04-06-2020, 08:58 AM
I generally think of the VMS drawings as zodiac figures. I don't know if there are any zodiacs in the VMS.
The most common month emblems were the months' labors. It was only later that they started adding the zodiac figures to calendars. Some of them had one or the other, many had both.
The monthly labors had a practical purpose, to remind people of which tasks to conduct. Zodiac-figures were added to calendars as a month-mnemonic to dress up the page. They were especially popular between the late 1100s and the 1600s.
Zodiac man is more medical-astrological than astronomical. It diagrammed which part of the body was influenced by specific constellations. I suppose it was partly astronomical, since they were cautioned to treat only certain parts of the body when the associated constellation was visible or prominent, but they probably didn't wait for months or a whole year to perform certain procedures (like pulling a rotten tooth).
You could certainly go from the feet to the head, since Aries follows Pisces, but it would be a bit counter-intuitive to start at the bottom and then swing up to the head before passing through the other signs. Not impossible, though.
The most common month emblems were the months' labors. It was only later that they started adding the zodiac figures to calendars. Some of them had one or the other, many had both.
The monthly labors had a practical purpose, to remind people of which tasks to conduct. Zodiac-figures were added to calendars as a month-mnemonic to dress up the page. They were especially popular between the late 1100s and the 1600s.
Zodiac man is more medical-astrological than astronomical. It diagrammed which part of the body was influenced by specific constellations. I suppose it was partly astronomical, since they were cautioned to treat only certain parts of the body when the associated constellation was visible or prominent, but they probably didn't wait for months or a whole year to perform certain procedures (like pulling a rotten tooth).
You could certainly go from the feet to the head, since Aries follows Pisces, but it would be a bit counter-intuitive to start at the bottom and then swing up to the head before passing through the other signs. Not impossible, though.