Chasing Moons: Hina, Sina, from Asia to America via Pasefika. Closing in on Gilgamesh (Bil / Pili)

I have been thinking about the name of an ancestor known as #Salamasina. Sala-ma-SINA Mata-fa'i-fa was a #Samoan queen of four great Ali'i titles, reputedly descended from #Nafanua, a war goddess. Her line, through several marriages, joined many #Sāmoan lines including #Lualemana, #Fānēnē, #Malietoa, and #Tuimalaeimi and unified many titles during a long period of peace.

While her reign is thought to have occurred sometime early in the 2nd millenium, or mid-1st millenium C.E., her namesake of #SINA, a #moon #goddess, seems to hint at a clear Asian connection.

The name SINA has many cognates through the Pacific nations. SINA is #HINA in #Hawaii. Fascinatingly, the word (like a good many other fundamental vocabulary words and roots) tends to share particular attributes all around the world. Close examination reveals a common theme that tends to possess the following attributes—

• age (grey or white hair)

• fair skin

• albinism

• paleness

• skin conditions that cause pale discolorations of affected areas

• associations with death and fatigue

• lying down (due to illness, fatigue, or death)

• placid pools or ponds

I suspect that SINA's name, or the name of her family, has ties to many places as it sits astride Polynesia with footholds in #Asia AND #Meso-America.

Consider these names and words:

* #Singapore is a nation in Southeast Asia situated across a narrow Jahore Strait on the Southernmost tip of #Malaysia and also across the Singapore Strait from Indonesia. The etymology of the name suggests "City of Tigers", or “lion”+”city”.

#Lion (虎 - Laohu) and #Dragon (龍 - Long) are two complementary forces in #Taoism. Taoism emphasizes the feminine principles embodied in darkness, and water. The Tao itself is likened to a “liquid” principle. It is well-known and accepted that the moon exerts a push/pull force on water through gravitation. The lion (or, rather, the tiger as the great cat of Asia) is the yang, light, solar, push force of the Tao, equal and opposite the dragon (yīn) in every way. According to Chinese astrological traditions, all of creation is governed by two supernatural beings--the Tiger which rules Earth, and the Dragon which rules Heaven.

Where have I heard this before?... Ah, Enki (Eā) and Enlil, respectively the half-sibling Sumerian gods of Earth & Sea and the power of Air/Heaven, an elemental theme that echoes in Judeo-Christian traditions as well with epithets and titles such as "King of kings and lord of lords" (Βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων), "King of the World" (Rex Mundi), and Prince of the Power of Air (archonta tes exousias tou aeros).

Note that Enlil’s son Nanna, also known as Su’en, Sīn, 𒀭𒋀𒆠 (ᴰŠEŠ .KI), 𒀭𒈾𒀭𒈿 (ᴰNANNA) can be extrapolated as SIN.A thusly:

𒌍𒈾 = SINA

SIN.A

"Moon"+"man"

𒌍 = SIN = “moon”

𒌍 is a reduplication of the symbol 𒌋 (pronounced Ū) trebled. This is the onomatopoeic sound of wolves baying at the moon! “Ū-Ū-Ū!”

𒌋 (Ū) means:

• 10

• well

• encircle

• cover

• bewitch

• deep

• to cloud over

Therefore three 𒌋 produce ”30" which ancient Sumerian traditions held as Nanna’s / Sin's sacred number. It is also the approximate number of days the moon takes to cycle through all of its phases.

𒈾 = NA = “man”

𒈾 is a composite or rather compound of ASH / AŠ and KI symbolized by:

𒀸 = ASH / AŠ = “one”, “alone”

𒆠 = KI = “earth”, “land”

Read together 𒌍𒈾 suggests a slew of epithets like: "30 days it takes the man circling alone around the earth"

"thrice bewitching man" "the man in the moon"

I wonder if the sliver aspects of the waxing and waning moon, the crescents did not suggest to the ancients a lone sailor aboard a flimsy bark, ship, or ark afloat in the endless Abyss of the night sky. In that regard, the name may also suggest: "the lone man encircled by the deep ocean (of sky)."

