The Feathered Serpent,
Quetzalcoatl, sounds very much like the cosmic snake
(tuna). Checking what that words mean I become
surprised:
| Tuna
Rolling stone. Vanaga.
Ta.: tuna, the sweetwater eel. Sa.: tuna,
id. Ma.: tuna, the eel. Churchill. |
In Vanaga nothing is said
about an eel, but instead we find 'rolling stone'. I
suppose that must be a secondary meaning based on a kind
of pun, where the idea presumably is to remind us about
this type of mythical description of the celestial
family:
"... Kewa
and Tongatonga ascended the mountain and looking
down from its great height saw the children frolicking
gaily on the sands of Te Rehu-roa, the Long Mist.
When summoned to the summit they obeyed immediately.
Their mode of progression was extremely odd, for they
were round like an eye-ball and climbed the mountain by
rolling over and over, as they had no legs. When they
reached the courtyard called Sky-mat they disappeared
quite docilely into their house ..." (Makemson)
I think we should equate
Quetzalcoatl with e.g. I11-136 (in the X position):
The 7
marks along the spine of this snake-eel are probably
feathers. Quetzalcoatl was also named 'Son of
the Lord of the Seven Caves'.
Possibly Chimalman,
the only one of his 3 sisters who was unafraid of him,
is equivalent with I11-137 (in the Y position above).
After her
death (after giving birth to Quetzalcoatl) she
was transferred onto heaven, there
being named 'the Precious Stone of Sacrifice', Chalchihuitzli. Maybe
she became a 'rolling stone'?
In the Z
position (I11-138) we then should meet Quetalzcoatl
as a child.
The mystery
in Q (Quetzalcoatl) being both father and son -
an idea which is not expressed in the cited
description of Campbell, but which I take for granted - has a
solution:
Q was also
named 'the Admirable Twin', i.e. he
is two. He is both father and son.
Which means that the 'feathered serpent'
(X above) is the incarnation of Q as 'father', while the
other incarnation, 'son', is the youngster (Z). Q = X +
Z.
From the 'coconut' (Z) there grows a 'tree'
(Y) and from that tree there grows a new nut. Who is the
'father'? The father (X) must be the 'snake' infesting the
tree.
After the snake-eel has peformed, he is
quickly killed by the sun-cat's knife, beheaded:
The 'tree of life' (in the
hieroglyphic sign nehet) was (according to
Wilkinson) a 'sycomore' or 'mulberry fig tree', but in
the two pictures above we instead see isched,
probably Mimusops Schimperi. Via Wikipedia we
will first take a look at the Ficus Sycomorus:
"Ficus sycomorus,
called the sycamore fig or the
fig-mulberry (due to the leaves'
resemblance to those of the Mulberry),
sycamore, or sycomore, is a fig species
that has been cultivated since early
times. (Note that the name sycamore has
been used for a variety of plants.)
Ficus sycomorus is native to Africa
south of the Sahel and north of the
Tropic of Capricorn, also excluding the
central-west rainforest areas. It also
grows naturally in the southern Arabian
Peninsula and in very localized areas in
Madagascar, and has been naturalised in
Israel and Egypt. In its native habitat,
the tree is usually found in rich soils
along rivers, but also in mixed
woodlands.
Ficus sycomorus
grows to 20 m tall and 6 m wide with a
dense round crown of spreading branches.
The leaves are heart-shaped with a round
apex, 14 cm long by 10 cm wide, and
arranged spirally around the twig. They
are dark green above and lighter with
prominent yellow veins below, and both
surfaces are rough to the touch. The
petiole is 0.5-3 cm long and pubescent.
The fruit is a large edible fig, 2-3 cm
in diameter, ripening from buff-green to
yellow or red. They are borne in thick
clusters on long branchlets or the leaf
axil. Flowering and fruiting occurs
year-round, peaking from July to
December. The bark is green-yellow to
orange and exfoliates in papery strips
to reveal the yellow inner bark. Like
all other figs, it contains a latex.
F. sycomorus
is in the Near Orient a tree of great
importance and very extensive use. It
has wide-spreading branches and affords
a delightful shade. The ancient
Egyptians cultivated this species
'almost exclusively', according to
Zohary and Hopf. Remains of F.
sycomorus begin to appear in
predynastic levels, and in quantity from
the start of the third millennium BC.
Zohary and Hopf note that 'the fruit and
the timber, and sometimes even the
twigs, are richly represented in the
tombs of Early, Middle and Late
Kingdoms. In numerous cases the parched
sycons bear characteristic gashing marks
indicating that this art, which induces
ripening, was practice in Egypt in
ancient times.' Although this species of
fig requires the presence of the
symbiotic wasp Ceratosolen arabicus
to reproduce sexually, and this insect
is extinct in Egypt, Zohay and Hopf have
no doubt that Egypt was 'the principal
area of sycamore fig development.' Some
of the caskets of mummies in Egypt are
made from the wood of this tree."
I notice
that a tree can give shadow (a possible meaning of GD28,
mauga). I also read that the leaves of this tree
are arranged 'spirally around the twig', that the inner
bark is yellow, and that some mummy caskets were made
from wood of this tree. Furthermore, that the leaves are
dark green on one side and 'lighter with prominent
yellow veins' on the other side.
Wilkinson
says that in chapter 109 of the Book of the Dead two
'turquios sycomores' are standing at the eastern gate of
the sky, where the sungod Ra enters. The sycomore
was a manifestation of the 3 goddesses Nut,
Isis, and Hathor, a manifestation by the name
'The Sycomore Lady'.
When I searched in
Wikipedia for the tree (isched) infested by the
snake I had no success. But I found another
internet site of possible use, Ägyptologie
Forum,
http://www.aegyptologie.com/forum/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl?action=lexikon:
"Heiliger
jšd-Baum im Bereich des Sonnentempels von Heliopolis,
vermutlich ein Persea-baum. In einer MR Version des Kap.
17 des TB wird der jšd-Baum als der heliopolitanische
Baum erwähnt, der sich in der Nacht des Kampfes gegen
die Feinde des Re spaltete."
The Feathered Serpent
is presumably a symbol for
the sun in his father (X) aspect. And in another
incarnation he (presumably) may be seen in his son (Z)
aspect
growing like a branch from
the nui tree (Y).
There is a general
similarity in shape, I think, between GD18 (niu)
and the upside down 'fishes' (GD47, tôa).
Maybe the bottom part
signifies some kind of 'pouch' into which 'day'
respectively 'year' has been put?
GD47 has a
canoe-like outline, possibly meaning 'vessel', whereas
GD18 is written to pronounce that it is a filled vessel.