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TRANSLATIONS
Looking at the wedjat-eye again I suddenly realize - I imagine - what is depicted.
Below the pupil there is an arm which pushes the sun upwards, with elbow at left just as in the premidsummer variants of GD32, e.g. Pa5-12:
Though in GD32 the 'fist' is located where the pupil is found in wedjat. The path from the horizon up to the present location of the sun is described by a straight line, beginning with a little spiral. "... The stylized, spiral 'tear-line' below the eye reminds about that in the face of the cheetah, who in early Egyptian mythology was associated with the sky because of the starlike pattern on its fur ... (Wilkinson)
I believe an additional explanation (or rather further evidence) is to be found in the hair-lock of the young morning sun: '... I have next to point out that, the sun being very generally worshipped in Egypt, there were various forms of the sun-god, depending upon the positions occupied in its daily course. We have the form of Harpocrates at its rising, the child sun-god being generally represented by the figure of a hawk.
When in human form, we notice the presence of a side lock of hair ...'
'... We can see this juvenile sign also in the picture of Horus between the sisters of the night. It reminds me about the 'Snake' as a symbol for the changing state at dawn. In Sweden we have a bun with this form (including a raisin at the center of each of its two curly ends). This bun is baked at the darkest time of the year (or nearly so as it is baked for the 13th of December, maybe a custom from a time when that date was equal to winter solstice). A quick calculation: 7 / 365 * 26000 = 500 years ago. (7 = 21 December - 13 December) The bun should be yellow from saffron and its name is 'Lusse-katt' (= 'cat' at the time of 'Lucia', where 'Lucia' is a ritual with song early in the morning, sung by maidens in white dresses and lead by 'Lucia', the foremost of them with lit candles in her hair). Evidently this ritual and the form of the bun has to do with the return of the sun ...' I search in Wilkinson for his comments about the arm pushing the sun upwards, but find nothing. In his list of hieroglyphs, though, I find the arm among 'parts of the human body' (no. 16):
In South America we find that it is the rainbow who is pushing the sky up away from the earth and thereby letting light return: "... The Katawihi distinguish two rainbows: Mawali in the west, and Tini in the east. Tini and Mawali were twin brothers who brought about the flood that inundated the whole world and killed all living people, except two young girls whom they saved to be their companions. It is not advisable to look either of them straight in the eye: to look at Mawali is to become flabby, lazy, and unlucky at hunting and fishing; to look at Tini makes a man so clumsy that he cannot go any distance without stumbling and lacerating his feet against all obstacles in his path, or pick up a sharp instrument without cutting himself ... ... The Mura also believed that there were two rainbows, an 'upper' and a 'lower' ... Similarly, the Tucuna differentiated between the eastern and the western rainbows and believed them both to be subaquatic demons, the masters of fish and potter's clay respectively ... ... the Indians of Guinana establish a direct link between potter's clay and diseases: 'The Indians firmly believe that it is only during the first night of commencing full moon that they dare carry on the work. ... Whole crowds congregate there on that particular evening and return home at day break with a big supply. The Indians are absolutely convinced that the pots made from clay obtained at any other time not only possess the defect of readily breaking but also bring a number of diseases to those who eat out of them ..." "... In South America the rainbow has a double meaning. On the one hand, as elsewhere, it announces the end of rain; on the other hand, it is considered to be responsible for diseases and various natural disasters [dis-aster]. In its first capacity the rainbow effects a disjunction between the sky and the earth which previously were joined through the medium of rain. In the second capacity it replaces the normal beneficient conjunction by an abnormal, maleficient one - the one it brings about itself between sky and earth by taking the place of water." (The Raw and the Cooked) The serpent (rainbow) is responsible for the dis-junction. The paradisical normal state of watery darkness uniting sky and earth is disrupted by light, letting in all sorts of 'maleficient' creatures. Like Tane the rainbow rips the sky and earth apart. The colours of the rainbow, together with the clay just before full moon, makes me recall the Atan list over the phases of the moon:
It is as if Atan has added 4 coloured 'balls' before full moon in order to expand the traditional moon night calendar to reach a solar calendar of 30 days. At the same time his 'new moon' occurs directly after full moon, not with the darkest phase of the moon. Atan's structure has 7 kokore nights and 7 new moon nights, the kokore nights at the beginning of the 1st half of the month and the new moon nights at the beginning of the 2nd half of the month. After the kokore and the new moon nights must follow 7 further nights in each half-month. Full moon is at position 15 and he maure at position 16, i.e. there is one extra (in addition to 14) at the end of the 1st half-month and one extra at the beginning of the 2nd half-month. The 4 coloured balls + he raakau (the plant) finishes the first half of the month. |
