17 |
3 |
*29 |
*59 |
18, 19, 20 |
*7 + 4 + 4 = *15 |
*74 |
21, 22, 23
|
3 + 6 + 2 = 11 |
*85 |
24, 25,
26 |
2 + 3 +
3 = 8 |
30 |
*93 |
27, 28,
29 |
5 + 4 +
5 = 14 |
*107 |
30, 31 |
4 + 4 =
8 |
*115 |
32, 0 |
3 + 7 =
10 |
10 |
*125 |
125 = 5 * 5 * 5
probably alludes to a triplicate of 'hands'. Fingers mean
fire, as the story of Maui
and Mahuika
tells us. Furthermore, 5 + 5 + 5 =
15.
|
"Before the events that are
related in this story Mahuika alone
possessed the gift of fire, and all fire in the world was got from
her. After Maui had tricked her,
fire was kept in the wood of certain trees, from which men were able
to release it.
HOW MAUI PLAYED WITH FIRE
In one of his mischievous moods
Maui one day felt like putting out
all the fires in the world. He knew that fire could be obtained only
from his ancestress Mahuika,
goddess of fire, and he wanted to see what would happen if he
extinguished everybody's fire. During the night, he got up and went
through the village putting out all the fires that were smouldering
in the cooking houses of each family.
Early next morning he called out
to his pononga, or servants: 'I'm
hungry! I'm hungry! Cook some food for me, quickly.' One of the
servants hurried to obey him, and found the fire out. He ran to the
next house for a light, and went from house to house throgh the
village. All the fires were out. Soon the whole village was up and
talking about it and discussing what to do.
When Maui's
mother heard what had happened she called some of the servants to
her and ordered them to go to her great ancestress Mahuika.
'Tell her that fire has been lost on earth,' she said, 'and ask her
to give some to the world again.'
But the servants stood there
trembling. Although they had not set eyes on Mahuika,
they had heard about her and the place where she lived, and had no
wish to visit it. No punishment that might await them in the village
would persuade them. The old people, the sacred chiefs, repeatedly
commanded them to go, and they refused.
'Very well,' said Maui,
who had been waiting this, 'I will go. I will fetch down fire for
the world, if you show me the way.'
'If you will go then,' said his
mother, 'you have only to follow that wide path in front of you
there. Keep on, and you will reach the home of an ancestress of
yours. You will not be able to mistake the place. All fire come from
there. If she asks you who you are, you had better call out your
name at once, so that she may konw you are a descendant of hers. But
be careful, Maui, and don't try
playing any of your tricks on her. Your father and I have
heard about your deeds, and we know you are fond of deceiving and
injuring people. If you happen to be thinking of playing some tricks
on your ancestress Mahuika, take my
advice and do nothing of the sort.'
'No, no,' said Maui.
'I only want to bring back fire for the village. I shall come back
as soon as I can get it.'
And so he left the village by the
path that his mother had shown him, and after journeying, he reached
the abode of the goddess of fire. What he saw there filled him with
wonder, and for a long time he stood unable to speak. At length he
spoke to Mahuika: 'Old ancestress,
would you rise up and tell me where your fire is kept? All the fires
in our village have gone out, and I have come to beg some from you.'
The old lady rose up to her full
height. 'Aue!' she cried. 'Who can this mortal be?' And
Maui answered: 'It is I'. 'Where are you from?' Mahuika
asked him. 'I have come,' Maui said.
'You do not belong to this
country,' said the old woman. 'Your appearance is not like that of
the people of this place. Do you come from the north-east?' He
answered, 'No.' 'Do you come from the south-east?' 'No.'
'Are you from the south?' 'No.'
'Are you from the west, then?' 'No.' 'Do you come from whence
the wind comes that blows upon me?'
And Maui said, 'I do.'
'Oh then,' she cried, 'you are my
grandchild!' She stepped forward and put her face close up to his
and asked him: 'What do you want here?' 'I am come to beg some fire
of you. All the fires in our village have gone out.' 'Welcome!
Welcome, then!' cried the old woman, 'Here is fire for you.' And she
pulled out the nail of koiti, her little finger, and gave it
to him. As she drew it out, fire flowed from it.
Maui
marvelled at this, and took the nail, and left her. But he had only
gone a short distance when he mischievously put it out. He went back
to her and said: 'The light you gave me has gone out. Would you give
me another?' So she pulled out the nail of manawa, her third
finger, and it became a flame, and she gave it to him.
Maui
left her, and this nail also he put out when he had gone a little
distance. He wetted his hand, to show Mahuika he had fallen
into a stream. Then she gave him the nail of mapere, her
middle finger, and he did the same again, and Mahuika
believed him each time.
In this way she gave him the nail
of koroa, her forefinger, and then of
koro matua, her thumb. And
each one of them Maui put out, and returned for more. He
wanted to see what would happen if he took from Mahuika the
last of her fire, and he now had not a thought for the fire they
needed in the village.
