The Voynich Ninja

The picture and poem are interesting because they don't match the plant in my garden which is also known as Lunaria (widely so).

The contemporary Lunaria has purple flowers, spiky, serrated leaves at the base and those wonderful coin-like seedheads.

One of the Italian herbals had Lunaria listed several times, with unpainted flowers (white?) and C-shaped leaves or pods. One version was many-branched, another with a single branch and a single drooping leaf-branch. I couldn't tell from the drawing what plant was intended and the seedhead on the second one didn't match Lunaria as we know it.

LJS 419 also had Lunaria several times (about seven times, if I remember correctly), but with round rather than crescent-shaped leaves (maybe a different angle or perhaps a different plant) fir the first several versions, which doesn't match our contemporary Lunaria either. It also includes one with crescent-shaped leaves and a seedhead similar to the Italian herbal, but not a coin-shape.

LJS 46 includes it, as well. It looks completely different from the others, with blunt rectangular leaves and round red buds or seedheads. Another version has round leaves and a third has the crescent-shaped leaves and an odd white flower at the apex. A further one could MAYBE be interpreted as our Lunaria, except the flowers don't match in color or shape and it doesn't show the characteristic coin-shaped seedheads.



At first I wondered if Lunaria were a mythical plant. In different herbals, there are often several versions of the plant and none of them match each other (other than one version having crescent-shaped leaves) or what we call Lunaria today. Some of the more naturalistic herbals include plants we know as Lunaria, but many include ones that are not identifiable.

They do not resemble Ricotia lunaria (a plant with a "Maltese cross" flower and palmate basal leaves).
They do not resemble Rumex lunaria which is quite shrubby and has groups of larger leaves.
They do not resemble the familiar Lunaria annua or L. biennis (the purple "money" plant with coin-like seedheads).

But...

some of them do somewhat resemble Lunaria botrytis (Botrychium lunaria) and it's a weird and interesting plant that might inspire poems because it has two versions and isn't really like any other plant. It also has the name of "moonwort". I suppose the leaves could be interpreted as crescent shaped. There are many superstitions associated with the plant. What's strange is that the variation drawings of the plant don't include the palmate-leafed version but maybe they didn't realize it was the same plant in a different form.

So I think Botrychium lunaria might be the Lunaria of some of the herbals but... it doesn't entirely match the poem (unless there's been quite a bit of "poetic license"). The flowers (technically they are grape-like spores) are greenish or reddish and look like little millet seeds from a distance but like tiny dragon heads really close up.

JKP,

the description made in the poem refers not to an actual plant, but is a description of the alchemical process itself.
I won't go into full details but basically, this is what the poem says:

First at the Root I will begin, 
That causes all things forth to spring; 
It grows upon a Mountain brim, 
Where Febis [Phoebus] has great domination: 

^this is the Materia Prima


The Root grows on stones clear, 
White and Red, that is so pure: 

^ this is the second matter with which the first is made to react

The Root is black, the Stalk is red; 
It will never be dead, 
The Leaves are round, as a Noble Sun, 
And wax and wane as the Moon: 
In the middle a mark the size of a penny, 
Lo it is like our sweet Lunayre: 
Its Flowers shine, fair and clear, 
[i]In all the World they have no peer,[/i]
^This part refers to the preparation of the Stone: wax & wane= varying intensity of fire to be applied. The mark is the appearance of the beginning of the desired result, announcing the flower= the Stone.

It is not found in no manner wise, 
But by a shepherd in God's service: 
The good shepherd that I here mean, 
Is he who keeps his soul clean: 
^Thîs and the rest of the poem makes explicit that this is not an actual plant but a process to be achieved by a dedicated (and pious!) alchemist.

And thank you, MarcoP, for making this wonderful poem available in modern English.

I understand the poem's relationship to alchemy, but it may also explain some strangeness that I've noticed in some of the herbals.

In an herbal that has recognizable and naturalistic, reasonably well-drawn plants, one suddenly comes across "lunaria" drawn not as well, not as recognizable, and sometimes in several versions. If there was myth and superstition surrounding the plant (and poems describing a plant of the same name, whether alchemical or not), it might account for how they differ from drawings of other plants in the same text.


One of the things that characterizes the VMS is that quite a number of plants are naturalistic and yet some have some very stylized properties. This is not unusual if the plant has mneumonic design elements, but if the naturalistic ones are based on plants that are known and recognized, and stylized ones on more mythical plants, it might explain the dichotomy within a specific volume that appears to include both.

Thank you VViews and JKP!
I agree with what both of you write.

I did not attempt to analyze the Lunaria poem as VViews did. I think his explanation is clear and convincing. The Lunaria is here a substitute / analogue of the Stone, and many of the elements in the description of the plant are directly borrowed from descriptions of the Stone. The Alchemist is "the Shepherd who keeps his soul clean."

JKP addresses a number of different points, that are likely to be of interest non only for Lunaria, but for the Voynich ms also.
I am also grateful for mentioning LJS 419 and LJS 46. I hope to look more into them in the future and possibly add more links to the first post in this thread.


I know that an extensive literature about magical plants exists, but I am not familiar with it (with the small exception of a small part of what has been written about the alchemical herbals). A few studies are mentioned by Alain Touwaide (paragraph 'O' about 'Astrology and Symbolism' in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).

I came across these examples from a "15th century Italian herbal manuscript" recently while doing an image search:

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There are dragons, as well as leaves that are both green and "white" (blank parchment), as in the VMS.  The source is not given.

That's Oxford MS. Canon Misc. 408, of which Marco provided all the links.
It is actually 14th Century, not 15th - older than the Voynich MS,

I hope the link works. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. a few images of Lucca ms 196 are available (click on FOTOGRAFIE DI QUESTO OGGETTO at the bottom).
For an alchemical herbal, it is particularly well painted and three-dimensional.

Here's a good example of the mythical lunaria...

You can recognize it instantly by its plantlike shape, the 30 "leaves" which which look like 15 half-moons. The myth is confirmed by the "plant" on the right with the "leaves" dropping off as the moon goes through its monthly journey.

It is also magical/alchemical, with the sun (hot) and moon (cold) shown in the upper right.


You will also notice that the drawing on the left has some oddities near the bottom. Notice how the lower moon is a "full moon" that almost resembles a glass vessel with something bright red under the "root"? It's a reference to fire and alchemical distillation processes. The two seedlike "tassels" at the top are the tubes running from the distillation mechanisms. Sometimes they are drawn upturned to represent the symbol for the moon or for mercury (which both have "horns").


Once you become familiar with alchemical and magical iconography, these references jump out at you...

(21-10-2016, 09:01 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You will also notice that the drawing on the left has some oddities near the bottom. Notice how the lower moon is a "full moon" that almost resembles a glass vessel with something bright red under the "root"? It's a reference to fire and alchemical distillation processes. The two seedlike "tassels" at the top are the tubes running from the distillation mechanisms. Sometimes they are drawn upturned to represent the symbol for the moon or for mercury (which both have "horns").

JKP, thanks for this find. Yes, probably, it means You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

 

Another copy of the Alchemical Herbal has been pointed out in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:

(28-08-2017, 03:07 PM)Thomas_S Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.... You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., a 1487 italian herbal on paper very recently digitized at Museum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.

Attached img.61 Longha Corbina (possibly corresponding to n.17 17 Herba Lingua Cornena) and Erba Corbule / Corbula (corresponding to n.44 Herba Corporelis).