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Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Printable Version

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RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Searcher - 04-09-2017

As for me, I think the folio 79 (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., v) may represent alchemical Nigredo. 
Possibly, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.: the cross - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the lying nymph with a ring - alchemical merriage and death (putrefication), the next one - a new foetus and, finally, alchemical siren (melusine) as born of new Philosophic Mercury. Fulcanelli wrote:
   
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
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Philosophia hermetica, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. 1790, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
“This emblem (equivalent in significance to the image of a Mermaid or Siren) shows the union of Sulphur (our Fish) and of the first Mercury (the Woman), from which results Philosophick Mercury” (p182).
As well, I associate the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. with these alchemical emblems:
The Philosophia reformata of J. D. Mylius. 1622. 01.
[Image: 78b48e9fa746ef0c3c445b8b90a3724c.jpg]
The Philosophia reformata of J. D. Mylius. 1622. 06.
[Image: Engraving%2BFrom%2BJd%2BMylius%2BPhiloso...ctures.jpg]
Atalanta fugiens. Michael Maier. 1617
[Image: 330px-Michael_Maier_Atalanta_Fugiens_Emblem_07.jpeg]
Clavis artis. XVII c.
[Image: 15106459083_0718378671_o.jpg]
Actually, many comparisons lead me to the "Philosophia reformata" emblems of Mylius, including f34v - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.; You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.; You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. It is too late for the VMs, so I'm very interested to find earlier sources, which could be sources for Mylius and for Maier, for example. Some my comparisons relate to illustrations of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Searcher - 04-09-2017

P. S. I've forgot to mention the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (XV c.). Some Mylius's and Maier's emblems are quite similar to it, although not exactly.

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 04-09-2017

(04-09-2017, 08:20 PM)Searcher Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It is too late for the VMs, so I'm very interested to find earlier sources, which could be sources for Mylius and for Maier,

Count me in. Let's see what I can contribute.

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - MarcoP - 05-09-2017

(04-09-2017, 08:20 PM)Searcher Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Actually, many comparisons lead me to the "Philosophia reformata" emblems of Mylius, [...]. It is too late for the VMs, so I'm very interested to find earlier sources, which could be sources for Mylius and for Maier, for example. Some my comparisons relate to illustrations of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

As Rene wrote You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:
(18-03-2017, 05:06 PM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This thread is one example where the 'Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit' comes up as an interesting work for comparison. This has happened many times over the years, usually because of its illustrations. In this case it was because of elements of its text.

As far as alchemical books are concerned, the vast majority postdate the Voynich MS. This one does not. It is basically contemporary, so looking at it makes a lot of sense. In my opinion, of course.

Early alchemical illustrations are discussed by Barbara Obrist (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).

One of the texts she mentions (Gratheus filius Philosophi, Vienna ONB Cod. Vind. 2372, second half of the fourteenth century) has been discussed by Rafal T. Prinke You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
Some more of the illustrations can be seen in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. The illustrations are from the 1992 Austrian edition, I should check if I can find it in a library (even if my ignorance of German would not allow me to understand much).
It's a kind of astro-alchemical poem featuring a large number of personified, allegorical stars with individual names and illustrations (does this sound familiar?).

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Searcher - 05-09-2017

Hi, Marco! All those observations are very important, without doubt. The problem is that they rather relate to the style of depictions, at least, most of them. 
For example, if I find a very similar depiction of a dragon in the Book of the Holy Trinity, it doesn't mean that the dragon on the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. means an alchemical one. Of course, it can be an influence of that depiction, but still can have nothing to do with alchemy. 
Therefore I search for images, which more schematically and, maybe, less visually fit some alchemical depictions with a particular alchemical meaning. So, if one picture is a coincidence, a sequence of pictures with a particular meaning can really represent some alchemical processes. For example, f79v, I believe, has alchemical, not religious, meaning "crucifixion" and "resurrection" with the sacred marriage between them. 
The f86v5 contains two mountains, the circle between them, which, likely means the Earth. I'm not sure as for the objects at the top, whether they represents winds or not, but the general meaning is quite fit alchemical and hermetic meaning. Altough the better comparisons are turned out to be with the 16-17 c. examples, I hope to find such earlier depictions. I have one from the Aurora consurgens of 15 c., which has similar meaning, but differs visually quite a bit. 
[Image: Aurora_consurgens_zurich_050_f-24v-50_digger.jpg]

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Koen G - 05-09-2017

Marco: it doesn't make much difference, but that is certainly Middle Dutch. It should be relatively easy for me to translate passages if required.

