The cross and the presence or lack of Christian influences

[MarcoP]

If the person who masterminded the Voynich Manuscript held Pagan beliefs, then the VMS is overflowing with religious imagery.

Since about 75% of the Voynich illustrations are exclusively botanic, I would say that, if the ms is overflowing with anything, it's with plants. Apparently, botany was the main subject of the work.

But yes, the so-called nymphs might be goddesses of some kind. Personally, I tend to exclude any relation with the Greco-Roman or Egyptian religions, since most of their main gods were male and they don't appear in the ms. Whatever the interpretation of the nymphs, it must provide an explanation for their almost exclusive female gender.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. by Jean Seznec is a great book about the role of pagan deities in medieval and Renaissance Europe.

The above mentioned Tubingen Md.2 mostly is about the pagan planetary gods.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. you can see people dancing and bathing under the influence of the naked pagan goddess Venus, holding in her hand a torch burning with the flame of passion. We are all familiar with images like these and we can easily recognize them most of the times. Villa D'Este and the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in Padova are good examples of how myths of a pagan origin could results in a monumentality as impressive as that of Christian cathedrals. The fresco representing Venus and Cupid in Padua could almost seem to mock Christianity.

I am puzzled the fact that personifications of the Sun and the Moon are present in a well recognizable form, while there seem to be no personifications of the other five planets. This might be a hint to a set of astrological/astronomical concepts different from the Greco-Roman (that was also assimilated by Perso-Arabic astrology). In principle, this might also suggest a relation with a relation with only two major gods identified with the Sun and the Moon.

In general, a problem with medieval culture, is where to put the boundary between religion, myth and magic. I find it very likely that the so called nymphs are “spirits” of some kind, but I am not sure this would count as “religion”.