Ha5-52 Ha5-53 Ha5-54 Ha5-55

We recognize these 4 glyphs as variants of those in the 2nd period of P. In A there are fewer glyphs, but the number of glyphs from the beginning of the 1st period until the end of the 2nd period is 4. We should always count. The result 4 could mean that the earth, i.e. the lighted surface of the earth, now has arrived.

In Ha5-52 the young sun is gulping down light, which seemingly is coming from himself, or is the nourishment perhaps coming from an egg? If the sun is a kind of bird, which he must be as he soon will be flying high in the sky, then he is perhaps still being fed by the yolk.

"Now birds and fishes are born under the sign of the Yin, but they belong to the Yang. This is why birds and fishes both lay eggs. Fishes swim in the waters, birds fly among the clouds. But in winter, the swallows and starlings go down into the sea and change into mussels." (Ta Tai Li Chi according to Needham II)

However, we should not read the rongorongo text like this. There is no picture of an egg in Ha5-52. What we see is the bottom part of hua (as I like to call this fundamental type of glyph):

Among other things hua means 'fruit', i.e. the young generation of anything:

 

1. Testicle. 2. Figuratively: son, hua tahi, only son; fruits of the earth; to grow well (of fruits). 3. To cause a fight, a quarrel. Hua-ai, generation, as lineage of direct descendents; contemporaries. Huahua, coccyx of bird, "parson's nose": huahua moa, huahua uha. Huataru, a creeper (Chenopodium ambiguum). Vanaga.

1. The same; ki hua, again, to continue, to strain, to struggle, to move, to repeat, over and above. 2. To bloom, to sprout; flower, fruit (huaa); huaa tae oko, huaa vahio, young fruit; hua atahi, only son; huahaga, fruit; mei te huahaga o tokoe kopu, the fruit of thy body; tikea huahaga, deceptive appearance. Huahua. 1. Tailless fowl. 2. Vein, tendon, line.

1. Fruit. 2. Egg. 3. Ta hua = 'genealogical writing' or 'same writing'. Fischer.

There is a clear sign in Ha5-52 in the form of an additional flame at top left, compared with e.g. the similar glyphs in the following periods:

 

Also we can see other small differences between these three glyphs. The one at right is located at the time of noon and there we can imagine that the right flame is 'spiky' because there we have a cardinal point, a post to be rounded. I imagine that the explanation is similar for the extra flame at top left in Ha5-52 - a cardinal point should be seen in the glyph.

The right flame in Ha5-52 has a strange form, like a hook. Is that a 'flame' from the moon or is it the top part of a hooked beak or what? I would guess that the hook is a sign for haga:

 

1. Bay, fishing spot. (Figuratively) he haga o te ákuáku, it is the [evil] spirit's fishing spot, i.e. a place where they hide waiting for people to fall under their power. 2. To want, to love. Ku haga á i te vai, I want water, I am thirsty. Vanaga.

1. Bay, strait, anchorage, strand, beach. 2. Work, labor, employment, act, affair, creation, design, state, maker, fashion, manufacture, occupation, profession; to do, to make, to construct, to employ, to form, to manufacture, to fashion, to found, to be busy with; haga rakerake, crime; tagata haga ei mea, mercenary; haga no iti, to plot mischief; haga ke, to act contrary; haga takataka, to disjoin; haga nui, difficulty, fatigue, to weary; tuhi ki te haga, to give employment; haga hakahou, to make over, to renew, recovery; haga koroiti, to deal prudently; haga nuinui ke, to overburden. 3. Agreement, conduct, liking, intention, desire, will; to resolve, to permit, to endeavor, to tolerate, to be willing, to wish, to approve; haga ihoiho, fixed desire; haga mai, haga no mai, to agree, to hearken favorably; tae haga, despite, involuntary, to refuse, to renounce; noho hakahaga, apathy. 4. = haka. Churchill.

The sun is formed (haga) in the morning.

We cannot come further for the moment. Let us instead consider Ha5-53. Here we can read that the sun has escaped from the interior of Mother Earth. But we should also try to understand what Metoro said when reading the parallel period in A:

 

ma te tagata e hetu noho i te here

The word here is curious:

 

1. To catch eels in a snare of sliding knots; pole used in this manner of fishing, with a perforation for the line. 2. To tie, to fasten, to lash; rasp made of a piece of obsidian with one rough side; cable, tie; figuratively: pact, treatise. Vanaga.