This went on until Mahuika
had pulled out all the nails of her other hand, and then she began
on her toes, until Maui had been given all the nails of her
hands and all those of her feet except for one big toe.
Then at last the old woman decided
that Maui must be playing some trick on her. She drew out the
one nail that remained, the nail of her big toe, and fire flowed
from it. But instead of handing it to Maui, she dashed it to
the ground, and the whole place caught fire. 'There, you have it all
now!' she cried. And Maui was already running for his life,
with the fire at his heels pursuing him.
Looking round, he saw that the
whole land would soon be aflame. So he changed himself into a
karearea, a hawk, and tried to soar above the flames. But the
fire pursued him there and scorched his feathers, which accounts for
the colour of that bird. Seeing a lake, he plunged down into it, but
found that it was almost boiling. All the forests then caught fire,
the land everywhere was alight, and Maui came very near to
death.
Then he called on his ancestor
Tawhiri matea and all his offspring, to send down rain. 'Let
water be given to quench this fire!' he cried, and spoke the
appropriate chants. Great clouds appeared, and Tawhiri sent
down first the small rain, and then the lasting rain, and everything
was drenched, and the flames went out.
Even Mahuika herself almost
perished before she could reach her place of shelter, and her
shrieks were as loud as those of Maui when he was scorched.
The waters rose all around her, and in this way Mahuika was
deprived of her former power.
But fire was saved for the world.
When the waters reached her tikitiki, or the topknot of her
head, the last seeds of fire fled from it to the
rata
, the hinau, the
kahikatea, the rimu, and certain other trees. These trees
would not admit them, and so they went to the mahoe, the
totara, the patete, the pukatea, and the
kaikomako, where they were cherished. These are the trees from
whose dry wood fire can be obtained by friction. The others are of
no use for this purpose.
When Maui
returned to the village his parents saw his burns and knew what had
happened. They said to him: 'We warned you before you went there not
to play any of your tricks on Mahuika,
and yet you paid no attention. It serves you right that you were
nearly burned to death.'
But Maui
stood with his hands on his hips and took it lightly. 'Oh! what do I
care?' he said. 'Do you think I'm going to be different because of
this? Certainly not! I'm going to go on being the same. For ever!'
His father answered in a quiet
voice: 'Yes, you may please yourself, whether you die or live. If
you would only listen to me you would save your life, but if you
will not, it will be the worse for you, and that is all I can say.'
After this, Maui
went off looking for companions to join him in new adventures.
He did not bring any fire back for
the village. From that day forward it was obtained by rubbing a
stick of kaikomako, or one of the
other trees, in a grove made in another piece of wood."
(Maori Myths) |
If we pay attention to finger
names and finger order we can
document:
koiti |
little finger ('the little one') |
manawa |
'third finger' (ring finger) |
mapere |
middle finger |
koroa |
forefinger ('the long one') |
koro matua |
thumb |
Counting with help of the
fingers, you obviously start not
with the little finger but with
the forefinger - otherwise the
'third finger' cannot be the
ring finger.
Manava
means sensitive, as in
ku-ká-á te manava:
Manava
Abdomen, belly, (fig.) affection, sensitivity,
feelings; manava more, grief; manava mate, infatuated,
in love (with something); ku-ká-á te manava, flared up,
infuriated, irate; he-kava te manava, offended, to turn sour,
embittered (see also hatu (manava hatu). Vanaga. |
Hatu
1. Clod of earth; cultivated land; arable land (oone
hatu). 2. Compact mass of other substances: hatu matá,
piece of obsidian. 3. Figuratively: manava hatu, said of
persons who, in adversity, stay composed and in control of their
behaviour and feelings. 4. To advise, to command. He hatu i
te vanaga rivariva ki te kio o poki ki ruga ki te opata,
they gave the refugees the good advice not to climb the
precipice; he hatu i te vanaga rakerake, to give bad
advice. 5. To collude, to unite for a purpose, to concur. Mo
hatu o te tia o te nua, to agree on the price of a nua
cape. 6. Result, favourable outcome of an enterprise. He ká i
te umu mo te hatu o te aga, to light the earth oven for the
successful outcome of an enterprise. Vanaga.
1. Haatu, hahatu, mahatu.
To fold, to double, to plait, to braid; noho hatu, to sit
crosslegged; hoe hatu, clasp knife; hatuhatu, to
deform. 2.. To recommend. Churchill. |
Why not 'read'
manavai as manava-î - full of sensitivity:
Manavai
Hollow where rainwater accumulates;
anciently, small, round gardens, preferably situated in low
shady spots, where the mahute tree was grown. Vanaga.
