However
fascinating the
Haida Gwaii
myths are we
must continue
with ragi,
the pillar
pushing up.
|
In G and K, too,
ragi is found early in the year. A stream of events is described
in periods 2-6 in K. The first ragi is bottomless, while the
other two have legs:
|
I have not
commented upon
the fact that
Ka4-2 has a
'horn' at right
only. It must be
a sign and the
parallel Ga3-6
(also open at the
bottom end) has
the same sign:
What could its
meaning be? The
new line (a4)
implies a
'birth'. The
moon (according
to the beak) is
holding a
bud-like sign (sun?) at right
and the ghostly
old ragi
staff has a sign
at right similar
to the beak of
the moon bird:
The pattern
seems to be that
moon generates
sun, while sun
generates moon.
A new season (henua)
is formed from
the string toe
in Ka4-3. The
person is a
'ghost' because
his body is not
closed.
In Ga3-6 the
standard manu
rere bird
generates both
'bud' and
ragi, yet it
all is in
Hiva
(ghostly
status):
Ga3-7 and Ga3-8
are 'alive' and seem to
represent the
new generation.
Perhaps in Ga3-7
has a 'bud' leg
for the moon and
a 'bud' fist for
the sun? Ga3-8
is more of a
general emblem
for godhood, I
guess. The ordinal numbers
(-3 and -9)
indicate the
same 'tune', a
sign similar to
27 = 3 * 3 * 3.
We should
remember e.g.
Aa6-29:
|
...
We
have
to
count,
of
course:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aa2-4 |
Aa6-29 |
Aa8-27 |
Aa8-78 |
|
→ short count: 435 (= 15 * 29) |
no relationship based on multiples of 29 |
|
← long count: 899 (= 31 * 29) |
If
we
consider
Aa8-27
and
Aa8-78
to
be
outside
the
regular
calendar
it
is
not
strange
to
find
them
outside
the
structure
governed
by
29
...
|
|
...
The
distance
15 *
29
presumably
signifies
that
the
'full
moon'
phase
of
the
sun's
voyage
around
the
year
lies
at
Aa6-29.
Possibly
the
whole
line
a6
is
devoted
to
midsummer.
Aa2-4
consequently
must
lie
in
midwinter,
the
watery
domain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aa2-4 |
Aa6-29 |
Aa6-51 |
Aa8-27 |
Aa8-78 |
|
→ short count: 435 (= 15 * 29) |
→ normal count: 145 (= 5 * 29) |
51 + 27 = 78 |
|
← long count: 899 (= 31 * 29) |
← normal count: 1189 (= 41 * 29) |
Numerically
regarded
Aa6-51
and
Aa8-27
possibly
are
related
too.
From
line
a2
to
line
a6
there
are
4
lines,
from
line
a6
to
line
a8
there
are
2.
Does
it
indicate
that
autumn
equinox
is
located
in
line
a8?
That
would
explain
the
disorder
caused
by
vanished
sun.
Line
b1,
we
have
established
earlier,
is
at
new
year.
Side
a
appears
to
be
devoted
to
the
cycle
of
the
sun
over
the
year.
Side
b,
beginning
with
new
year,
may
be
the
side
of
the
moon.
Are
there
no
vero
on
the
moon
side?
There
are
no
vero
glyphs
in
line
a4
(where
we
expect
spring
equinox
to
be).
It
would
indeed
be
surprising
if
the
vital
spring
sun
fell
on
his
face.
The
numbers,
15
and
31
on
one
hand,
5
and
41
on
the
other,
may
be
explained
as
alluding
to
sun
respectively
moon:
|
sun |
moon |
|
15 |
3 * 5 |
5 |
1 * 5 |
|
31 |
6 * 5 + 1 |
41 |
8 * 5 + 1 |
|
3 wives of the sun |
1 sun to share |
|
Whatever
Aa6-29 may
mean, one
thing seems
to be
clear: 29
tells of the
moon bathing
in the light
of Tane
(new black
moon time).
