Why the Voynich Zodiac - isn't

[Koen G]

Rene, I think the distinction you make is an important one indeed. When I see people say that this is a zodiac, I think they mean that this series was intended, used and perceived as one. I think they way you describe its possible intention is a plausible one.

I also agree that most of the figures can be linked to their counterparts in the standard zodiac cycle as well. The stylistic differences may be interpreted differently by different people, but there is no doubt that the Voynich fish are like Pisces.


I think it's very unfortunate, however, that a later hand (we all agree on this, right?) added month names to the roundels. If not, we would have had a cycle of twelve images, possibly corresponding to twelve months. Here, I must agree with the point that Diane often defends. If we just put the Voynich series of images (left) next to the zodiac (right), we get:

Code:

fish ram goat bull goat twins bull crab bull lion twins maiden crab/lobster scales scales scorpion blue feline archer maiden goat "scorpion" water-bearer archer fish

 
So while the figures have been selected from the same "pool", it is far from certain that this was ever meant to represent even the image cycle as we know it.