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 08-09-2017

(04-09-2017, 08:20 PM)Searcher Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.... It is too late for the VMs, so I'm very interested to find earlier sources ...

I'll  try to open another path, starting from Clavis Artis.

The author of Clavis Artis is unknown. He claims that the German translation is based on an Arabic text from the year 1236. Bruno Nardini dates the Clavis Artis in the 17th century. The year 1738 is given in the printed Jena version of the work. The date 1378 in the title page is probably a print error. The seal in the title page clearly points to a rosicrucian provenance: "J.V.S.F.R.O" stands for "J.V.S Frater Rosae[crucis]  Ordinis.

Clavis Artis Des berühmten Juden und Rabbi Zoroasters, 1738, Jena, Chem.1267, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

It is thought that the author of Clavis Artis is Abraham Eleazar. His work "Uraltes Chymisches Werck" was published in 1735 and 1760. The justification for this presumption is vague and needs to be further researched. I've found this short text on the net ( no source is indicated ):

Quote:"..... In Bibliotheca chemica : a catalogue of the alchemical, chemical and pharmaceutical books published in London in 1906, John Ferguson, a Scottish chemist and bibliographer argued that it is likely that Hermann Fichtuld the founder of the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross was right in believing that the author of Clavis Artis is  Abrahami Eleazaris. However,  he is a fictitious author of an ancient work on alchemy published in Leipsic in 1760, bearing the title "R. Abrahami Eleazaris Uraltes Chymisches Werk." The real author seems to have been Julius Gervasius of Schwarzburg, whose name is given as the editor on the title-page of the first part.Nevertheless, the image of a man in the vestments of a rabbi who is engraved on the cover page of the book of Abraham Eleazar is very similar to that of Zoroaster. There are also some other similarities among the illustrations of the two books. ...."

R. Abrahami Eleazaris Uraltes Chymisches Werck, Erfurt, 1735 Chem.968, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Gervasius, Julius, R. Abrahami Eleazaris Uraltes Chymisches Werck, Leipzig 1760, Ident. 10.3931/e-rara-4955,  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

If the presumed author is correct, then a link to Nicolas Flamel could be established. See the comparison  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Patai, R, Jewish Alchemists, Princeton University Press, 1995, page 256-257

In a German edition, I found the following text for comparison:

Quote:Nicolas Flamel, Chymische Werke, Wien 1751, page [35]23
"... Abraham der Jude, ein Fürst, Priester und Levite, Astrologe und Philosoph wünscht den durch den Zorn Gottes hin und her in Frankreich zertreuten Juden Glück und Heil ..."
 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.   

There is a first edition in Paris, "Le Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques", edited 1612 in a collection by Arnauld de la Chevalerie ( or François Béroalde de Verville ? ). A comparison of the text passage with the more recent German edition would be exciting. Unfortunately, I could not find the French edition as a digitalsat.

A comment by Adam McLean on a question about "Abraham the Jew and Flamel" can be found You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Searcher - 08-09-2017

bi3mw wrote:

Quote:I'll  try to open another path, starting from Clavis Artis.

The author of Clavis Artis is unknown. He claims that the German translation is based on an Arabic text from the year 1236. Bruno Nardini dates the Clavis Artis in the 17th century. The year 1738 is given in the printed Jena version of the work. The date 1378 in the title page is probably a print error. The seal in the title page clearly points to a rosicrucian provenance: "J.V.S.F.R.O" stands for "J.V.S Frater Rosae[crucis]  Ordinis.
This is not a mistake, 1378 is the claimed birth date of Christian Rosencreuz, an amusing trick with dates.

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Koen G - 08-09-2017

Some of the images in the table Marco posted are quite interesting. The "Femina im (?) stellae" is taken from Pleiades imagery for example.

One image I find intriguing is the "spiral" Sol. Some similar images are seen in the VM, most notably perhaps f67v, though here there's a star in the middle so it can't be the sun.

[Image: image.jpg?q=f67v1_2-463-463-162-181]

In trying to remember where I had seen such spiral sun before, I came upon some of the older portolan charts, which use it as the emblem for east.
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But maybe these spiral suns are common?

RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - -JKP- - 08-09-2017

Spiral suns are fairly common. I didn't notice them at first, but once you notice one, then they start jumping out at you when you see more.