TRANSLATIONS

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We are advancing towards the end of the niu part of the glyph dictionary:

The top part of niu can be compared with the Mayan kin (sun) glyph (left middle):

  

If we think away the outer oval perimeter and the little circle in the middle, only the 'spokes' of the 'sun wheel' will remain; a crosslike sign similar to the top of niu:

The 4 'spooky spokes' represent the 4 cardinal directions constituting the 'temple-palace' of Quetzalcoatl, the Meso-American sun god:

... His temple-palace was composed of four radiant apartments: one toward the east, yellow with gold; one towards the west, blue with turquoise and jade; one toward the south, white with pearls and shells; one towards the north, red with bloodstones - symbolizing the cardinal quarters of the world over which the light of the sun holds sway ...

Ghosts are not clearly visible, they just 'whisper' to the eye.

Empty shells, when listened to, whisper to the ear, with the sound of the sea.

During dark moonless nights the eyes are useless and the ears and other senses must take over the heavy burden of reassuring - a burden which they in fact cannot carry. Therefore the dark nights belong to the invisible whispering ghosts and frightened people crowd together inside their sheds.

At dawn light arrives gradually, colours later than black and white and grey. Likewise, the rainbow colours do not arrive until sun shines again.

Light and sound are subdued by rain. When sun arrives in the morning the birds start to sing again, and according to South American myths their colours also arrive with the death of the great watery monster.

Ghosts have no colours and they do not talk loud, they whisper like the sea shells on the beach.

"... Men and birds joined forces to destroy the huge watersnake, which dragged all living creatures down to his lair. But the attackers took fright and cried off, one after the other, offering as their excuse that they could only fight on dry land.

Finally, the duckler (K.G.: a diver) was brave enough to dive into the water; he inflicted a fatal wound on the monster which was at the bottom, coiled round the roots of an enormous tree. Uttering terrible cries, the men succeeded in bringing the snake out of the water, where they killed it and removed its skin. The duckler claimed the skin as the price of its victory. The Indian chiefs said ironically, 'By all means! Just take it away!'

'With pleasure', replied the duckler as it signalled to the other birds. Together they swooped down and, each one taking a piece of the skin in its beak, flew off with it. The Indians were annoyed and angry and, from then on, became the enemies of birds. The birds retired to a quiet spot in order to share the skin. They agreed that each one should keep the part that was in its own beak. The skin was made up of marvelous colors - red, yellow, green, black, and white - and had markings such as no one had ever seen before. As soon as each bird was provided with the part to which it was entitled, the miracle happened: until that time all birds had had dingy plumage, but now suddenly they became white, yellow, and blue ...

The parrots were covered in green and red, and the macaws with red, purple, and gilded feathers, such as had never before been seen. The duckler, to which all the credit was due, was left with the head, which was black. But it said it was good enough for an old bird ..." (The Raw and the Cooked)

"... The white egret took its piece [of the skin of 'Keyemen - the rainbow in the shape of a huge watersnake'] and sang, 'ā-ā', a call that it still has to this day. The maguari (Circonia maguari, a stork) did likewise and uttered its ugly cry: 'a(o)-a(o)'. The soco (Ardea brasiliensis, a heron) placed its piece on its head and wings (where the colored feathers are) and sang, 'koro-koro-koro'. The kingfisher (Alcedo species) put its piece on its head and breast, where the feathers turned red, and sang, 'se-txe-txe-txe'.

Then it was the toucan's turn. It covered its breast and belly (where the feathers are white and red). And it said: 'kión-he, he kión-he'. A small piece of skin remained stuck to its beak which became yellow. Then came the mutum (Crax species); it put is piece on its throat and sang, 'hm-hm-hm-hm' and a tiny remaining strip of skin turned its nostrils yellow. Next came the cujubin (Pipile species, a piping guan), whose piece turned its head, breast, and wings white: it sang, 'krr' as it has done every morning since.

Each bird 'thought its own flute made a pretty sound and kept it.' The richly colored plumage of the macaw is explained by the fact that it seized a large piece of skin and covered its whole body in it ... " (The Raw and the Cooked)

(Scarlet Macaws, Wikipedia)

Mercury is in the middle of the weekly calendar. He is balancing with one foot in the 1st half of the week and with the other in the 2nd half.

His position is equivalent to dawn - balancing between night and day. Therefore he is a 'spooky' character.

Given the concept of winter meaning 'sea' and summer 'land', Mercury must be at the border of the sea. He likes the salty beach, he is like a coconut palm.

If we move the 'dawn' of the year from spring equinox to midwinter, the instability be part of the parcel. The very slow movement of the sun at winter solstice will be associated with the instability which accompanies the death of an old ruler.

 

There is a short sequence of glyphs in the Tahua text which is initiated with a niu glyph:
Aa1-13 Aa1-14 Aa1-15

The intended meaning of the sequence may be to bring to mind the story about 'killing' the old fire and how a new fire then is alighted, corresponding to the new year sun.

Here niu would then correspond to the first phase of the story - when the old fire has been stamped out and only the ghost of it remains at the top. The bottom part is like a sack into which the still red hot embers of the old fire have been put.

Aa1-13 marks the 'dawn' of a new year. The 3 glyphs arrive after 12 glyphs referring to the solar year.

Niu glyphs are located at the beginning of calendars for the year, but in the middle of 'calendars' for the week.

Once upon a time the solar year began with what now is the 2nd quarter, the season when light grows quickly. It was interpreted as the magic work of a 'watery snake' ('worm', 'eel' etc).

The idea was based on the concept of two 'years' - 'winter' and 'summer' (i.e. 'sea' and 'land'). The 'watery snake' (Rigi, Tuna roa, etc) becomes active around spring equinox and dies at midsummer, having completed the mighty work of lifting up the sky ('upper shell') to let in the light.

According to the model 'sea and land', spring equinox must correspond to the swirling water close to the beach, where only slithery creatures can survive.

Mercury (quick-silver) is the 'watery snake'. The Inuit people, therefore, probably were identifying 'The Entrail Snatcher' with Mercury - entrails are like a heap of worms (or seaweed, or the orbit of Mercury).

Niu means coconut palm, the nut of which is like a human death skull (coco). 'Winter' dies around spring equinox and the dead skull in some mysterious way is necessary to generate the new life. It must be planted in the 'earth' (Hina in the myths about Tuna roa).

We can see the ghostly spokes of the old year at the top of the niu glyph and in the coal sack below imagine the glowing growth of new fire.

(Turnip lantern according to Wikipedia)