The Voynich Ninja

Thank you, JKP. I hesitated to post that, because I don’t have some of you guys’ eye for visual detail. I’m much more a verbal than visual thinker, so some of the parallels I draw with imagery can be unhelpfully loose associations. I can hear Diane O. going full schoolmarm on me and reminding me that without training in art history and iconography, it’s not possible to distinguish a meaningful visual parallel from a meaningless and coincidental one. And she’s right — proving associations and references requires a solid understanding of context. In light of that, your vote of confidence was a pleasant surprise!

I think I’m going to do some digging for the precedents and influences on Arthur Waite’s tarot illustrations, with special attention paid to the Hanged Man. I’ll post my findings here.

I don't know if this was discussed before, but the position of the arms reminds me of the practice of bloodletting. There is a general lack of red colour and blood themed ilustrations in the MVS though, so probably it is probably a long shot.

But sure bloodletting was known to the author, it was a very common practice. The idea is that excess of one of the humours (blood in this case) causes health problems.

Here is an ilustration from Li Livres dou Santé. France, late 13th Century

(28-06-2020, 03:42 PM)RenegadeHealer Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I think I’m going to do some digging for the precedents and influences on Arthur Waite’s tarot illustrations, with special attention paid to the Hanged Man. I’ll post my findings here.

That should be very interesting, though I suspect it won't be easy!