TRANSLATIONS
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:
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) |
|