The
hyperlink
'divided in
two parts'
leads to the
following
page:
| It may feel strange to divide a calendar period, yet the method is implicit e.g. when at the beginning of the 1st period of the E calendar the final of the old year is described. Henua ora at Eb1-40 is located in the 1st period although referring back to the end of the preceding year. Similarly, Rei glyphs in the 24th and last period are referring forward and thereby tying together the end of the 2nd half of the year with the beginning of the 1st half of next year. In the G calendar the 1st period is beginning with a Rei:
The glyph numbers, though, spell 'final. 28 is the number of moonlit nights in a month, 15 is the night when moon is full. G and K tell about the moon in the 1st period of the calendrical year - 29 and 16 point at the dark new moon phase respectively at the end of waxing moon.
The end of last year is in G documented at the beginning of the 1st period, yet the numbers effectively secures a correct reading. Ga3-1 is the 1st glyph belonging to the new year and the method used is elegant: 27 + 28 + 29 = 84 = 2 * 42. In the 1st period in the E calendar number 42 instead was chosen:
|
It could
have been
added that 3
turns to the
right
suggest the
1st half of
the year and
3 turns to
the left the
2nd half of
the year -
sun
returning
the same way
he came. We
also
remember
what
Hotua Matua
taught:
...
the hau
cords which
secured the
purlins to
the rafters
and the
rafters to
the ridge
pole were
always to be
knotted
towards the
right and in
three
revolutions,
'like [tying
off] the
umbilical
cord of a
baby'. A
similar
practice was
once
utilised
(and
occasionally
still is) to
fasten the
lines on a
boat.
Hotu Matu'a, they
said, had
promised
that if this
triplicate
practice
were
followed,
fishermen
would not
lose their
lives when
their boats
capsized at
sea and
hare paenga
would not be
torn from
their
foundations
by the
wind.'
The sun-king
did not say
anything
about the 3
following
left
revolutions.
String to
the left,
hahau patu
maui,
should
remind us
about
Maui and
his
brothers,
where
Maui
Tikitiki
is the top-knot.
Maybe
maui is
a general
concept for
the
trickster,
the Raven,
the Mad
Hatter, the
2nd part of
the year.
| Patu
1. To abandon, to throw away, to quit, to omit; to
unclothe, to let down the hair; pati ki te kahu, to undress;
patu toona rake, immodest. Mq.: patu, to throw from one place
to another, to throw with the fingers. Ta.: patu, to throw away.
2. To come into leaf, to unfold. 3. To lead away, to turn aside, to
dodge; patu mai, to lead to, to bring. Patupatu, page. Churchill.
Pau.: 1. Patu, to build, structure, wall. Ta.:
patu, wall, to build. Ma.: patu, a wall. 2. To kill, to
beat. Mgv.: patu, to strike, war. Ta.: patu, to strike
with a mallet. Ma.: patu, to strike, to kill. Churchill.
Mq.: Patu hakiuka, bloating of the body. Sa.:
patu, a fatty tumor. Churchill. |
Maui
Tikitiki
was
abandoned,
thrown away.
He was in
the sea and
his body
surely must
have became
bloated:
... I
know I was
born at the
edge of the
sea, and you
cut off a
tuft of your
hair and
wrapped me
in it and
threw me in
the waves.
After that
the seaweed
took care of
me and I
drifted
about in the
sea, wrapped
in long
tangles of
kelp, until
a breeze
blew me on
shore again,
and some
jelly-fish
rolled
themself
around me to
protect me
on the sandy
beach.
Clouds of
flies
settled on
me and I
might have
been eaten
up by the
maggots;
flocks of
seabirds
came, and I
might have
been pecked
to pieces.
But then my
great-ancestor
Tama nui
ki te rangi
arrived.
He saw the
clouds of
flies and
all the
birds, and
he came and
pulled away
the
jelly-fish,
and there
was I, a
human being!
Well, he
picked me up
and washed
me and took
me home, and
hung me in
the rafters
in the
warmth of
the fire,
and he saved
my life ...
