10-02-2018, 06:05 PM
The place of the Voynich MS in the «Lunar» theory.
Considering the Voynich MS as the whole treatise, I would call it «The Book of the Moon» or «Liber Lunae» in Latin manner. Of course, it contains different sections and includes also solar and zodiacal diagrams, but, I think, in fact, the main figure here is the Moon and different aspects of its influence. The Voynich scenario in this case may be:
I section – The herbal.
It can contain herbs of the Moon (moonwort, mugwort, water lily, violet, poppy, etc.) which must be gathered according to the phase of the Moon or any plants for preparation of the «lunar» tinctures. As I think, the especial lunar plants are marked with different hints which are described You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
II section – You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.—You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Astronomical:
the lunar, solar and luni-solar diagrams representing astronomical cycles and their influence, supposedly, on water and other fluids, such as juice of plants, fluids of a body (blood, urine, lymph, liquid of brain and eyes, etc.) I suppose that lunar influence is dominant for the author. As I wrote earlier, I think that several diagrams represent the lunar and luni-solar influence on the tidal motion where the phases of the Moon, its appearance during a day and a year, solstices and equinoxes are taken into account.
III section – You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. – You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Probably, the lunar calendar which, sometimes, it was called Lunarium (Greek: Selenedromion).
It usually comprised a schematic 360-day calendar that traces the zodiac sign that the moon traverses for every day of a year composed of twelve 30-day months. Such calendars reflected many aspects of the lunar influence: it could be a calendar of unlucky (fatal) days for blood-letting (one of them counts 32 such evil days) or a calendar predicting gender or character of a child, as well, an appended to a calendar text, could be the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. which gives a prediction according to the position of the moon in the zodiac when the thunder clap occurs (thunder omens), and so on.
Besides of that the different figures of the diagram can depict good and bad days, probably, some special figures of men and women in these diagrams may mean the lunar influence in aspects with the other planets. For example, the old man may signify the Saturn, the woman in a crown – Venus, etc. I’d pay attention to the colors in the Zodiac diagrams which can also signify the influence of planets (red – Mars, blue – Jupiter, green – Venus, and so on).
We all know that the signs of Aries and Taurus are divided in two parts: the «white» (light) sign and the «dark» one, in particular, the «green» /»brown» / «grey» Aries and the «red» Taurus. It could be interesting in the alchemical context, as the stages of the Opus Magnum are: Nigredo with intermediate «greenness», Albedo, Citrinitas and Rubedo. I won’t claim that they mean exactly these stages, maybe, they just indicate beginning, culmination and finish. I’d note that April (Aries) and May (Taurus) are months when the alchemical dew or, sometimes, the water of rain (with lightning storm) was to be collected. I think it depends on a region and its climate. Possibly, that’s why they are distinguished among the other signs. Some consider March (Pisces) for this, too. Maybe, therefore it stands first – as the beginning of the «celestial water» harvesting.
The spirit of the dew of May is prepared in the following way. Take a sufficient quantity of May dew or rainwater, or snow in the same way, obtained in March or the beginning of April, and distil its spirit in the ordinary way — Spiritus roris maialis paraiur sequenti modo. Recipe roris aut pluvice maialis, aut itidem niuis exeunt Martio aut ineunte Aprili collectct q. s. ex iisque modo ordinario spiritum destilla.( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
I find the most interesting that people in tubes are appeared only in the signs of Pisces, Aries and Taurus. So, obviously, tubes mean the period when the water must be gathered in receptacles, according to this, we can assume that the last ten days of Taurus in the VMs diagram and the rest months (signs) are useless for this.
Even visually I have an impression that the light sides of Aries and Taurus are, rather, favorable and fruitful for that work as the figures are mostly colored and dressed. Probably, those figures implies the luckiest days, but naked figures – vice versa, rather, useless, hollow. It is considered that the favorable time to pick off the dew is the time when the Moon is waxing until Full Moon, while I can say nothing about the rest aspects.
IV section – 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.. The Purification.
I believe it shows female humid power of the Moon to purify and to revive. I am inclined to think it is really represents souls, cleansing in the Lunar Waters of Life, likewise they are represented in Plutarch’s myths. But it is not excluded that it is just abstract depiction of the feminine, moist, purifying and cyclic properties of the Moon and its celestial dew filled with the celestial fire of the Sun.
V section – You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. The lunar influence on human body fluids, that is, the excretory system.
VI section – 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., You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Albedo.
I’m not sure that all these pages belong to the same separate chapter, so, it is a biggest assumption among the rest. Possibly, it describes the alchemical process (Albedo) of preparing of the White Elixir (Aqua Vita), including the inner stage — the Peacock’s tail (Cauda Pavonis). The f85 and f86, I think, reflect this process exactly in the Hermetic cosmogonic context. Thus, the Rosettes page is a culmination of all this. I will reveal my thought about this in the very end.
VII section – 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.. As it is fairly considered, the Pharma section.
I think it is based on the herbal section and the section about the preparing of the Aqua Vita, i. e., on instructions on the plant gathering according to the lunar phases (for example) and the Aqua Vita «recipe», and describes the making of the alchemical (spagyric) herbal tinctures.
Ebenezer Sibly, later, in XVIII century, invented the division of tinctures on Solar (masculine) and Lunar (feminine). The solar tinctures were used for masculine diseases and lunar ones — useful for women (pregnancy, diseases). The earlier division seems to be unknown, but if is needed to be more examined.
VIII section – You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.—You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. The list of…
Actually, I’m not sure that it is exactly a collection of recipes. Of course, it is possible, but the red and yellow stars accompanying the text give me another association. First of all, these stars may correspond to the stars of the Zodiacal diagrams, but also the division in two colors, on my view, is not accidental and can relate to the similar division in the lunar diagram on the f67r2. Undoubtedly, it must be found out what this division means, I will repeat myself again, maybe, it marks positive and negative influences or predictions.
It can be the Brontologion or the part of the Lunarium of blood-letting, births, dreams, illnesses, etc.