GLYPHS
Aa6-66-1 The Mayas visualized what seems to be a complex process for 'The Flood that ended the last Creation':
I think we should compare with a corresponding view described in myth: ... A very detailed myth comes from the island of Nauru. In the beginning there was nothing but the sea, and above soared the Old-Spider.
One day the Old-Spider found a giant clam, took it up, and tried to find if this object had any opening, but could find none. She tapped on it, and as it sounded hollow, she decided it was empty. By repeating a charm, she opened the two shells and slipped inside. She could see nothing, because the sun and the moon did not then exist; and then, she could not stand up because there was not enough room in the shellfish. Constantly hunting about she at last found a snail. To endow it with power she placed it under her arm, lay down and slept for three days. Then she let it free, and still hunting about she found another snail bigger than the first one, and treated it in the same way. Then she said to the first snail: 'Can you open this room a little, so that we can sit down?' The snail said it could, and opened the shell a little. Old-Spider then took the snail, placed it in the west of the shell, and made it into the moon ... Once upon a time - when only the Sea was present - there was a giant Clam, apparently empty. ... This [σ Sagittarii] has been identified with Nunki of the Euphratean Tablet of the Thirty Stars, the Star of the Proclamation of the Sea, this Sea being the quarter occupied by Aquarius, Capricornus, Delphinus, Pisces, and Pisces Australis. It is the same space in the sky that Aratos designated as Water ... Inside it was completely dark, for neither Moon nor Sun did as yet exist. Sky and Earth lay dormant in Close Embrace. ... They were Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, both sealed together in a close embrace. Crushed between the weight of their bodies were their many children, whose oppression deepened. They yearned to be free; they fought their parents and each other to break loose .... Above soared Old-Spider and she found the Clam, grew curious and examined it. Athough the Clam was closed she was able to open it by repeating a charm. She slipped inside and searched around and found a Snail. In order to energize this Snail she tucked it under her Arm and slept for 3 days.
Thus the Snail became the Moon.
The Sun came after the Moon, after she had let the Moon snail free. She let it free, and still hunting about she found another snail bigger than the first one, and treated it in the same way. Then she said to the first snail: 'Can you open this room a little, so that we can sit down?' The Moon said it could, and opened the shell a little. ... Then there was a little light, which allowed Old-Spider to see a big worm. At her request he opened the shell a little wider, and from the body of the worm flowed a salted sweat which collected in the lower half-shell and became the sea. Then he raised the upper half-shell very high, and it became the sky. Rigi, the worm, exhausted by this great effort, then died. Old-Spider then made the sun from the second snail, and placed it beside the lower half-shell, which became the earth ... Another Sea - a salty one - originated from the efforts of the big Worm to open the shell a little wider, because his sweat collected into a salty sea in the lower half of the shell. ... Snorri Sterluson explains why 'Frodi's grist' is a kenning for gold. Frodi ruled during a peaceful and productive period, contemporaneous with Augustus's Pax Romana and the birth of Christ; hence the kenning. There were neither thieves nor robbers during this period, 'so that a gold ring lay long on Jalang's heath'. Snorri continues his account with the legend of the mill beyond what is told in the song: The girls' grinding produced an army hostile to Frodi. On the very day of the girls' predictions, the sea-king, Musing (Son of the Mouse), landed on the Danish shore, killed Frodi, and took away Grotti and the women on his ship. The girls were bidden to grind out salt on the mill. At midnight they asked for further instructions. 'Keep grinding', he told them. Then they ground with such vigor that the ship sank. Water poured into the eye of the mill, creating the maelstroem of the sea. Therefore the sea was salt. Incidentally, the mill was given a kenning, Serpent's Couch ...
Then the Worm raised the Sky roof very high, and this effort was too much for him so he died. Only after this event did Old Spider create the Sun (Ra) from the 2nd snail. And, we can conclude, at this point the Earth became clearly visible. The figure in Ca9-20 is standing up because he could - the Sun had arrived and therefore also the living earth (henua ora):
Metoro's words here, viz. ko koe ra, can be translated 'you are the Sun'. This peculiar kind of impersonation was used also in e.g. Manuscript E: .. Ira sat down [he noho] with all the other (companions) and spoke to Makoi [ka ki era kia Makoi]: 'You shall mark the land for me and make it known (by its name)!'. After that, Ira spoke these words: 'This is the diggning stick (? ko koko], Kuukuu. You shall work the land for me and plant the yam roots [te uhi]!' ... [E:18] We can see that the nakshatra Full Moon should in November 24 (6 days after November 18) ideally be at the right ascension line for the Eye of the Bull. ![]()
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