Maybe it's worth mentioning here that Panofsky pointed out the parallel between the Voynich zodiac and that in Alfonso X's Astromagia Reg Lat 1283a. Similar diagrams occur in another manuscript made for Alfonso, the Lapidario (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).
This was discussed many times on this forum, at least You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., and older references can certainly be found on other sites.
The Lapidary includes a wheel for each zodiac sign. Each wheel shows 30 anthropomorphic figures (angels) and 30 asterisms (typically single stars, each marked as a golden dot on a small image of the constellation it belongs to).
In this case, the source is Aristotle, whose name is the very first word of the text, accompanied by an illustration that shows him lecturing.
Aristóteles, que fue más cumplido de los otros filósofos, y el que más naturalmente mostró todas las cosas por razón verdadera, y las hizo entender cumplidamente según son, dijo que todas las cosas que son sólo velos se mueven y se enderezan por el movimiento de los cuerpos celestiales, por la virtud que han de ellos, según lo ordenó Dios, que es la primera virtud y donde la han todas las otras. Y mostró que todas las cosas del mundo son como trabadas, y reciben virtud unas de otras; las más viles, de las más nobles. Y esta virtud parece en unas más manifiesta, así como en las animalias y en las plantas; y en otras más escondida, así como en las piedras y en los metales.
Translation: Aristotle, who was more comprehensive than the other philosophers, and who most naturally demonstrated all things by true reason, and made them fully understood as they are, said that all things which are mere veils are moved and directed by the movement of celestial bodies, by the virtue they receive from them, as ordained by God, who is the primary virtue and from whom all others derive. And he showed that all things in the world are interconnected, and they receive virtue from one another; the more humble ones, from the more noble ones. And this virtue appears more manifest in some, such as in animals and plants; and more hidden in others, such as in stones and metals.
In the book, thirty stones are listed for each zodiac sign (one per degree). Therefore a possible interpretation is that the diagrams illustrate the descending transmission of "virtue" (i.e. power) :
God the Prime Mover -> angel -> star -> stone.
In this case, the 360 angels are the astral spirits ruling on the individual degrees of the zodiac.
The text in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. has no introduction, it was probably lost together with the sign of Aries. The text starts from the first degree of Taurus.
En el primero grado del signo de tauro sube un omne que trahe un toro. El qui nasciere en el sera lazrado y trabaiador y amara mucho el mundo.
Translation: In the first degree of the sign of Taurus rises a man leading a bull. He who is born under this [degree] will be industrious and hardworking, and will have a great love for the world.
This is somehow similar to the lapidary, but there are no angels, and the asterisms are not represented by individual stars but by complex images inspired to the constellations. Also, the ultimate receiver of the stellar influx are people, not stones:
God -> astral image -> people.
The relationship between stars (asterisms) and people is one-to-many: all the people born (when the sun is) in a certain degree of the zodiac receive the same astral influence.
Speculation: personally, I believe the human figures in the Voynich zodiac are more likely to be akin to the people discussed in Reg Lat 1283a rather than the angels in the Lapidario. If we interpret the "nymphs" as pregnant women, they might illustrate how childbirth is affected by the astral configuration at the time of birth. The figures are drawn below the stars: this could correspond to being born "under a certain star". The "star tails" could illustrate the influx of the star flowing downward (as above, so below). I don't see how Plato's chariots from Timaeus can explain the layout of these zodiac wheels.
This was discussed many times on this forum, at least You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., and older references can certainly be found on other sites.
The Lapidary includes a wheel for each zodiac sign. Each wheel shows 30 anthropomorphic figures (angels) and 30 asterisms (typically single stars, each marked as a golden dot on a small image of the constellation it belongs to).
In this case, the source is Aristotle, whose name is the very first word of the text, accompanied by an illustration that shows him lecturing.
Aristóteles, que fue más cumplido de los otros filósofos, y el que más naturalmente mostró todas las cosas por razón verdadera, y las hizo entender cumplidamente según son, dijo que todas las cosas que son sólo velos se mueven y se enderezan por el movimiento de los cuerpos celestiales, por la virtud que han de ellos, según lo ordenó Dios, que es la primera virtud y donde la han todas las otras. Y mostró que todas las cosas del mundo son como trabadas, y reciben virtud unas de otras; las más viles, de las más nobles. Y esta virtud parece en unas más manifiesta, así como en las animalias y en las plantas; y en otras más escondida, así como en las piedras y en los metales.
Translation: Aristotle, who was more comprehensive than the other philosophers, and who most naturally demonstrated all things by true reason, and made them fully understood as they are, said that all things which are mere veils are moved and directed by the movement of celestial bodies, by the virtue they receive from them, as ordained by God, who is the primary virtue and from whom all others derive. And he showed that all things in the world are interconnected, and they receive virtue from one another; the more humble ones, from the more noble ones. And this virtue appears more manifest in some, such as in animals and plants; and more hidden in others, such as in stones and metals.
In the book, thirty stones are listed for each zodiac sign (one per degree). Therefore a possible interpretation is that the diagrams illustrate the descending transmission of "virtue" (i.e. power) :
God the Prime Mover -> angel -> star -> stone.
In this case, the 360 angels are the astral spirits ruling on the individual degrees of the zodiac.
The text in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. has no introduction, it was probably lost together with the sign of Aries. The text starts from the first degree of Taurus.
En el primero grado del signo de tauro sube un omne que trahe un toro. El qui nasciere en el sera lazrado y trabaiador y amara mucho el mundo.
Translation: In the first degree of the sign of Taurus rises a man leading a bull. He who is born under this [degree] will be industrious and hardworking, and will have a great love for the world.
This is somehow similar to the lapidary, but there are no angels, and the asterisms are not represented by individual stars but by complex images inspired to the constellations. Also, the ultimate receiver of the stellar influx are people, not stones:
God -> astral image -> people.
The relationship between stars (asterisms) and people is one-to-many: all the people born (when the sun is) in a certain degree of the zodiac receive the same astral influence.
Speculation: personally, I believe the human figures in the Voynich zodiac are more likely to be akin to the people discussed in Reg Lat 1283a rather than the angels in the Lapidario. If we interpret the "nymphs" as pregnant women, they might illustrate how childbirth is affected by the astral configuration at the time of birth. The figures are drawn below the stars: this could correspond to being born "under a certain star". The "star tails" could illustrate the influx of the star flowing downward (as above, so below). I don't see how Plato's chariots from Timaeus can explain the layout of these zodiac wheels.
![[+]](https://www.voynich.ninja/images/collapse_collapsed.png)