1. To lash, to belay, to knot the end of a cord, to lace, to tie, to fasten , to knot; to catch in a noose, to strangle, to garrote; here pepe, to saddle; moa herea, a trussed fowl; hehere, collar, necklet; herega, bond, ligament; heregao, scarf, cravat. 2. Hakahere. To buy, to sell, to barter, to part with, to pay for, to do business, to compensate, to owe, to disburse, to expiate, to indemnify, to rent out, to hire, to traffic, to bargain, to bribe; merchant, trader, business, revenge; tagata hakahere, merchant, trader; hakahere ki te ika, to avenge; hakaherega, ransom, redemption; hakahererua, to exchange, to avenge. 3. Here ei hoiho, incense. Churchill.

I have a suspicion Metoro used this word because he was familiar with some story about catching eels with a wooden pole perforated with holes - possibly just like the one seen in Ha5-53. Maybe Metoro also had seen this type of glyph in some of the parallel texts.

Could the idea be that the snake of the sun must be caught and drawn up to release light onto the surface of the earth? We remember that the 'morning' constellation Peggittyn was thought to 'bring' forth the light of the new year:

"The stars Altair and Tarazed of the constellation Aquila are singled out by the Chukchis as a special constellation, Peggittyn. This constellation is considered to bring the light of the new year, since it appears on the horizon ..."

In Barthel 2 we find:

"One day, all the old men (korohua) went to Hanga Hoonu to catch eels for the feast (ngongoro) of Mary on August 15 (i.e., the Feast of the Assumption) ..."

South of the equator August is located just before spring equinox. At that time the Virgin Mary was due to be received into Heaven, because female darkness must then give way to male light.

"In RAP. the name for 'eel', koreha, was also used as a metaphor for 'corpse' ..."

A yang corpse is located in the west, a yin corpse in the east. Men (light and sun) die in the west, women (darkness and moon) in the east. Everything in yang has its equivalent inverted in yin:

"Etymologically the characters are certainly connected with darkness and light respectively. The character Yin ... involves graphs for hill (-shadows) and clouds; the character Yang has slanting sunrays or a flag fluttering in the sunshine, if indeed it does not represent a person holding the peforated disc of jade which was the symbol of heaven, the source of all light, and which may have been originally ... the most ancient astronomical instrument ..."

"Yin evokes ... the idea of cold and cloud, of rain, of femaleness, of that which is inside and dark, such as the underground chambers in which ice was conserved against the summer. Yang evokes the idea of sunshine and heat, of spring and summer months, of maleness, and may refer to the appearance of a male ritual dancer. It is agreed also that Yin meant the shady side of a mountain or a valley (north of the mountain and south of the valley) ... while Yang meant the sunny side (south of the mountain and north of the valley) ... " (Needham II)

The words hetu('u) noho i te here could mean that the sun (hetu'u) is trapped (noho i te here).

 

Hetu 1. To (make) sound; figuratively: famous, renowned. 2. To crumble into embers (of a bonfire). Vanaga.

Hetu'u. Star, planet; hetu'u popohaga morning star; hetu'u ahiahi evening star; hetu'u viri meteorite. Vanaga

Hetu 1. Star (heetuu); hetu rere, meteor; hetu pupura, planet. 2. Capital letter (? he tu). 3. To amuse. 4. To stamp the feet. Hetuhetu, to calk, to strike the water. Hetuke, sea urchin. Churchill.
1. To sit, to stay, to remain, to live (somewhere), to wait; ka-noho, you stay! (i.e. "good-bye", said by the person leaving). 2. Figuratively: he noho te eve, to be calm, at peace; he noho te mana'u, to concentrate on something, to fix one's attention on; ku-noho á te mana'u o te tagata ki ruga ki te aga, the man thinks constantly of his work. Vanaga.

Seat, bench, dwelling, marriage, position, posture, situation, session, sojourn; to sit, to dwell, to reside, to rest, to halt, to inhabit; noho hahatu, to sit cross-legged; noho hakahaga, apathy; noho heenua, countryman; noho kaiga, native; noho kenu, married; noho ke noho ke, to change place; noho muri, to stay behind; noho noa, invariable; noho opata, to stand on a cliff; noho pagaha, badly placed; noho pepe, table; noho tahaga, bachelor, unmarried; noho vie, married, noho no, apathy, stay-at-home, colonist, idler, inhabitant, inactive, immobile, settler, lazy, loiterer. Hakanoho, to abolish, to rent, to lease, to enslave, to dissuade, to exclude, to exempt, to install, to substitute, hostage. Hakanohohia, stopped. Nohoga, seat. Nohoturi, to kneel, genuflexion. Nohovaega, to preside. Churchill.

