I think the stars are souls

[pjburkshire]

Paradiso, the third and final part of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, is thought to have been written in the early 14th century in Ravenna, Italy. Dante's Paradiso has the following as the 9 Spheres of Heaven:

First Sphere (The Moon)
Second Sphere (Mercury)
Third Sphere (Venus)
Fourth Sphere (The Sun)
Fifth Sphere (Mars)
Sixth Sphere (Jupiter)
Seventh Sphere (Saturn)
Eighth Sphere (Fixed Stars)
Ninth Sphere (Primum Mobile)


I do not know where Dante got the idea that Heaven has 9 Spheres. If Dante's 9 Spheres of Heaven do line up with the 9 circles on Image # 158, I have no idea which is which.

Erni Lillie presented this idea back in 2004. He also had the idea that the stars in the Voynich Manuscript are souls but I don't agree with Erni Lillie that the Voynich Manuscript is an illustration of Dante's Divine Comedy but I am thinking that both got the idea of Heaven having 9 levels from the same (currently unknown) 3rd source. Beyond the idea of Heaven having 9 levels, I don't see a connection between the two works other than they were both from early 14th/15th century Italy.