What's holding me back at the moment is (1) incomplete understanding of the triangular structure and (2) the fact that female deity iconography is relatively fluid. Demeter and Persephone regularly share the grain attribute, and there are more women who can be marked by the three "flowers". Including the one set on the ecliptic, holding Spica. But there are more.
I'm currently finishing a blog post revisiting the obligatory presence of a "horizon" for each nymph. They are either standing on top of a horizontal line or slightly sunk behind it. Literally 99% of nymphs are drawn this way. But this one is among the exceptions, which must be relevant. At first I thought there was no horizon, indicating..flight? But your saying that the Triangular shape might be an entrance to a cave or the like made me see things differently. There is a horizon, perhaps, but she's beneath it. Rather Chthonic.
Still it doesn't make total sense. The VM takes pieces of meaning and references and does something special with them. Still, it seems to know what it's doing.
Again from Ovid, describing Ceres (Demeter) mourning the loss of her daughter:
![[Image: image.jpg?q=f76v-227-480-115-137]](https://voynich.ninja/extractor/image.jpg?q=f76v-227-480-115-137)
Now, Persephone was only allowed to leave Hades if she hadn't eaten anything during her stay there. Turns out that she had eaten a few pomegranate seeds. This is why the pomegranate is one of her symbols.
![[Image: image.jpg?q=f80r-75-1189-229-246]](https://voynich.ninja/extractor/image.jpg?q=f80r-75-1189-229-246)
But it's likely more complex than mere mythological references. Demeter and Persephone are basically personifications of the cycle of the seasons. When Persephone goes to hell in autumn, the land withers. When she is allowed to return each spring, life renews.
I'm currently finishing a blog post revisiting the obligatory presence of a "horizon" for each nymph. They are either standing on top of a horizontal line or slightly sunk behind it. Literally 99% of nymphs are drawn this way. But this one is among the exceptions, which must be relevant. At first I thought there was no horizon, indicating..flight? But your saying that the Triangular shape might be an entrance to a cave or the like made me see things differently. There is a horizon, perhaps, but she's beneath it. Rather Chthonic.
Still it doesn't make total sense. The VM takes pieces of meaning and references and does something special with them. Still, it seems to know what it's doing.
Again from Ovid, describing Ceres (Demeter) mourning the loss of her daughter:
Quote:the goddess tore her dishevelled hair
Now, Persephone was only allowed to leave Hades if she hadn't eaten anything during her stay there. Turns out that she had eaten a few pomegranate seeds. This is why the pomegranate is one of her symbols.
But it's likely more complex than mere mythological references. Demeter and Persephone are basically personifications of the cycle of the seasons. When Persephone goes to hell in autumn, the land withers. When she is allowed to return each spring, life renews.