Singapore

* #Sinaloa is a region of Northeastern Mexico. IF the Nahuatl name is derivative from a Polynesian language family, then it likely means "Faraway Moon" (“Moon”+”Long”/“Distant”)

Sinaloa

Other parallels:

SINGH (Hindi) = ਸਿੰਘ/سِنگھ = “lion”, “horn” (like a moon horn sliver)

SHI•ma (Japan) = 島 = “island”, “strip” (which are moon-shaped land masses)

SHI•N (Japan) = 死 = "death" (in Asian traditions the color white is associated with death) CHANG'E (HENG'E) = 支那, 震旦 = / Qin (秦) = Chinese moon goddess SIM•HA (Malay) = सिंह = Lion SIM•BA (Zulu, Africa) = Lion

SING•ya (Hopi, Arizona) = to peel

SING•yan (Hopi, Arizona) = snowdrift

SINI (Navajo (Arizona, New Mexico) = to lie down

Samoan root of "SINA"

Navajo root of "SINIL"

Hopi root "SING"

Inquiry:

Is Salamasina— Sā lā ma Sina? “family of The Sun and Moon” Sala masī na? “punishment/exile/fine” + "for" (implicit) + "those on a journey for war” Salamō sinā? “to repent” + "until" (implicit) + ”grey headed”

Shalom shinai? The "peace" + "of" (implicit) + "the wilderness of Sin"?

מִדְבַּר סִין

Midbal SĪN (Hebrew) = “place of wandering" or "meditation”

Generally SIN was a Semitic MOON DEITY as well as a Sumerian (non-Semitic Aryan people) male god of the moon and father of Šamaš / Shamash, the sun god, nephew to Enki/EA and Ninti, and son of Enlil and Ninlil.

It appears that Samoans and other Asians learned A LOT from observing the moon’s influence. As for where they learned it who can say but the linguistic clues point in the general direction of Asia. Naturally, as seafarers, a healthy dose of respect for the moon's influence on the weather and sea would be critical to successful expeditions. Worship and favor of this god must have been an integral part of daily life. The best evidence for this is that variations of the name are everywhere and in parallel with that a richness of dragon-themed lore appears as well.

In that sense, regarding an understanding of what and where the wilderness of Sin was, a strong case could definitely be made that it encompassed the vast solitude and hardship of the Sea. As a sailor myself I have spent many a night and day in deep contemplation of the deeper meanings of life while gazing up at the full winter moon between winter storms in a placid north Atlantic awash in darkness but for the singular shaft of glittering lightning cast by the moon—by SINA, The White haired maiden—upon the wake of the USS Nassau (LHA-4). The sea is entrancing. Staring into the depths of her emerald green eyes stirs something in Man, a longing as well as terror, comfort and fear, uncertainty, self-reliance and interdependence and offers many opportunities for reflection that confers wisdom through hardship. I imagine that the desert offers as much in the same way.

“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink...“ (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Whether through an over abundance of non-potable water, or a complete lack of easily obtainable water, the net effect is the gain of a healthy respect for water, rules of hospitality, awareness of scarcity and fierce notions of community and protocol.

Peninsula of Sinai

"They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. They set out from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah." (Numbers 33:11 to 33:12)

Directly across the Red Sea from Dophkah is nearby Elim, the port city of the Egyptian capital of Thebes during the 18th Dynasty between 1550 BCE and 1200 BCE. Elim was situated between Marah (meaning "bitter", commemorating a place with a well of bitter water) and the Wilderness of Sin. Thought to lie on the eastern shore of the Red Sea.

"When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[which means "bitter"]) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. (Exodus 15:23-15:25)

This peculiar story smacks of metaphor, which is usually a clue that an itinerant, nomadic people are introducing a compound story. In this case, the bitter water sounds like "battle". I cite a quote made famous by King Kamehameha at the battle of Nu'uanu Pali:

"Imua e, na poki'i, a inu i ka wai 'awa'awa, a ohe hope e hoi mai ai." / "Forward, my dear younger cousins, and drink the BITTER WATERS OF BATTLE, for there is no possibility of retreat."

