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A few preliminary
remarks and imaginations:
1.
The image of an upward rising fish suggests a celestial
'person' rising from the horizon. In the Mamari moon
calendar, for instance, the
growing
phase is
illustrated as a rising fish, while the descending moon is like an
upside down and sinking fish:
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Ca7-20 |
Ca8-26 |
On the other hand, 'sun' is always shown rising (or standing still,
viz.
at summer solstice) in a calendar of Large Washington Tablet. The
central bottom flame of hetuu seems to be converted into a
fish tail:
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Sb2-8 |
Sb2-9 |
Sb2-10 |
Sb2-20 |
Sb2-21 |
Sb2-22 |
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Sb2-11 |
Sb2-12 |
Sb2-13 |
Sb2-23 |
Sb2-24 |
Sb2-25 |
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Sb2-14 |
Sb2-15 |
Sb2-16 |
Sb2-26 |
Sb2-27 |
Sb2-28 |
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Sb2-17 |
Sb2-18 |
Sb2-19 |
Sb2-29 |
Sb2-30 |
Sb2-31 |
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Manu rere
could alternatively be imagined as responsible for the bottom
end of the 'sun fish':
However, there is
a sequence of glyphs in Large St Petersburg Tablet (P) from
which we can read an affinity between 'sun fish' and vaha mea:
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While watching stars (hetu'u) rising
in the east, the interest - in early morning
- to also watch them descend in the west was
probably low. In contrast with the moon,
whose cycle is much longer, it would hardly
be strange if the stars were depicted always
as rising fishes, never as descending ones.
There are descending fishes in the
rongorongo texts. Some may depict stars,
but then presumably those descending in the
west in the evening.
Next two pages:
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2.
Hetu'u means not only the sun but also 'star' and the
names of the months
once were chosen from the names of prominent early morning
stars which shone before sunlight arrived:
"As the earth makes its
annual revolution of the Sun the observer sees new constellations
rising in the east after sundown from week to week, while others
disappear in the west and are lost in the rays of the Sun. In the
northern hemisphere we are accustomed to associate Canis Major and
Orion with winter and Scorpius and Sagittarius with summer because
these groups of stars dominate the evening sky in their respective
seasons.
The Polynesians, on the
other hand, made their observations in the early morning twilight.
To the Maori Sirius in Canis Major was therefore a star of July and
a harbinger of frost and cold weather in their southern latitude, so
that the name Takurua became synonymous with winter.
Antares in Scorpius was
first seen by New Zealanders before dawn in November - December and
was considered the herald of summer heat, the star which ripened
fruit and enervated man.
The morning star was
said to rule the month during which it rose before sunrise ..."
(Makemson)
The 'sun fish' glyphs in Large Washington Tablet could refer to the
morning star which ruled the month in question.
Around a solstice even the stars appear to stand still. It is the
movement of earth around the sun (together with the rounded surface
of the earth) which at those times makes the sky roof appear to
stand still relative to the marks on the horizon. Comparing one
morning's observations with the next it is obvious that the pendulum
of the sky roof slows down to a standstill and then returns. |
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3.
At early dawn when sun separates sky from earth, spreading
his rosy fingers on sea and sky, a mighty red opening in the east is
created. Maybe this inspired the creators of the
rongorongo system to make a glyph like vaha mea? Or was
it maybe only in Metoro's imagination - guessing at a reference to
early dawn?
The 12th kuhane station, Roto Iri Are, is located
immediately before summer (as if Roto Iri Are was showing
itself immediately before sun was rising):
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1st quarter |
2nd quarter |
3rd quarter |
4th quarter |
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He Anakena
(July) |
Tagaroa uri
(October) |
Tua haro
(January) |
Vaitu nui
(April) |
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Te Pei |
Te Pou |
Tama |
One Tea |
Mahatua |
Taharoa |
Nga Kope Ririva |
Te Pu Mahore |
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Hora iti
(August) |
Ko Ruti
(November) |
Tehetu'upú
(February) |
Vaitu poru
(May) |
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Hua Reva |
Akahanga |
Hanga Takaure |
Poike |
Hanga Hoonu |
Rangi Meamea |
Te Poko Uri |
Te Manavai |
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Hora nui
(September) |
Ko Koró
(December) |
Tarahao
(March) |
He Maro
(June) |
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Hatinga Te Kohe |
Roto Iri Are |
Pua Katiki |
Maunga Teatea |
Peke Tau O Hiti |
Mauga Hau Epa |
Te Kioe Uri |
Te Piringa Aniva |
| Iri
1. To go up; to go in a boat on the sea
(the surface of which gives the impression of going up
from the coast): he-eke te tagata ki ruga ki te vaka,
he-iri ki te Hakakaiga, the men boarded the boat and
went up to Hakakainga. 2. Ka-iri ki puku toiri
ka toiri. Obscure expression of an ancient curse.
Vanaga.
Iri-are, a
seaweed. Vanaga. |
Vahahora (vaha-hora) means
spring, 'opening (of) summer', and vahatoga (vaha-toga)
means autumn, 'opening (of) winter'.
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Vaha mea could be a term encompassing
both vaha hora and vaha toga.
Another possibility is that vaha mea
means the 'opening of the year'.
In Aa6-67 there is a strange variant of
vaha mea, with a separate head (ki to
vaha o to ika mea, 'the opening of the
red fish'):
I have counted from Aa6-55, which I earlier
have concluded: 'presumably marks the end of
the 1st 'year':
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Aa6-55 |
Aa6-56 |
Aa6-57 |
Aa6-58 |
Aa6-59 |
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Aa6-60 |
Aa6-61 |
Aa6-62 |
Aa6-63 |
Number 12 (vaha o ika mea) and number
15 (mago) probably is the same
character, the sun.
The head drawn as a separate unit may be
related to the tara with head as a
separate unit, also located at midsummer:
