The primary question to me is whether the VMs was intended to be and is able to be successfully communicative - or not? If it were a copy of an herbal, then it would contain plant names, the names of plant parts and instructions for their collection and use. There would be a repeated use of common terms. If star labels were star names, that would be helpful. But those efforts have not had much success. So the matter of communication is still up in the air.
This brings to mind the whole problem of how communication is established, specifically in the case of how an author formulates a text to transmit relevant content, *not* in the typical manner of straight forward communication, but in a way in which the intended message is hidden, yet recoverable by select others who are able to comprehend that form of communication.
One of Roger Bacon's rules was to disguise the existence of any encrypted text in the first place. An alchemical herbal from an unknown, foreign land would do that nicely. What foreign land was that, again? It's a ploy that totally works in the Middle Ages, but doesn't look quite as good from the current perspective.
How does one cross the chasm between an unknown language and something that can be understood? There needs to be some type of correspondence, a method to establish a connection. And what does that consist of? It needs to be something that is familiar to the author and coincident and consistent with that historical chronology. It also needs to be something that will be familiar to the reader. It could be something like a traditional or historical event. It also, for these purposes, needs too be something that can be hidden rather than stand out as plainly obvious. It needs to be an unexpected language accessible to both the author and the reader. (The prospective reader, as seen from the author's perspective.)
At some basic level, communication is the recognition of pattern. The most basic pattern, to my knowledge, is simple pairing. The most obvious pairing in the VMs is Pisces, the *first* sign of the VMs Zodiac. Highly unusual to have Pisces (Feet) first, but the existence of pairing is expected, obvious and easily overlooked. Completely unexpected, the splitting of Aries and Taurus is so outrageous that their pairing isn't given a thought. Yet there it is, a simple signal, too bright to look at or to dim to see - unless you look right at it. For which, you need to know it is there. The examples compound among themselves to form the pairing paradigm. Perhaps it is subtle, but there is no debate on its existence in the illustrations. This pairing constitutes a method by which the author can communicate. The items of significance in the illustrations are those that are paired. So let the investigation only follow the path that is marked by pairs. No need to look far and wide. Pairing now reveals the unexpected language, which is heraldry - starting with the tub patterns at the top of Pisces and continuing to the traditional and historical fact of the paired Fieschi heraldic insignia and the red galero on White Aries (not by accident). The illustrations also contain various objective, positional confirmations of the author's intent.
In my view, the intentionally hidden, historical, heraldic references from the VMs Pisces and Aries Pages are not only evidence of communication, this is also clear evidence that it is the author's intent to disguise those communications and still the pathway is further marked by the pairing of patterned markers in the circular bands of text on White Aries. A direct connection was drawn in the illustration. The intentional nature of this construction seems clear, but the ability to interpret this particular example of VMs text (or any other) is still sadly lacking. However, as it appears that the author has included this construction as a way to communicate something of his or her intent, some collective efforts of investigation should be focused here.
This brings to mind the whole problem of how communication is established, specifically in the case of how an author formulates a text to transmit relevant content, *not* in the typical manner of straight forward communication, but in a way in which the intended message is hidden, yet recoverable by select others who are able to comprehend that form of communication.
One of Roger Bacon's rules was to disguise the existence of any encrypted text in the first place. An alchemical herbal from an unknown, foreign land would do that nicely. What foreign land was that, again? It's a ploy that totally works in the Middle Ages, but doesn't look quite as good from the current perspective.
How does one cross the chasm between an unknown language and something that can be understood? There needs to be some type of correspondence, a method to establish a connection. And what does that consist of? It needs to be something that is familiar to the author and coincident and consistent with that historical chronology. It also needs to be something that will be familiar to the reader. It could be something like a traditional or historical event. It also, for these purposes, needs too be something that can be hidden rather than stand out as plainly obvious. It needs to be an unexpected language accessible to both the author and the reader. (The prospective reader, as seen from the author's perspective.)
At some basic level, communication is the recognition of pattern. The most basic pattern, to my knowledge, is simple pairing. The most obvious pairing in the VMs is Pisces, the *first* sign of the VMs Zodiac. Highly unusual to have Pisces (Feet) first, but the existence of pairing is expected, obvious and easily overlooked. Completely unexpected, the splitting of Aries and Taurus is so outrageous that their pairing isn't given a thought. Yet there it is, a simple signal, too bright to look at or to dim to see - unless you look right at it. For which, you need to know it is there. The examples compound among themselves to form the pairing paradigm. Perhaps it is subtle, but there is no debate on its existence in the illustrations. This pairing constitutes a method by which the author can communicate. The items of significance in the illustrations are those that are paired. So let the investigation only follow the path that is marked by pairs. No need to look far and wide. Pairing now reveals the unexpected language, which is heraldry - starting with the tub patterns at the top of Pisces and continuing to the traditional and historical fact of the paired Fieschi heraldic insignia and the red galero on White Aries (not by accident). The illustrations also contain various objective, positional confirmations of the author's intent.
In my view, the intentionally hidden, historical, heraldic references from the VMs Pisces and Aries Pages are not only evidence of communication, this is also clear evidence that it is the author's intent to disguise those communications and still the pathway is further marked by the pairing of patterned markers in the circular bands of text on White Aries. A direct connection was drawn in the illustration. The intentional nature of this construction seems clear, but the ability to interpret this particular example of VMs text (or any other) is still sadly lacking. However, as it appears that the author has included this construction as a way to communicate something of his or her intent, some collective efforts of investigation should be focused here.