The Voynich Ninja

The Sanskrit word मिथुन You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is used in Hindu Tantras (esoteric scriptures) to refer to the sacrament (sacred ritual) of sexual union between husband and wife. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. or Mithuna has various appearances in scripture:

• Mithuna: paired, forming a pair; copulation; the zodiacal sign of Gemini in Vedic Astrology, which is depicted as a man and woman in a sexual embrace
  
• Mithunaya: to unite sexually
  
• Mithuni: to become paired, couple or united sexually
  

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


What I would like to discuss here on Ninja is:

1. is the gemini in the VMS indeed a man and woman having sex (not visually of course), but are they "paired" as discussed in Maithuna (in the VMS symbolical)
   
2. why are they fully dressed and the other women in the VMS are not
   
3. is the gemini in the VMS an really original picture and not added later
   
4. is the paint original and not added later
   
5. what does it mean, or what implications can we make if the gemini indeed shows Maithuna
   

ps. More on how I came there and the background of this, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (start reading from Nag Hammadi)

That's a bit little to get a discussion going - why do you think they might be "a man and woman having sex, or paired as discussed in Maithuna"?

(07-01-2017, 05:03 PM)Davidsch Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....


What I would like to discuss here on Ninja is:

1. is the gemini in the VMS indeed a man and woman having sex (not visually of course), but are they "paired" as discussed in Maithuna (in the VMS symbolical)
   
2. why are they fully dressed and the other women in the VMS are not
   
3. is the gemini in the VMS an really original picture and not added later
   
4. is the paint original and not added later
   
5. what does it mean, or what implications can we make if the gemini indeed shows Maithuna
   

...

1. I think the idea that the crossed arms indicate matrimony, as has been proposed previously, might be correct and fits well with images of courtly love that became popular around this time.
2. My impression, throughout the manuscript, is that the nudity is not gratuitous, that it's used when it fits the theme or subject matter. The same with genitals—the males have genitals when there is a direct reference to sex/copulation and are omitted when the subject is more general. Also, the style of Gemini in the VMS is similar to manuscripts made around the same time in central Europe and does not appear to follow the earlier Aratea/Roman zodiac traditions in terms of style (and nudity). In other words, if there is an exemplar, it was recent and locally adapted rather than historic.
3. I think it's original. The drawing style and ink are a pretty good match for other sections.
4. I don't know when paint was added. Some of the paint in the VMS is careful, some is sloppy (looks like it was done by a different person who didn't enjoy painting and saw it as a chore) but whether they are contemporary with the manuscript or later, I don't know. The pigments are pretty similar.
5. Don't know yet.

Let's also not forget that for the Gemini as they are now, relatively similar parallels have been found in medieval European manuscripts.

Check Marco and Darren's page over at Bax's site, they also briefly touch upon the Indian tradition: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

If you scroll through the comments you'll see some more convincing parallels.

This must be the first time that I direct people towards more medieval European imagery, but evidence is evidence.

And another nice image from this alternative line is from Ayurveda, it has  has eight ways to diagnose illness, called Nadi (pulse), Mootra (urine), Mala (stool), Jihva (tongue), Shabda (speech), Sparsha (touch), Druk (vision), and Aakruti (appearance).

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By The original uploader was F16 at Hebrew Wikipedia (Transferred from he.wikipedia to Commons.) [GFDL (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)], via Wikimedia Commons

There quite a bit of discussion of the Gemini imagery (with many visual parallels) on this thread:

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I just want to show people this angle. 
Although an entire different culture, many things from the basic beliefs from the Indian culture(s) was copied into the Arabic world and from there used in Latinized Medieval Europe.

(13-04-2017, 11:14 AM)Davidsch Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I just want to show people this angle. 
Although an entire different culture, many things from the basic beliefs from the Indian culture(s) was copied into the Arabic world and from there used in Latinized Medieval Europe.

Certainly. I'm constantly looking at other cultures too. It's just that as far as romance is concerned, which is universal, it would be a challenge to identify the source of the impulse.  

I agree that more excursions into eastern territories will almost certainly help us, but we won't get far by wildly flailing our arms around. What I still don't understand is what specifically about the Gemini makes you believe we need an Asian angle, while they are among the most recognizably European images in the manuscript.