Assuming there is a connection between these incidents with the meaning of "bitter" and "battle", it may mean there was an armed engagement between the Hebrews at Marah during their Exodus.

A piece of wood is tossed into the water to make the water potable. As a metaphor trees and water typically hint at a journey by sea or an oceangoing voyage. It may also allude to the use of a natural herb or wood to chemically neutralize the ”bitterness” of available water. Elsewhere I have proposed the use of whaka root, va’a root, or kava / ‘awa to quench thirst and extend a voyage with seawater to supplement dwindling fresh water. The name of this root lends itself to such an interpretation. The mechanics of this involve the chewing of 'awa to release the narcotic kavalactein / kavalactones, which reduce salinity through a combination of acids present in saliva, and overall thirst-reduction from the release of the kavalactone and the soothing effect on the lining of the mouth and throat. [⁸][¹⁶]

"Various authors have described the effect of the drink differently. Some stated the thirst relieving potential of kava due to its pleasant, cooling, aromatic and numbing effect on the mucous membrane of the tongue (Singh 1986; Walji 1998). Te Rangi Hiroa a Polynesian from New Zealand, who often drank kava found it cooling, refreshing, and stimulating without being intoxicating. Other reports describe it with bitterness and burning taste in the mouth but the first effect is a numbing and astringent effect on the tongue and the inner lining of the mouth (Singh 1986; Walji 1998)." [⁹]

Hence from this place they next travel to regions called #Massah ("testing") and #Meribah ("quarreling"). Massah sounds conspicuously like the Hopi god, or guide, of the underworld and death, a psychopomp named Massau'u, or #Massaw. The name seems like a play on words with #Moishe, the Hebrew name of #Moses. Further, it sounds like the Polynesian name #Muasau, a name long associated with the vanguard of multiple mariner Polynesian nations. The events at Meribah (Meribah-#Kadesh) center on how the Lord (Adonai? Elohim? YHWH?) and the people of Israel have a falling out. This is the testing time of the Israelties near Mt. Sinai. The wayward tribes pass the time at the base of God’s holy mountain while Moses speaks face to face with a living pillar of fire... Undeniably this sounds like a sustained volcanic eruption of which there are many to choose from and follow in the ring of fire, but we ought to narrow our selection to those the geological record demonstrates erupted in the centuries near the time of Exodus. The earliest of these could be Taupo in New Zealand in 1460 B.C.E., Pago in Papua New Guinea 1370 B.C.E. which both ranked 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). These are among the largest eruptions, dwarfing Mt. St. Helens in 1980 C.E. and would not have transpired without man making note. Parallel this it is worth matching up the timeline with Solar Storms and possibilities of potential geomagnetic influence on volcanism as noted with coronal mass ejections (CME) such as in 1485 B.C.E.

Kadesh is now recognized as the site of a significant battle of unequal forces between the Hittites based out of the mountain fortress of Hattuša and the Egyptians whose capital was at Thebes. The battle was punctuated by the tactical genius of Muršili II and a ruse that spelled the undoing of a numerically superior force commanded by an overconfident and impetuous Pharaoh. Though a stalemate was the military outcome it laid the foundation for a lasting truce that allowed each empire to shift attentions to and attend to simultaneous threats plaguing each empire. At the heart of these threats was a shared enemy at sea, the mysterious Sea People...

Mt. Sinai (from a Bible card published by Providence Lithograph Company, 1907)

At this point it is worth noting that Hebrew traditions with respect to time keeping follow both the cycle of the sun and the moon, which yields a complex, but predictable series of 12-month and 13-month years that adhere to the lunar cycles with leap years to compensate for time drift.

I wish to re-emphasize the importance of "sun" and "moon" symbolism. This pops up repeatedly throughout Polynesian mythology and cultural practices. Case in point, the name Salamasina read as SĀ + LĀ + MA + SINA, "family, sun and moon", also “forbidden/sacred (union?) of sun and moon”

Taken as a whole, these elements are reminiscent of the pronouncement upon Israel that the generation that sinned (at Sinai and Meribah-Kadesh) were cursed to wander until all that generation died off at which time their children only could see the promised land.

