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+--- Thread: Hidden notes of the VMs (/thread-1319.html)
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Searcher - 29-10-2022
(28-10-2022, 10:15 PM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There are several lineages in European alchemy (to this day.) The "black earth" is primarily associated with the so-called Mutus Liber lineage which is concerned with Materia Prima. This is a quite distinct tradition from herbal alchemy (Paracelsean) and metallic alchemy. It is still a school of practical laboratory alchemy among fringe enthusiasts in Central Europe. This is the type of alchemy that tries to extract the Material Prima from the gross exudates of nature; manures, humus, dew etc. It doesn't usually use herbs or metals. It is agricultural.I think you are not right. Mutus liber is not the first. And it even doesn't contain text, only images, thus it can't be a good example.
So I would be surprised to find the Voynich MS. labelled with the words 'Black Earth' or similar, because it is clearly a text of herbal alchemy, or more accurately proto-Paracelsean, and does not seem to belong in that other stream of European alchemical thinking.
I will write later about my view in relation to that possible word combination. Maybe, it will be a post in my blog, as I think it would be better to bring my thought to a logical conclusion consistently and fully.
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Searcher - 06-11-2022
(28-10-2022, 10:15 PM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There are several lineages in European alchemy (to this day.) The "black earth" is primarily associated with the so-called Mutus Liber lineage which is concerned with Materia Prima. This is a quite distinct tradition from herbal alchemy (Paracelsean) and metallic alchemy. It is still a school of practical laboratory alchemy among fringe enthusiasts in Central Europe. This is the type of alchemy that tries to extract the Material Prima from the gross exudates of nature; manures, humus, dew etc. It doesn't usually use herbs or metals. It is agricultural.As I promised, I wrote a post about this.
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RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Ruby Novacna - 06-11-2022
This inscription very low down on the page looks like a signature, weren't there people with the name Terra-atra?
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Searcher - 06-11-2022
(06-11-2022, 12:20 PM)Ruby Novacna Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This inscription very low down on the page looks like a signature, weren't there people with the name Terra-atra?I'm not familiar with such one, didn't find in my research. Possibly, the top left corner inscription can be a signature.
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Hermes777 - 06-11-2022
(06-11-2022, 10:51 AM)Searcher Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(28-10-2022, 10:15 PM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There are several lineages in European alchemy (to this day.) The "black earth" is primarily associated with the so-called Mutus Liber lineage which is concerned with Materia Prima. This is a quite distinct tradition from herbal alchemy (Paracelsean) and metallic alchemy. It is still a school of practical laboratory alchemy among fringe enthusiasts in Central Europe. This is the type of alchemy that tries to extract the Material Prima from the gross exudates of nature; manures, humus, dew etc. It doesn't usually use herbs or metals. It is agricultural.As I promised, I wrote a post about this.
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Good blog post Searcher. Thanks.
I am of the view that there are three, not two, “red weirdos” on page one of the ms. There are two clearly visible on the left hand side of the page, and another – badly mutilated – in the top right hand corner. They should be counted as a set and indeed a sequence. I take them to be alchemical rather than typographical (pillcrows or whatever) and they announce the theme of the work.
The first of them in the right corner cannot be reconstructed, but it appears like the other two in having “wings” and a base but with a crossbar through it.
I suggest it represents “corrupt water” or similar (eg. sediment) and that the other two show a process of purification, with the last representing the aqua vitae; although not in the sense of alcohol as aqua vitae as it appears in later alchemical works – there is every indication that the herbalism portrayed in the Voynich is a herbalism of water extraction, i.e. prior to the widespread use of alcohol as the preferred solvent.
In any case, relevant to your work, these symbols on page one show a threefold process of purification that could provide the model for allegories on the same theme in the illustrations with different types or grades of water depicted.
In a herbalism of water extraction, water is the alchemical agent, that is to say the agent of elemental transformation and regeneration – a process analogous to the redemption of the fallen soul.
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Searcher - 06-11-2022
(06-11-2022, 02:24 PM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I am of the view that there are three, not two, “red weirdos” on page one of the ms. There are two clearly visible on the left hand side of the page, and another – badly mutilated – in the top right hand corner. They should be counted as a set and indeed a sequence. I take them to be alchemical rather than typographical (pillcrows or whatever) and they announce the theme of the work.I interpret the inscription in the very right top corner as "AR", as a supposition, maybe it means "aqua regis", but if I'm mistaken identifying some strokes of the letters, it can be "AV" (joined in one sign) - "aqua vitae". As well, I'm not sure, but I seem to discern "X"-like symbol and "bird"-symbol just before "AR"/"AV".
The first of them in the right corner cannot be reconstructed, but it appears like the other two in having “wings” and a base but with a crossbar through it.
I suggest it represents “corrupt water” or similar (eg. sediment) and that the other two show a process of purification, with the last representing the aqua vitae; although not in the sense of alcohol as aqua vitae as it appears in later alchemical works – there is every indication that the herbalism portrayed in the Voynich is a herbalism of water extraction, i.e. prior to the widespread use of alcohol as the preferred solvent.
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - tavie - 06-11-2022
Could it have been another (presumably ignored) instruction to the painter, in Latin this time? Terra atra was seen in couple of colour names for painters' pigments, e.g. terra atra veneta [page 297 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.], although I don't know if that was also the case during the manuscript's dating range.
RE: Hidden notes of the VMs - Searcher - 06-11-2022
(06-11-2022, 05:38 PM)tavie Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Could it have been another (presumably ignored) instruction to the painter, in Latin this time? Terra atra was seen in couple of colour names for painters' pigments, e.g. terra atra veneta [page 297 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.], although I don't know if that was also the case during the manuscript's dating range.I think everything is possible, although, on my view, it would be strange to write such an instruction with bold capital letters.