The Voynich Ninja

I think that may be the purpose of it. To relook at tradition.

Or perhaps it is just idiosyncrasy, just one science-minded travelling gardener with access to manuscript materials?

I see some Egyptian and possibly Egyptian/Christian references in the rosettes. The central rosette, if thought to be Jerusalem would be following tradition. The addition of Cairo-like spires puts something more to it, as though they were trying to say there exists history of the world not outlined in biblical writings, maybe it is an extension of the timeline of human belief? In the rosettes the next circle below the northern rosette is a blue one that I take to be the Aegean Sea, which can be accessed from Europe via the Black Sea, the corridor between the two rosettes. It also has a nebuly aspect to it which I believe incorporates the Greek beliefs into the system but separate from the other two, as though one was considered a direct correlation and the other an input of ideas from elsewhere.

This was a time when those who did not agree with certain religious topics were burned at the stake. I see connections to the Council of Constance in Quire 13. So I could see the manuscript being either not of the European Christian tradition at all, being of it but above or against it, or a little bit sideways in ways those in power might not look upon kindly, or maybe of and for it, but just trying to make sure their enemies don't think it's one of their works in the hopes it would escape destruction somehow.

(08-12-2016, 05:41 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I've collected quite a few rainbows from alchemical texts, where they have symbolic meaning related to the color sequence of chemical transformations.

@JKP: It is quite possible that these rainbows have an alchemical background. On page 71 in the "book with seven seals", it looks like this:




Manly Palmer Hall collection of alchemical manuscripts,  circa 1500-1825, Box 4, MS 19, v. 2, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Radius, number of colors and the representation of clouds / air at the ends of the rainbow are similar. Unfortunately, the origin of the glued-in page cannot be determined.

Admins: If the post should be in the thread "Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS", please move it.

Supplement:

This could explain the "alpha" and the "omega" in the rainbow above. It's about the flood and the end of the world by fire. I cannot see any connection with the Old Testament on this folio. Only the elements could have a meaning if the scene in the upper right also shows a rainbow (with a red outer arch).




Liber chronicarum, Nürnberg, 1493, Secunda etas mudi, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.



Wait a minute, the nymphs are standing on a whale. One just have to gaze at it long enough.

I do actually believe this folio alludes to a certain flood myth. Just not the biblical one.

(23-04-2017, 02:13 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I do actually believe this folio alludes to a certain flood myth. Just not the biblical one.

The biblical one is a retelling of a Babylonian flood tale. There's a good documentary about the cuniform tablets.

I actually doubt whether the flood myths are myths—well, I suppose some aspects that are embellished are myths.

Humans live near water and many significant civilizations lived on the coastlines. As a result of the ice age receding, there were significant rises in sea levels, at one point, an increase of about 160 feet (about 18,000 years ago), which is very significant. This would have flooded a huge portion of humanity, and broken through many land bridges that had been there for millennia.

An amazing XVI Century English cap.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

In 2016, Darren Worley pointed out You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. the interesting engravings in the Lapidary section of the early printed Hortus Sanitatis (or “Ortus Sanitatis”).

The book includes a “rainbow-like” stone called Yris or Iris (in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. the engravings were painted in color).

Transcription: Ca. cxli Iris. Isidorus. Iris apud | arabiam nascitur in ma | ri rubro coloris cristalli | ni sexangulata. dicta ex | argumento iris. Nam | sub tecto percussa sole spe | cies et color celestis ar | cus proximo parietes imitatur. Plinius[?] | Optima iris est que maximos facit arcus | similimosque celestibus.

Translation: Chapter 141. Iris. Isidore [of Seville?]. Iris grows in Arabia in the Red Sea. It is of a crystalline color and has six angles. It is called “iris” for a specific reason: if, inside a house, it is struck by the sun, the shape and color of the celestial bow is reproduced on the nearby wall. Pliny [?]. The best iris is that the produces the greatest bows and most similar to the celestial ones.

Marco, are you sure you're not three people?

You consistently keep coming up with so much good stuff (and so fast) it makes my head spin!  


This stone, called solarsteinn, was used by the pre-medieval Vikings for navigation (and as a prism):



It's probably something along the same lines as "Iris" crystal.

There's an article about it on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. which mentions how this material was used to create the first polarizing prism.


Kircher and Marci were among the early scientists to study prisms.