TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

Let us continue with the 2nd half of the Mamari moon calendar:

5th period 16-20
	Ca7-30	Ca7-31	Ca8-1	Ca8-2	Ca8-3
	*Kokore tahi*	*Kokore rua*	*Kokore toru*	*Kokore ha*	*Kokore rima*
6th period 21-23
	Ca8-8	Ca8-9	Ca8-10
	*Tapume*	*Matua*	*Orongo*
7th period 24-28
	Ca8-16	Ca8-17	Ca8-18	Ca8-19	Ca8-20	Ca8-21
	*Orongo Tāne*		*Maúri-nui*	*Maúri-kero*	*Omutu*	*Tireo*
8th period 29-30
	Ca8-27	Ca8-28	Ca8-29	Ca9-1	Ca9-2
	No names for the nights of dark new moon time where creation takes place.

Curiously Ca9-1 and Ca9-2 look as all the rest of these glyphs which denote nights, whereas the two at the beginning of the calendar have a different shape:

1st period 1-2
	Ca6-22	Ca6-23	Ca6-24
	Ohiro	Oata

We may recall that Englert and Métraux had different views on where the month should begin, Englert said Ohiro while Métraux said Tireo. Possibly this difference of opinion is related to the special shape of the 'moon' in Ohiro and Oata above. No names for nights in the 8th and last period makes it rather difficult to decide.

As with Ohua, Otua and Ohiro (and some other night names) we have Oata starting with O, which reminds me of the Japanese honorary O at the beginning of words (e.g. in 'Ohayoo gozaimasu!' - Good Morning!). Probably O in Oata etc also is a honorific sign.

The ata part of Oata has to do with both sun-up and sun-down:

Ata, âta

Ata 1. Dawn, first light before sunrise; ku-hamu-á te ata , dawn has broken; ku-tehe-á te ata, it's already dawn (lit.: the lights have flown). 2. Particle inserted between the imperative prefix ka and the verb to signify 'well, carefully, intelligently': ka-ata-hakarivariva, prepare it well. Between the prefix e and kahara it expresses 'to make sure that, to take good care that...' : e-ata-kahara koe o oona, be careful not to get dirty; e-ata-kahara koe o kori te moa o te tahi pa, be sure not to steal chickens of another property. 3. More: iti, small; ata iti, smaller; he-ata-ata iti-iti ró, the smallest of all. Vanaga.

Âta 1. Shadow: he-veveri te poki, ana tikea toona âta, the child is frightened at seeing his shadow; person's reflection (in mirror, in water): he âta oou-á, it's your own reflection. 2. To be frightened by a shadow: he-âta te îka, the fish are frightened (and they flee) by people's shadows. Vanaga.

1. Image, picture, portrait, design; to draw, to paint (shadow sense). P Mgv: ata, image, likeness, portrait, shadow of a human being, form, shape, appearance, imprint, impression. Mq.: ata, image, statue, portrait, shadow, surface; to design, to mark. Ta.: ata, shade, shadow appearance, form, representation of an object, cloud, cloudy. 2. Transparency, end of day, sunset (bright sense); e ata, red clouds; ku ata, transparent; ata mea, ata tea, ata tehe, dawn, daybreak, sunrise; ataata, end of day, sunset. P Mgv.: ata, morning or evening twilight, daybreak, dawn; ata haihai, evening twilight, a beautiful sunset; ataiai, twilight, clouds red with the sunset; atakurakura, a beautiful sunrise or sunset; atareureu, dawn, the first peep of day, morning twilight. Mq.: ata, to appear, to rise, to shine (of stars); ata uá, morning twilight; ataata, diaphanous, transparent. Ta.: ata, twilight. 3. A designation of space; ata hakahohonu, abyss; ata hakaneke mai, nearby, close at hand; ata tapa, lateral, marginal. 4 ? Ata kimikimi, to inquire; ata puo, to hill a plant; ata ui, to examine, to taste. Churchill.

Atahenua (ata 3 - henua 1), landscape, countryside. Atakai: 1. Generous, hospitable, beneficent, indulgent, liberal, obliging; prodigality, indulgence; rima atakai, benevolent, generous, open-handed; gift, liberality. 2. Calm, unperturbed, grateful. Churchill.

Ata-ta T, evening (? ataata). Atatehe (ata 2 - tehe 1), dawn; popohaga atatehe, morning, early in the morning. Churchill.

Maybe the expression rima atakai is an explanation for the late p.m. hand sign?


A	H	P

During a.m. sun is eating (light from the moon) to grow, during p.m. sun is slowly weakening. The sign for growing (light) is a hand (without thumb) pointing towards the mouth, and the sign is presumably originating from GD52:

The moon is generously feeding (rima atakai) the sun during a.m. Starting from noon the sun should repay the moon, showing equal generosity by returning light to the moon.

Dawn is ata, whereas the shadows are called âta. Maybe the slight difference is marked by the thumb? Possibly we should think of daybreak (breaking the shadows) as rima atakai, and of 'nightbreak' as rima âtakai.

But a mother nourishing her baby does not show generosity, it is rather an inborn instinct.

I believe the primary place for ata / âta is at dawn (not dusk), there are shadows at dawn too. Therefore I guess that the meaning of rima atakai as 'showing generosity' is only secondary . The primary meaning (I guess) is that rima is eating shadows. The hand (rima) is breaking the morning shadows (âta) by 'eating' (kai), that we imagine is written in the day calendars.

The association between fingers and fire is found not only on Easter Island but spread all over Polynesia; an impression I have got e.g. from the story about Maui and Mahuika.

Sun is a great fire person and when he eats he is using his hands (rima). He then grows and the shadows diminish accordingly. But in a way it is the shadows (âta) which makes him grow. The shadows diminish - where do they go? Answer: the sun is eating them up. The shadows signify the dark period and it is from the moon sun is feeding (or being fed).

The 'generosity' meaning in rima atakai therefore seems - for me - to arrive by way of associations from feeding.

In the Mamari moon calendar the night Ohua

is (as I read the calendar) the 10th night.

I observe that the appendix is hanging on the left side (cfr also maro in Orongo at waning moon above). Left side may signify the opposite to the right sunny side, i.e. the moon.

This hua has 6 marks (3 on each side) to indicate, I think, the sun. We perhaps are looking at the beginning of next sun (not the beginning of next moon).

In the day calendar we may see a somewhat similar glyph type just before midnight:


Aa1-41	Ha5-42	Pa5-24	Qa5-32

We even had an upside down look at Pa5-24:

and there the 'shark' (as I presume we see) is a sign of moon and her hua (if it is a hua) has 7 marks. In the calendar of the day moon is hua and in the calendar of the month sun is hua.

In the calendar of the day hua is standing up (sun charaterstic), whereas in the calendar of the month hua is hanging down (moon characteristic).

Earlier - analysing the calendar of the week - we defined this glyph type (GD28)

as the time when the 'planet' was invisible.

GD28 appears in Monday, Wednesday and Friday, i.e. GD28 is associated with Moon, Mercury and Venus, all of which are invisible at times. In H this was expressed like this:

GD28 is standing up (solar characteristic), not hanging down. But there are no marks (as on hua) on it.

I guess that the hua marks signify feathers and symbolize light. During day sun delivers light and during night moon delivers light.

Although the planets also deliver light, though in lesser degree, there are no feathers on the GD28 in the this calendar of the week. Maybe there is no idea here of light being shuffled between the bodies, no light streaming from the one to the other, of the kind we can read about in the Mamari moon calendar:

At left (1st period) the fish (moon) is sucking light arriving from the sun, at right (6th period) the sun is being refueled from the other end of the fish.