1. Brain. 2. Valley, ravine, river,
torrent, brook; manavai miro, orchard, Mq.:
manavai, valley, brook. Ta.: anavai, river,
brook. It scarcely appears that these fully coordinate. In
Tahiti anavai has a clear etymology, ana
meaning the bed of a stream. In Rapanui and in the Marquesas
mana most readily associates with maga, as
water in a forked bed. Churchill. |
As to mapere,
I guess there may be an allusion
to the Hawaiian fire goddess
Pele. Mapere = ma
Pele. Possibly the five
fingers are distributed in 2 (koro
matua and koroa) with
which to grasp and 3 (with which
to light the 'fire'). Maybe, 'on
the other hand', the little
finger is not worthy of
attention and instead we have a
double function in koroa:
|
koro matua |
thumb |
grasping |
koroa |
forefinger ('the long one') |
counting |
mapere |
middle finger |
manawa |
'third finger' (ring finger) |
The names Maui
and Mahuika are somewhat
similar. And the name of Maui
should convey to Mahuika
that he was related to her:
'... If she
asks you who you are, you had
better call out your name at
once, so that she may konw you
are a descendant of her ...'
Possibly
Mahuika is a wordplay
ma-hui-ika ('the reviver of
the fish'?). In the Maori and
Moriori moon calendars the
last night in the 'central
season' is Oika:
|
MAORI |
MORIORI |
HAWAIIAN |
TAHITIAN |
MARQUESAN |
RAROTONGAN |
1 |
Whiro |
O Mutu |
Hilo |
Hiro hiti |
Tu nui |
Iro |
2 |
Tirea |
O Whiro |
Hoaka |
Hoata |
Tu hawa |
Oata |
3 |
Hoata |
Otere |
Ku kahi |
Hami ami mua |
Hoata |
Amiama |
4 |
One |
Ohewata |
Ku lua |
Hami ami roto |
Mahea ma tahi |
Amiama aka oti |
5 |
Okou |
Oua |
Ku kolu |
Hami ami muri |
Mahea ma waena |
Tamatea |
6 |
Tamatea kai ariki |
Okoro |
Ku pau |
Oreore mua |
Koekoe tahi |
Tamatea aka oti |
7 |
Tamatea ananga |
Tamate tutahi |
Ole ku kahi |
Oreore muri |
Koekoe waena |
Korekore |
8 |
Tamatea aio |
Tamate turna |
Ole ku lua |
Tamatea |
Poipoi haa pao |
Korekore aka oti |
9 |
Tamatea whakapau |
Tamate nui |
Ole ku kolu |
Huna |
Huna |
O Vari |
10 |
Huna |
Tamate hokopŕ |
Ole ku pau |
Ari |
Ai |
Una |
11 |
Ari roa |
Ohua |
Huna |
Maharu |
Huka |
Maaru |
12 |
Mawharu |
Owaru |
Mohalu |
Hua |
Mehau |
Ua |
13 |
Maurea |
Hua |
Hua |
Maitu |
Hua |
E atua (or Maitu) |
14 |
Atua whakahaehae |
Mawharu |
Akua |
Hotu |
Atua |
O Tu |
15 |
Turu |
Outua |
Hoko |
Mara`i |
Hutu nui |
Marangi |
16 |
Rakau nui |
Ohotu |
Mahealani |
Turutea |
Hutu manae |
Oturu |
17 |
Rakau matohi |
Maure |
Kulu |
Raau mua |
Tuu |
Rakau |
18 |
Takirau |
Oturu |
Laau ku kahi |
Raau roto |
Aniwa |
Rakau roto |
19 |
Oika |
Rakau nui |
Laau ku lua |
Raau muri |
Ms tahi |
Rakau aka oti |
20 |
Korekore |
Rakau motohe |
Laau pau |
Oreore mua |
Kaau |
Korekore |
21 |
Korekore turua |
Takirau |
Ole ku kahi |
Oreore roto |
Kaekae tahi |
Korekore roto |
22 |
Korekore piri ki Tangaroa |
Oika |
Ole ku lua |
Oreore muri |
Waena |
Korekore aka oti |
23 |
Tangaroa a mua |
Korekore tutahi |
Ole pau |
Taaroa mua |
Haa pao |
Tangaroa |
24 |
Tangaroa a roto |
Korekore turua |
Kaloa ku kahi |
Taaroa roto |
Hanao tahi |
Tangaroa roto |
25 |
Tangaroa kiokio |
Korekore whakapau |
Kaloa ku lua |
Taaroa muri |
Wawena |
Tangaroa aka oti |
26 |
O Tane |
Tangarň a mua |
Kaloa pau |
Tane |
Haa paa |
O Tane |
27 |
O Rongo nui |
Tangarň a roto |
Kane |
Roo nui |
Puhiwa |
Rongo nui |
28 |
Mauri |
Tangarň kikio |
Lono |
Roo maori |
Tane |
Mauri |
29 |
O Mutu |
O Tane |
Mauli |
Mutu |
Ona nui |
O Mutu |
30 |
Mutuwhenua |
O Rongo nui |
Muku |
Teriere |
Ona mate |
Otire o Avaiki (or Otireo) |
31 |
|
O Rongo mori |
|
|
|
|
Maybe Ca7-29
is Oika:
Mahuika
could be another name for
te Nuahine ká umu a ragi
kotekote.
|