Examples of connected dots?

[R. Sale]

The top is certainly interesting. There is the usual ambiguous identification. Are the letters properly squared on the page, or have they gone crooked, and lined up with a radial interpretation. 'Rho' certainly has; 'Chi' not so much. The 'Chi rho' sequence clearly has strong religious implications. What with the recent consideration of "New Jerusalem" in the Rosettes and similar possibilities with the rainbows, crosses and rings. Perhaps there is an element of disguised religious interpretation in the VMs illustrations. Perhaps the reader is familiar with armorial and ecclesiastical heraldry. The VMs artist certainly was. The religious were educated and the educated were religious.

It is the dual aspect of orientation that creates the ambiguity. Does the interpretation coincide with the vertical or with the radial orientation? It's the same trick used in White Aries to confuse the heraldic orientation of the Genoese Gambit. The VMs artist has various sorts of tricks that are used in the VMs cosmos, the mermaid and other illustrations. The use of dual interpretation of orientation shows that the deception is intentional. Appearance is ambiguous; tradition verifies structure.