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TRANSLATIONS
Next page with
underpages:
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Firm ground has been reached.
Our well known week has been used at the beginning of the K text
and the glyph's ordinal number in the line defines the planet
according to this chart: |
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With Mars at *Ka1-21 we must
have Moon at *Ka1-20: |
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Having
tentatively interpreted the subject matter as the phases of the moon and the shape
in *Ka1-20 as resembling a tree, we should then consult the Mamari
moon calendar.
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*Ka1-20 |
*Ka1-21 |
*Ka1-22 |
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full moon |
waning |
waxing |
Early in this study
I found Ca7-23 to be a glyph which probably was representing the night Rakau (The
Tree):
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Ca7-17 |
Ca7-18 |
Ca7-19 |
Ca7-20 |
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Ca7-21 |
Ca7-22 |
Ca7-23 |
Ca7-24 |
I could not see anything in the
glyph which looked like a tree, but rakau has many
alternative meanings:
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Rakau
Raau, medicine, remedy, drug.
Ra'a'u, scratch on the skin. Rakau, a plant.
Râkau, goods, property. Vanaga.
1. Wood; rakau ta, cudgel,
stick. P Pau.: rakau, tree, to dress a wound.
Mgv.: rakau, wood, timber, a tree; medicine, a
remedy; an object. Mq.: ákau, wood, tree. Ta.:
raáu, id. 2. Medicine, remedy, potion, ointment,
furniture, any precious object, resources, baggage,
riches, heritage, dowry, merchandise, treasure, wealth;
rakau hakaneinei, purgative; rakau nui,
rich, opulent; rakau kore, poor, beggar,
indigent, miserable, an inferior; hakakamikami ki te
rakau, to impoverish; rakau o te miro,
ballast. Mq.: akau, anything in general. The
medicine sense is particularized in Tonga, Nukuoro,
Hawaii, Tahiti, Mangareva, Paumotu. In no other speech
does wood stand so fully for wealth of possessions, but
it will be recalled that Rapanui is destitute of
timber and depends wholly upon driftwood. Churchill. |
For instance does rakau o te
miro means 'ballast' which possibly could be alluded to in the
glyph.
"ballast
... material placed in a ship's hold to give stability ...
derived from (i) bar 'bare', mere, or (ii) barm
hull (of a ship) + last burden ..." (English Etymology)
With the 23rd day in the month now identified as
ruled by Jupiter my earlier interpretation has been confirmed,
because Jupiter is associated with The Tree.
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While *Ka1-20--*Ka1-22 appear
to depict phases of the moon, the Mamari moon calendar
goes down into more detail, and we have the night of full moon
immediately after Rakau:
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Ca7-23 |
Ca7-24 |
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Rakau |
Omotohi |
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Jupiter |
Venus |
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*Ka1-20 |
*Ka1-21 |
*Ka1-22 |
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full moon |
waning |
waxing |
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Moon |
Mars |
Mercury |
If the 7-day chart should apply
to also the glyphs in the Mamari moon calendar (which is
only a possibility which not yet has been investigated) then
the full moon night should be a night ruled by Venus.
I do not find this
unreasonable, the full moon will hang like a great fruit high up
in the invisible tree. It should be a night of feasting (rakauti).
... Der Cultus bestand in Anrufung der Götter, deren Willen der
Priester erklärte, in Opfern an Lebensmitteln, auch an Menschen,
und in der Feier gewisser, zu bestimmten Zeiten wiederkehrender
Feste (rakauti), von denen das erste im Früjahr 2 Monate
dauerte, das zweite im Sommer mit der Errichtung einer Pyramide
aus Zweigen (paina) endete, das dritte in den Winter
fiel; bei allen fanden Tänze, Gesänge, Spiele aller Art statt
...
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At the bottom of the Omotohi
full moon oval there is an arrangement of two henua signs
in what could be depicting a 'pyramid of branches' -
Pyramide aus Zweigen (paina):
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Ca7-24 |
*Ka1-21 |
At full moon the sun is 180° away,
and at midsummer, when sun is reaching his maximum, moon should
likewise be equally distant. Such reflections could emerge from
contemplating the phases of sun and moon.
The 'pyramid of branches' (paina)
was built in summer. For full moon a similar structure would not
be unreasonable. But that is not a matter of any importance for
the moment.
Instead, the similarity between
the two henua signs at bottom inside the oval should be
contrasted with the arrangment in apex form at the top center
(and outside) in
*Ka1-20. At left is a henua but at right there is a 'thread'. The waning
moon crescent is at left and what seems to be a bird of the
dark new moon at right. When the sun light is vanishing there cannot
be any henua sign, I think. Instead a 'thread' must be used.
In other words, the two henua
signs at bottom of Omotohi can be contrasted with a similar arrangement at new
moon, where henua is used as a sign at left (only for as long
as sun is illuminating the waning moon). When moon no longer is
illuminated, new moon has arrived, the opposite of full
moon. Instead of an apex below the main character (the little person
sitting down feasting), the new moon glyph has two
characters in a low position relative to the apex form in the
center.
The gagana bird must
here refer to the dark new moon phase. Waning moon, apex, and
gagana bird are horizontally ordered, while at Omotohi
apex and feasting person are vertically ordered. Full moon is
depicted inside, new moon outside.
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