At this point in the investigation I think we should read a part of the so-called Ms. E (a manuscript - Ms. - labelled E, which evidently was dis-covered by the Chilean teacher Baeza in 1954 or 1955).

"The oral traditions of the Easter Islanders, passed down from generation to generation, culminated in instructions given to a group of old men who were youths in pre-missionary times (about 1860).

There korohua, or 'old ones' as they are called in this book, were the last to experience the Polynesian culture of Easter Island intact. In the early years of the twentieth century, in the drab isolation of the leper station north of the village of Hangaroa, a tiny group of these 'old ones' guarded their memories of the traditional history of the voyage of the immigrants and their settling in this 'eighth land', and the systematization in code of the ancient knowledge." (Barthel 2)

The reason I want us to read a part of Ms. E is that my intuition tells me that there is a similarity between the beginning of the day and an episode at the time when the first explorers were entering the 'eighth land' (Easter Island):

"It grew light, and again Ira spoke. This is what he said: 'Turn around, all of you, and go down to ride the waves (literally, 'to the turtle, to act like a turtle').' Five of them went down; only Ira did not go down to let himself be carried on a board by a wave.

After the young kinsmen had gone down to surf, Ira got up, picked up the mat with the treasure, unfolded the mat, pulled out the mother-of-pearl ornament (reipa), folded the mat again tightly, and left it on the ground.

Ira got up, climbed up, went on, and reached Ruhi Hepii. He drilled a hole into the stone. After the hole was deep enough, he took the ornament (rei) and put it into the hole so that the shiny side (rapa) was turned outward. He gave the place the name 'Ruhi Hepii'.

He turned around, climbed down, went on, and entered the cave Pu Pakakina. When he arrived there, he sat down. The young kinsmen arrvied and rested.

It grew light. On the second day, Ira said again, 'Go back to riding the waves!' They all went back out there. Ira got up and again picked up the (second) ornament. He took it, went on, came to Apina Nui, drilled a hole into the stone, put the ornament in the hole, with the shiny side to the outside, and gave (the place) the name 'Pu'.

He turned around, went on, and came to the cave Pu Pakakina. There he lay down. The young kinsmen arrived and also lay down.

It grew light on the third day, and again Ira said, 'Go back to swimming on a board, to riding the waves!' All went back out there, and Ira got up. He picked up two stone figures (moai maea) and two mother-of-pearl necklaces (tuitui reipa).

The name of the first stone figure was Apina Iti, and the name of the second one was Rapa Kura.

Ira took the figures and the ornaments, went on, and came to Apina Iti. He dug a pit, let the figure slide down into the pit, and covered it up with pebbles (kirikiri). The head remained completely free (? he puoko i hakapaka).

He put the necklace around the neck of the figure and called the place 'Apina Iti A Rapa Kura'.

Ira gave the stone figure the name 'Hinariru', the name of the master, (son) of Tuu Hokorua, who had given the figure to Ira.

He turned around, went on, and entered the cave Pu Pakakina and remained there. All the young men arrived and settled down (to sleep)." (Barthel 2)

In 'code of the ancient knowledge' Barthel said. I guess that Ira means the sun and that his five companions are the five planets. At least that is one of many 'translations' (which all are equally valid and in a meaning 'parallel').

Possibly those ornaments are similar to rei miro at the start of the day.

And as in the cited story there are 4 rei, 1 (at Ruhi Hepii) + 1 (at Pu) + 2 (at Apina Iti A Rapa Kura), there could be a connection with the earth (in the light from the sun).

"It grew light on the fourth day, and they all got up (together). They climbed down, went on, and arrived at the bay. They hurried, went into the water, and reached the islet (off the shore).

The wave began to move, and they all rode the wave (literally, 'they turned their lower body into the position of a turtle, coasted like a sled, they all came in the position of a turtle').

Ira rode the waves toward the right side. He looked diagonally toward the land, looked in the direction of Ruhi Hepii, and the ornament of Ruhi Hepii shone brightly.

He went back out into the sea, and the movement of the wave was toward the left side. Again he glanced, this time in the direction of Pu, and the ornament of Pu shone brightly.

Again he went out into the sea. From the middle, the two necklaces around the neck of the two figurines shone (toward him).

His ride on the wave ended in Rio, and therefore the name 'Hanga O Rio' was given.