It suggests that the descendants of those Israelites are today enjoying the Promised Land, a land overflowing (ao “supreme” / au ”to flow”) with milk (tatau) and honey (meli).⁶

Now that is very interesting:

* milk (susu) is obtained by repeated strokes (tatau) of the nipple.

* tatau means “to milk”, as well as ”to strike”; it is related to tattoo, which “milks” blood, or toto, It is often contacted to tā, which means “to strike”. It also means hard labor.⁶

The promised land is thusly:

Aoau-meli-tatau

Au-meli-tā

Au-meri-ka

Why, that’s AMERICA. The Vespucci origin of “America” seems conspicuously dubious all of a sudden.

But I digress...

Elsewhere in the ancient world where Lunar and Solar deities appear there follow very similar paradiagms. This includes lore from China, Sumer, Africa and Polynesia.

In China, there is a myth of three figures, two in a couple, named Chang'e (Heng'e) and Houyi, the Archer, and the Jade Emperor (a dragon). The Jade emperor had 10 sons who appeared as 10 suns, whose misbehavior scorched the Earth. Houyi fought against heaven and slew 9 of the sons of the Jade Emperor. The last son, Houyi appointed to be The Sun.

The Jade Emperor was angered that his sons were slain and he cast Houyi and Heng'e from heaven. Now mortal, Houyi went on a quest for immortality... his mortality and fixation on his quest however made him develop a less than desirable character and greed, and ambition overtook him. He became a tyrant.

Chinese Elements: * 10 suns * Moon goddess named Heng'e (H+vowel+Ng+vowel) * war against heaven * a mighty archer before the lord (Jade Emperor) * quest for immortality * a tyrannical antihero * swallowing of the elixir of eternal life by a goddess associated with water/moon, namely Henge

Parallels with the epic of Gilgamesh (aka Nimrod, Orion): * Anu and Anna - sovereign of heaven and 10 to annunaki * Moon goddess * war against heaven (Tower of Babel) * a mighty hunter (Gilgamesh/Bilgamesh) * a tyrannical ruler who learns moderation after much suffering * pursuit of the secret of immortality (Noah / Utnapishtim) * the plant of immortality is consumed by a serpent while Gilgamesh/Bilgamesh bathes...the serpent is often associated with the divine feminine as with Taoism.

* The Sumerian Moon GOD (male) is named SIN

Parallels in Polynesian myths: * Tagaloa in heaven * Pili, the eel, pursues Sina/Hina, rapes and impregnates her, making her his wife ⁴ * Pili is chased to earth because he defiled the moon / Sina as she bathed in a sacred pool. He too enters the pool and bathes with her and takes her chastity. * a descendant / close relative of Pili known as Le #Fanoga makes war on heaven, he is a giant * Samoan mythology tells of a debate among the gods as to whether humanity should live or die, and the gods decide mankind should not be spared. * Further, men die (young). Women are destined to not die (as early as men).

Conclusions:

There are so many parallels here that it can only be surmised, as I have previously written, that Pili-ka-'ae'ae is Bil-ga-mesh / Gil-ga-mesh / #Gilgamesh / #Nimrod / #Orion. He represents the first wave of migration to the East of #Edin / #Eden and the Pacific. He who made landing in the land of the gods...probably America in search of #Noah (#Utnapishtim / #Atrahasis). He returned to #Asia with the secret of immortality in his hands, but he lost this secret to a serpent, a mo'o, a dragon, likely his wife.

For example, in Sumerian: 𒉋

This is BÍL / PÍL (mistaken for GIL until recently) has one meaning of "new", or "fresh", and is a compound of NE (𒉈) and four U (𒌋), which stands for "40".

NE (𒉈) (Alternate pronunciations: sheshig / šešig) means: Adjective: "burnt", "black"

Noun: "fire", "brazier"

Verb: "to burn", "to carry", "to bring".

