No text, but a visual code

[HermesRevived]

We are approaching the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. We all know, because it is a widely spread tradition, that the solstice is related to the magic of plants. From experience the ancients knew that light enhanced the properties of plants. Now we know that some but all plants need light for photosynthesis.

For me it is highly probable that, in a codex like the Voynich, half herbal, half cosmological, the summer solstice is present.I believe that the most repeated string of glyphs [daiin] is the position of a star on the day of the summer solstice. I don't like to put letters but I have put them on this occasion for better understanding.

In reality, the string is the number 8 followed by a small circle attached to an inclined line and two more inclined lines, the last one with a closing ornament. As I said in a previous post, the number 8, which is the number of hours of light in each of the two quadrants of the day, from when the sun rises until it sets, is equivalent to the zodiac signs of Gemini and Cancer. The inclined lines are those that exactly place the star in the first degree of Cancer, the solstice.

In fact, there is that same string of glyphs without the number 8, which means that it is a position on the sphere that corresponds to other zodiac signs. Just as the same string of glyphs exists without any inclined line, which would mean, as I see it, that the star is close to the solstice, but in another position.

I see how that works Antonio, and I think it gives a very cogent account of it. My account of [daiin] is very similar, but the 'word' is an astrological formula. It is the numerical sequence: 8 - 4 - 2 - 1. That is: D = 8, A = 4, II = 2, N = 1. This is the division of the ecliptic by 8, marking the points between the solstices and equinoxes, the so-called half-quarter days. 

There is a tension throughout the Voynich astrology between the eightfold and twelvefold divisions of the ecliptic. By my account, [daiin] is about the eightfold system of divisions. The glyphs themselves add to 15. 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 15 - the midpoint of the zodiacal signs. But it also provides other formulae because [iin] is a sub-set and equals 3. Thus [aiin] = 7.

I agree that the plume or flourish on the [n] glyph is an ornament marking a specific degree. We agree [daiin] pinpoints a specific degree. I disagree it is specific to the summer solstice, although I agree the summer solstice (and spring equinox) is more fully represented in the text than the other quarters. 

By my account, the four gallows represent the quarter points. [k] = summer solstice, [t] = winter solstice, [p] = spring equinox and [f] autumn equinox. The proportion of these glyphs in the text makes some sense as seasonal markers with [k] (summer) the most frequent. 

Please explain more of how you think the notation operates. My system (such as it is) is not based on measures of daylight. Your account is probably more coherent than mine and I need to consider the numbers as durations and not just as divisions. Thanks.