TRANSLATIONS
I redmarked also at the phrases: ... he-tá e te tokerau i te maga miro, the wind shakes the branches of the trees ... e-tá-tá-ana e te tokerau i te tôa, the wind continuously shakes the leaves of the sugarcane. Because I remembered what happened at Tahiti shortly before the arrival of the new 'canoe': "At Opoa, at one of the last great gatherings of the Hau-pahu-nui, for idolatrous worship, before the arrival of European ships, a strange thing happened during our [the two priests of Porapora, Auna-iti and Vai-au] solemn festivity. Just at the close of the pa'i-atua ceremony, there came a whirlwind which plucked off the head of a tall spreading tamanu tree, named Paruru-mata'i-i-'a'ana (Screen-from-wind-of-aggravating-crime), leaving the bare trunk standing. This was very remarkable, as tamanu wood is very hard and close-grained. Awe struck the hearts of all present. The representatives of each people looked at those of the other in silence for some time, until at last a priest of Opoa named Vaità (Smitten-water) exclaimed, - E homa, eaha ta 'outou e feruri nei? (Friends, upon what are you meditating?) - Te feruri nei i te tapa'o o teie ra'au i motu nei; a'ita te ra'au nei i motu mai te po au'iu'i mai. (We are wondering what the breaking of this tree may be ominous of; such a thing has not happened to our trees from the remotest age), the people replied. Then Vaità feeling inspired proceeded to tell the meaning of this strange event … I see before me the meaning of this strange event! There are coming the glorious children of the Trunk (God), who will see these trees here, in Taputapuatea. In person, they differ from us, yet they are the same as we, from the Trunk, and they will possess this land. There will be an end to our present customs, and the sacred birds of sea and land will come to mourn over what this tree that is severed teaches. This unexpected speech amazed the people and sages, and we enquired where such people were to be found. Te haere mai nei na ni'a i te ho'e pahi ama 'ore. (They are coming on a ship without an outrigger), was Vaitàs reply. Then in order to illustrate the subject, Vaità, seeing a large umete (wooden trough) at hand, asked the king to send some men with it and place it balanced with stones in the sea, which was quickly done, and there the umete sat upon the waves with no signs of upsetting amid the applauding shouts of the people." (Henry) When a new canoe is arriving alone, without a mate (as in checkmate), it is extraordinary. It announces - as Vaità rightly had concluded - the end of the 'cycle', the end of life as they knew it. A people disconnected from the natural cycle of life and death would destroy the accumulated culture of old. A single canoe is like a one-eyed monster, a being which is of raw nature, not adult as yet, not decently dressed. Somebody not having been reborn to society. A purely destructive force, without the constructive counter-balance of the 2nd part of the life cycle. A superficial world view would surely take over. A childish world. In the example of the wind (continuously) shaking the leaves of the sugarcane (tôa), we can feel the connection between the glyph type toa and the season of straw:
When tao glyphs often appear in pairs, is this maybe to indicate the season of separation? Or rather the two seasons of separation, one (it seems) early in the first part of the calendar and one early in the 2nd part. As we remember, the phenomenon occurs also at rau hei and (we will soon perceive) also at tahana.
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The number of tahana glyphs in my catalogue is suspiciously low. There ought to be more, and the reason could be that I have defined the glyph type too narrow. For instance is it probable that such an important glyph as Aa6-66 has a tahana sign in its center:
A head with open mouth at right and a slender 'body' with 'leaves' are characteristics which resemble what we can observe in various tahana glyphs. Maybe the minimal sign of tahana are 'leaves'? It could then explain vai as a kind of vaha with 'leaves':
I imagine vai could be equal to vaî - an intensification of va:
In spring the quick changes can give an impression of disorder. From where does it come? Order appears only after noon, when things begin to quite down and the 'weeds' have been removed. Society is threatened by disorder. On land there must be order, in the sea it is impossible. The space (va) between the islets belong to the sea. In autumn sun will be swallowed and then the state of order is once again changed, this time to total absence of any dispute, to stillness and death:
Vaha can be read as va-ha, the sacred spot when the great 'fish' is scaled, where the 4th (ha) quarter is beginning. When the leaves are disassembled, falling to earth to become earth. Like water they move downwards. A new living world will, though, come later. Even the water will then move upwards. Ohiro is the first night of the new moon.
Colours signify the effects of light and water together, when they mix (hirohiro) wonderful things are born, like the rainbow. In ancient Egypt it was Sirius who caused this wonder. |