This thread is for specifically discussing the cardinal directions in the rosettes foldout.
Among those people who believe the cardinal directions are indicated, there seems to be an agreement that they are on the diagonals, so in the corners (correct me if I'm wrong). Since there are four smaller items in the corners, it is possible that these indicate the directions. Two opposite items are suns, which probably indicate east and west, since this is where the sun rises and sets, and the sun does not appear in the north. These ideas have been around for a while (I've seen an older forum discussion between Diane and Searcher who agreed on the directions) and they seem sensible to me. So the following would - again, correct me if I'm wrong - not be extremely controversial:
Both Searcher and Diane placed north at the top right though, which is where I disagree. There are forms of the sky in many if not all the rosettes, so the mere presence of a sky cannot be an indication of north. The spiral, too, would be a strange way of representing the north pole, since the heavens turn like a wheel, they don't spiral inward (unless you fancy a black hole or something).
A lobed shape in the sky (as seen in the bottom left rosette) to represent the celestial pole is more common than a spiral.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=1629]](https://www.voynich.ninja/attachment.php?aid=1629)
Men observing the stars, from Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De Proprietatibus rerum, Italy (Mantua), c. 1300-1310, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., f. 108v
As far as I know, the emblem of this rosette is not yet understood, but it seems to point towards the general sphere of constellations/navigation. Inside is something like a constellation symbol, and the circle has eight subdivisions like a compass rose.
Therefore I would say this is north, and continuing clockwise east, south and west.
Among those people who believe the cardinal directions are indicated, there seems to be an agreement that they are on the diagonals, so in the corners (correct me if I'm wrong). Since there are four smaller items in the corners, it is possible that these indicate the directions. Two opposite items are suns, which probably indicate east and west, since this is where the sun rises and sets, and the sun does not appear in the north. These ideas have been around for a while (I've seen an older forum discussion between Diane and Searcher who agreed on the directions) and they seem sensible to me. So the following would - again, correct me if I'm wrong - not be extremely controversial:
Both Searcher and Diane placed north at the top right though, which is where I disagree. There are forms of the sky in many if not all the rosettes, so the mere presence of a sky cannot be an indication of north. The spiral, too, would be a strange way of representing the north pole, since the heavens turn like a wheel, they don't spiral inward (unless you fancy a black hole or something).
A lobed shape in the sky (as seen in the bottom left rosette) to represent the celestial pole is more common than a spiral.
Men observing the stars, from Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De Proprietatibus rerum, Italy (Mantua), c. 1300-1310, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., f. 108v
As far as I know, the emblem of this rosette is not yet understood, but it seems to point towards the general sphere of constellations/navigation. Inside is something like a constellation symbol, and the circle has eight subdivisions like a compass rose.
Therefore I would say this is north, and continuing clockwise east, south and west.