+- The Voynich Ninja (https://www.voynich.ninja)
+-- Forum: Voynich Research (https://www.voynich.ninja/forum-27.html)
+--- Forum: Analysis of the text (https://www.voynich.ninja/forum-41.html)
+--- Thread: Ensoulment according to the Catholic Church in the 14th and 15th centuries (/thread-4182.html)
Ensoulment according to the Catholic Church in the 14th and 15th centuries - pjburkshire - 07-03-2024
I still think the pages of Quire 13 from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. of the Voynich Manuscript are about Ensoulment. I think the images of stars in the illustrations represent human souls and the process of Ensoulment.
Can someone out there who is an expert in the history of the 14th and 15th centuries answer this question; What were the teachings of the Catholic Church in the 14th and 15th centuries on the topic of Ensoulment?
RE: Ensoulment according to the Catholic Church in the 14th and 15th centuries - cvetkakocj@rogers.com - 07-03-2024
In the Middle Ages, the traditional Catholic dogmas were being challenged by various religious sects, as well as by religious intellectuals who understood the biblical writing symbolically. Like at the present time, schism in the Church provided a fertile ground for agnosticism and for gnostic ideas to be spread across Europe which triggered all kinds of mystical activities, some more, other less genuine. Fear and insecurity, even fear of God and fear of Devil, as well as misunderstanding of St. John's Revelation and expectation of the Armageddon, created all kinds of mystical visions inspired by previous visions the Church had already approved.
At the same time, better understanding of the biblical writing, inspired genuine mystical religious experience that is triggered by Love towards all humanity and extensive introspection and study of Christianity and other religions, including ancient pagan religions, in order to search for common ethical and moral principles.
Those mystical visions represented the highest degree which in religious terms is called 'mystical death', or 'a rapture', as C.G. Jung would say.
Many books on this subject were written in the Middle Ages, including the warning how dangerous it can be to venture into such spiritual journey without a guide, the books such as The Cloud of the unknowing, which inspired many medieval spiritual writers to 'search for God', or 'search for the Truth', at the time when Church was not able to provide unified guidance, and when Church was preaching 'Do not kill', while at the same time millions of people, accused of heresy, were killed by crusaders.
When a society as a whole becomes conditioned that what is wrong is in fact right, and what is right is wrong, it is very difficult to recognize genuine prophets from the self-proclaimed prophets who use their pulpit to promote their interests. Historically, the genuine prophets (artists, poets, religious reformers, etc.) were always viewed as anarchists, because they challenged rich and powerful.
Genuine artist and mystic were experiencing great mental agony on their solitary spiritual journey to seek the Truth and to point it out. They might experience it as a mystical vision, which does not come about as some contemporary American 'prophets' explain, but rather as a fear and trembling of a soul who feels alone and 'naked' before God (the ultimate reality). This mystical path was called 'via negativa' and was described by many medieval mystic, particularly those of Rhineland, including Nicholas Kempf, author of Mystical Theology, who was one of the greatest 15th century Carthusian reformers.
Genuine mystical visions are usually presented in symbolic visions that needed to be 'de-coded'. The visual images could be as weird as Picassos' paintings, but genuine mystic intuitively understands them and acts on them for the good of humanity, even if this endangers his/her life.
In the Middle Ages, many genuine mystics and reformers were accused of heresy, even some of those the Catholic Church later canonized as saints. Even possessing their books could be the cause of persecution. Burning books was one way of curtailing the spread of 'heresy'.
Historically, spiritual things are difficult to explain, except by the way of analogies and symbolic representations.
After extensive study of medieval art and mysticism, I came to the conclusion that the biographical section of the VM represent a process of spiritual transformation, the incarnation of God's word (from the Biblical writing) into individual soul of a people. The difference is in the degree of mystical experience: The highest degree is the wisdom that comes straight from God (Love, Truth, Goodness or whatever higher goal humanity aspires to), while rituals and sacraments represent indirect spiritual conditioning by way of intermediary (a priest).
In my opinion, the biographical pages of the VM can best be explained as different aspects of mystical religious experience that include scenes from physical reality (pools), which at the same time serve as analogy for the spiritual reality (baptism), clouds as a vail between earthly and heavenly things, female souls in various contraptions as 'fountains of eternal wisdom' and symbols of prophesy.
From the first time I saw those VM pictures, I was convinced they represent human souls, which in Slovenian mythology are of female gender and had similar role as angels (they can travel through time and place, they can speak without words, they can appear even after death (in hallucinations) etc.
RE: Ensoulment according to the Catholic Church in the 14th and 15th centuries - pjburkshire - 07-03-2024
I totally agree that there were many different groups of Christians then as now and that they argued a lot about small details. I think the heresy issue may be why we have only one example of a manuscript like the Voynich Manuscript. I think maybe all other copies of works by the Christian group that created the Voynich Manuscript got destroyed as heretical but one copy managed to survive.
I would be interested in hearing what any of the different groups of Christians said about Ensoulment.