Ira remained on shore, pondered, and said, 'This is well done! Ruhi to the right, Pu to the left, and Hinariru Nui and Hinariru Iti in the middle ... " (Barthel 2)

We understand that Pu should be to the left (female) and we suspect that all those waves are the serpent (or eel).

In the middle we have noon and therefore two standing figures, one for the period before noon and one for after noon. The period before noon is more important and therefore Nui (big). Consequently Ruhi should be the morning sun (at right, in the east) and Pu the evening sun (at left, in the west).

Pu presumably means the hole in west where sun leaves us, and in the east we have another hole (drilled by Ira) through which he arrives at dawn.

When Metoro talked about hetu('u) noho i te here he might have alluded to Ira riding the waves (as being similar to catching hold of an eel), both rather difficult enterprises.

The act of pacifying (waves or other) could very well be illustrated by a turtle, such a slowly moving creature is suitable as a character in myths.

And don't forget that it was in Turtle Bay (Hanga Hoonu) that eels could be caught.

Ha5-54 is different from the parallel glyph in P. But the pattern is the same, viz. that the glyph is repeated in the 4th period (though in H, strictly seen, it is in the 3rd period - because in H there is no equivalent to the 3rd period of A and P):

 
Pa5-37 Ha5-54 Pa5-45 Ha5-58
2nd period 4th period

In P we tentatively identified these two glyphs as representing two 'staffs' each. "As the solar year is divided into quarters (sorted into two per half-year) so the solar day must be."

Here, on the other hand, we should not read two 'staffs' but another representation of the day. It is not necessary to document these 'staffs' at the four corners of the earth, because already in Ha5-49 we can see them (or rather: we have seen the four sides of the square, which amounts to the same thing):

To interpret Ha5-54 we should instead start by identifying the middle vertical line as noon. Why is that line shorter? Because at that time of the day the sun is at the meridian and at its closest. The vertical lines are sunrays. In the morning and in the evening it is cooler because the sunrays are slanting and has a longer way to go from sky to earth.

Certainly man has always understood the relationship between heat and closeness to the fire. And in the old times there was no way of obtaining light other than through a fire.

"We see by means of the eyes, and their vision is aroused by fire (light), but the fire is not perceived except by the five roads of sense. But in durational knowledge there is no necessity for seeing with the eyes or for a fire to be present." (Mo Tzu according to Needham II)

In the glyph all three sunrays (morning, noon, evening) are raised up vertically (not even at noon are the rays vertical - Easter Island is south of the tropical belt).

So this type of glyph is a representation of the whole day, how the light shining on earth behaves, i.e. a continuation of the theme beginning with Ha5-49.

On the other hand, the duplication of Ha5-54 in Ha5-58 implies an allusion to the four corners / sides of the earth. This way of alluding to parallel aspects is usual in the rongorongo texts. Therefore such a text is possible to read more than one way.

In Ha5-55 tapa mea has the shape of a boat. In the parallel period in Tahua we can see this boat more clearly:

Whereas in Tahua the shape of tapa mea is quite standardized, here in H its shape is more flexible and possible to use for delivering signs to the reader:

H 6 marks 5 marks
A inverted 6 marks
P 9 marks 7 marks
  1st period 2nd period

In Tahua (A) a normal tapa mea used in the calendar of the day has 6 marks (as a reminder of sun as creator of daylight). In the 9th period (when sun 'dies'), however, tapa mea has only 5 marks.

In a world where fingers are used for counting, there is a qualitative aspect with having reached 9: The thought arrives, what will happen after all the fingers have been used up? A feeling of end and anxiety is awakened.

Similarly, if 6 is the total (in the same way as 10), then at 5 there will be a feeling of unease.

In P there is a pattern with 9 + 7 = 16 (4 times 4 in presumably an allusion to the square earth), followed by 4 periods with 7 marks (up until noon and to remind us of moon) and 4 periods with 6 marks (after noon and equivalent to the number of hours in a day), i.e. 28 + 24 = 52 (number of weeks in a year).

Here in H the pattern is 6 + 5 + 4 + 5 (noon) + 6 + 6 + ? + ?. I guess that the two ?-marks stand for 6 and that we originally had 24 marks for the afternoon in H too.

The two 5:s probably mark extraordinary periods (birth and maximum), cardinal points when the gods are close. 4 in the morning period is probably an allusion to the 4 corners of earth.

6 + 5 + 4 + 5 = 20 or the number of fingers and toes. In warmer climates 20 is more usefule as a number base than 10. The choice of number base is dependent on whether you have your shoes on or not.