The Maya indians said
there were two turtles, one in Gemini and one in Orion. From the
pictures above I think I can read what it means.
First the facts:
Orion lies between 5 and 6 hours counted from spring equinox (north
of the equator) and Gemini between 6 and 8 hours (from spring
equinox). We can say that they are located a quarter into a
year which begins with spring equinox.
It means Orion and
Gemini are in high
summer (in midwinter south of the equator), that is the time when the
turtles in the sky makes their appearance. The Belt of Orion is just
below 'the surface of the water' (below the equator in the sky),
while Gemini lies securely on 'land'
(ca 30° N). One way to interpret the idea of two turtles is to say
that there is only one turtle, with the 'cap' in Gemini and the 'cup' in Orion.
The 'cup' (in Orion)
comes somewhat earlier than the 'cap' (in Gemini), which is just what all
true myths will tell us - in the beginning there is only darkness
and water, only later will land and light arrive. In the Mars cartouche
above the Sun is held high at right. This cartouche should be
read together with the Gemini cartouche. The tray Mars is holding in
front of him is a picture of the earth on which we live. It divides
cosmos into what is above and what is below.
Like in all
Mayan illustrations we must read from right to left. The story
begins with the Belt of Orion. When Mars is holding his tray,
representing land, it is in front of him, meaning he is lifting the land
up from the 'waves'. The peccaries are land creatures and Gemini lies above the
'water'.
Below the tray of
Mars there are 2 fire symbols, of the same typ as those 3 on the back of
the Orion turtle. Peculiar as it may at first seem the 'fire' is located
down in
the 'water'. The explanation is that both are sources of life. Below the tray of Mars lies the dark underworld,
and the two 'fires' presumably represent the 'Sun twins'. The year
of Sun light has twins - two faces as Mars himself has - the first
being the strong spring brute and the second being the cultivated
weaker one.
The turtle in Orion
has 3 fire symbols, and I suggest they represent the first 3 months
of spring, those during which Sun not yet has returned from his
winter maid (in the far south regarded from Maya land). These 3 months are those when 'land' not yet has risen
above the 'waters'.
I suggest the turtle
of Orion (the 'cup' down in the 'water') has its equivalent in the
variant of
vai with 3 moon crescent signs:
It is not allowed,
according to the basic rules of rongorongo, to illustrate
what is inside an entity. And those 3 'fires' are 'in the water', inside the
double circumference of the turtle, which means they are in a watery
hole. On Easter Island the 3 'fires' are therefore
illustrated as 'outside'. Which in a way they
are, because the island lies at 27° S and it is
winter solstice. Moreover, because Easter Island is on the other
side of the equator the '3 fires' (Sun) have been converted into '3
crescents' (Moon).
The
turtle in Orion has twin heads, and the twisted one is taking a bite. The
form of the Orion Belt Turtle is in principle the same as the
rongorongo sign of vai. In the center there is an inner
oval. The turtle has a string at his tail end, which should be at
summer solstice. Where the twisted turtle head is taking a bite
there is in vai a moon crescent sign missing. The biting
mouth is a Moon sign, therefore the corresponding other side of the
equator sign must be a Sun sign (but inside and according to the
rongorongo rule therefore invisible).
Let
me repeat.
Mars is holding high the Sun, Saturn is performing another trick.
The end of the girdle of Saturn is similar to the 'twisted snake head' of the
turtle - both are taking a bite - making a mark in the cycle of
time.
The 2
copulating peccaries in Gemini shows 3 faces of Venus - calendrical
light begins here. The turtle of Orion shows 2 heads, one twisted
upside down and marking a crack in cyclical time. This happens in
the 'sea' below the equator of the sky, while the peccaries are
'on land'.
Mars
accomplishes the rising of Sun in spring, when 'land' is raised
from 'the sea'. Saturn achieves a 'painting' of the 'cup' and shares
in marking where the old year must end.
North
of the equator it is Mars
who is sitting sideways, Saturn not. Mars has his girdle in form of Y,
and on his 'equator' this Y crotch is just below Sun collecting - it
seems - the pupil lost from the Sun eye above. The tray Mars is holding
in front has fire
below it. The tray is the surface of the earth.
Saturn has his 'leg' out in front, with Venus hovering close. A
water lily is at his back. His Y-formed girdle is different from
that of Mars, it goes twice around his middle and its open grappling
end is hanging down and it consists of two parts.
The
Venus face in front of Saturn should be the evening star. Therefore
the Venus on top of the peccaries should represent the morning star
(and the one in front of the bottom peccary snout her invisible dark
phase).
The
Orion turtle has 3 fires (the stars of Orion's Belt). Below the tray
of Mars there are 2 fires (formed in the same way). Below the tray
is the underworld, and adding 3 + 2 we get rima (fire).
Adding the eyes of Venus we will have 2 + 2 + 2 = 6. With the 2
holes it becomes 8. Venus represents the night and 5 the daytime.
In
the copulating peccaries we can see the crack in time between the
front part and the back part. Saturn bends low with face downwards,
Mars stretches high with face upwards.
The
vai sign in form of the Orion Belt Turtle has 3 fires because in
front (in time) lies the first 3 months of spring sun. These 3
'fires' cannot be described in a vai sign
because they are inside the 'watery hole'
But
the fires are also below the table of the earth at Mars, here
represented as twins. The year of Sun light has twins - two faces as
Mars himself has - the first being the strong spring brute and the
second being the cultivated weaker one.
Mars
primarily represents the spring beast (in the same was as Sun
primarily represents the spring twin of the year). There are two
turtles in the sky, one in Gemini and one in Orion. The one in
Gemini is the 'cap' of the turtle and in Orion is the 'cup'.
Orion
lies between 5 and 6 hours from spring equinox (north of the equator
and according to our time). Gemini is between 6 and 8 hours, it
comes somewhat later. First there is the birth of 'sea' then the
birth of 'land'.
With
6 hours as a reasonable approximation of the location of the sky
turtle, a quarter has gone into the past, and with equinox as the
point of beginning, the turtle will be at summer solstice north of
the equator, at winter solstice south of the equator. Saturn and turtle belong together south of the equator. This is what the
Bonampak' painting shows. Saturn is south of the equator at the same
time as Mars is north of the equator. |