The VMS as a possible chain encryption ( Mod 23 ).

[bi3mw]

I asked in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. if a made up chain cipher is easy to decrypt. Now I have written a Python script that decrypts a given Voynich word using the same method. The result is then mapped according to frequency analysis (EVA > Latin). Admittedly, this is a rather rudimentary approach, I am primarily interested in decoding with MOD 23. The method is simple enough to be considered and also much more effective than a simple substitution. It could be implemented practically with a letter disk (like Alberti disk).

Here is the python - script and a list of possibly unabbreviated words ( Stolfi ):

chesokchoteody [f68r1, outer ring, near the bottom]
oepchksheey [f93r, top line, but looks like half of a Neal key]
qoekeeykeody [f105r, which I’d note is possibly the original first page of Q20A]
soefchocphy [f102r2, right edge, but right on the fold, very hard to read]
ykcheolchcthy [f68v3, first word of second line]
shdykairalam [f106v, last word of a line]
shetcheodchs [f43v, first word of a line]

Code:

# Reduced alphabet: No J, U, W alphabet = list("ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRSTVXYZ")  # 23 letters def char_to_pos(c):     return alphabet.index(c.upper()) + 1 def pos_to_char(p):     p = (p - 1) % len(alphabet) + 1     return alphabet[p - 1] def chain_decrypt_verbose(ciphertext):     ciphertext = ciphertext.upper()     decrypted = ""     table = []     prev_cipher_pos = 0     for i, c in enumerate(ciphertext, start=1):         if c not in alphabet:             decrypted += c             table.append([i, c])  # Nur zwei Spalten für Nicht-Buchstaben             continue         cipher_pos = char_to_pos(c)         plain_pos = (cipher_pos - prev_cipher_pos) % len(alphabet)         if plain_pos == 0:             plain_pos = len(alphabet)         plain_char = pos_to_char(plain_pos)         decrypted += plain_char         table.append([             i,             c,             cipher_pos,             plain_char,             plain_pos,             prev_cipher_pos,             f"({cipher_pos} - {prev_cipher_pos}) mod {len(alphabet)} = {plain_pos}"         ])         prev_cipher_pos = cipher_pos     return decrypted, table def print_table(table):     print("\nDecryption Table:")     print("-" * 90)     print(f"{'i':>3} | {'Cipher':^9} | {'cᵢ':^4} | {'Plain':^9} | {'pᵢ':^4} | {'cᵢ₋₁':^6} | {'Computation':<30}")     print("-" * 90)     for row in table:         if len(row) == 7:             i, cchar, cpos, pchar, ppos, cprev, calc = row             print(f"{i:>3} | {cchar:^9} | {cpos:^4} | {pchar:^9} | {ppos:^4} | {cprev:^6} | {calc:<30}")         elif len(row) == 2:             i, cchar = row             print(f"{i:>3} | {cchar:^9} | {'-':^4} | {'-':^9} | {'-':^4} | {'-':^6} | {'(not a letter)':<30}")     print("-" * 90) def apply_fixed_substitution(text, from_list, to_list):     mapping = dict(zip(from_list, to_list))     substituted = ''.join(mapping.get(c, c) for c in text)     return substituted, mapping if __name__ == "__main__":     text = input("? Enter ciphertext to decrypt (only letters A–Z, excluding J, U, W): ")     decrypted, table = chain_decrypt_verbose(text)     print(f"\n? Decrypted text: {decrypted}")     print_table(table)     # Substitution: Voynich → Latein     voynich_order = list("OEHYACDIKLRSTNQPMFGXBVZ")     latin_order  = list("IEAUTSRNOMCLPDBQGVFHXYZ")     substituted, mapping = apply_fixed_substitution(decrypted, voynich_order, latin_order)     print("\n? Substituted (Voynich → Latin):")     print(substituted)     print("\n?️ Substitution Map:")     for voy, lat in mapping.items():         print(f"  {voy} → {lat}")

A side note:
"shetcheodchs" was converted to "LDYIFEYNDUEO" using the method described. ChatGPT hallucinates "Fide leo, deus unde" from it by rearranging, omitting and adding letters, which means "Trust the lion - God is its origin". This is remarkable because the plants on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ( sun and moon ) could very well be connected with the lion according to alchemical interpretation. So you could easily fall for ChatGPT if you believe what you want to believe