𒌋𒌋 𒌋𒌋 "forty" - The Sumerian god EA / ENKI is often referenced as "40" in Sumerian tablets, which was his sacred number.

ENKI / EA / "40"

This is evocative of the story of #Paao and #Pili [⁵][⁷], a story referenced elsewhere, that centers on the renewal of corrupted chiefly bloodlines in Hawai'i by the importation of a chief of pure blood from #Upolu, #Samoa whose seed, according to the stories that filtered down to the present, "made fresh" the degraded chiefly bloodlines of #Ulu and #Nana-Ulu embodied in the rule of #Kapawa (Hawaiian), or Ka #Pava [³] (Samoan, a war god of #Upolu / village cluster of #Falealili), who was a chief that Tagaloa-a-Ui, early in his career, displaced from Manu'a to Falealili as a punishment for failing to show proper respect to one of the #Tagaloa family. In this case, Ui as an agent of Tagaloa-#Lagi / Tagaloa-#Laa's will.

In the native language of the #Aztec, #Nahuatl / #Nawatl:

pil-li is "Son", "Noble", "prince

pil-tzin-tli. Son. (Reverential).

In various dialects of the Polynesian language:

Pili means "relative", "NEAR"

Pilipili means "to approach"

Pili is affiliated with lizards [⁴][⁷] of all kinds, thus "dragon", or "lizard" [¹²] as an alternative of mo'o.

References:

1. Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. University of Hawai'i Press: Honolulu, 1970.

2. Wall, Leon. Navajo-English Dictionary. Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1958. (p. 57)

3. Fraser, John, LL.D. Folk-Songs and Myths from Samoa. The Journal of the Polynesian Society. Volumes 6-7. The Polynesian Society, 1897. (p. 67)

4. Hopi Dictionary Project. Hopi Dictionary / hopiikwa lavaytutuveni: a Hopi-English Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect. The University of Arizona Press, 1998. (Pg. 503)

5. Krämer, Augustin, Dr. Samoa: A Monograph. University of Hawai'i Press. 1994. (Pp. 510, 552, 553, 557, 635.)

6. Krämer, Augustin, Dr. The Samoa Islands: Material Culture. University of Hawai'i Press. 1994. (Pp. 196, 450)

7. Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities. Bishop Museum Press, 1951.

8. Milner, G. B., Samoan Dictionary. Pasifika Press, 1966. (Pp. 21-22, 29-32, 144, 220-221, 244, 277.)

9. Pratt, George. Samoan-English Dictionary. (Pp. 45, 165, 167.)

10. Singh, Y. N. 1986. A review on the Chemistry and Pharmacology of Kava (Piper methysticum. Forst). INR Technical Report No. 86/5, Institute of Natural Resources, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. (Pp 17.) Singh, Ranjeeta D. Potential Application of Kava (Piper methysticum F.) In Nematode Control. School of Biological, Chemical and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, November 2006. (p. 2.)

11. Stair, John B., Reverend. "Jottings on the Mythology and Spirit-Lore of Old Samoa." The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 3. The Polynesian Society,1894. (p. 239.)

12. Stair, John B., Reverend. "Jottings on the Mythology and Spirit-Lore of Old Samoa." The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 5, Number 1.

13. Smith, Stephenson Percy. Hawaiki: the Original Home of the Maori; with a sketch of Polynesian history. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., 1904. (Pp. 86, 87.)

14. Steubel, C., Herman, Brother. Tala O Le Vavau: The Myths, Legends, and Customs of Old Samoa. (p. 56.)

15. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volumes 6-7. Polynesian Society, 1897. (Pp. 24, 62.)

16. Turner, George. Samoa, a Hundred Years Ago and Long Before: Together with Notes on the Cults. (P. 42, 43, 44.)

17. Walji, H. Kava - Nature's Relaxant for Anxiety, Stress and Pain. Hohm Press, Prescott. 1988

18. Westervelt, William Drake. Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes: Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian. Ellis Press, 1916. (Pp. 120-122)