Double lobster

[pjburkshire]

Very interesting. Any ideas why one would duplicate crayfish? I thought duplication was reserved for twins, or fish. Furthermore, in the VMS, it appears that the lobsters are connected to each other through their mouths, which is a unique feature of Pisces. Doesn't seem logical. Intentional mistake or just pure scribal incompetence?

Yes, there is unusual duplication.  Normally the order would be Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer.  If you start with Pisces then the order would be:

Pisces (two fish swimming in opposite directions) {mouth-to-mouth string/cord}
Aries (The Ram) [Goat] {2 pages}
Taurus (The Bull) {2 pages}
Gemini (The Twins)  {male & female}
Cancer (The Crab) [Lobsters/Crayfish/Crustaceans] {mouth-to-mouth string/cord}

Normally only 2 of these 5 Signs would be 2 things but in the Voynich Manuscript, all of the first 5 Signs have 2 things.  Also, in the 3 cases where there are 2 where there would normally be only 1, one is light in color and one is darker in color.  The different colors could have significance or maybe the artist wanted to stress that they were putting in 2 and not the typical 1.  They also stressed that they were making two each of Aries and Taurus by giving each 2 pages.  Possibly they needed more space for more words or possibly they were trying to stress some kind of duality.

The Pisces in the Voynich Manuscript seems to be one of the more traditional illustrations.  The meaning of the string/cord is still a mystery to me.  About all I can say is that it probably represents some kind of connection.  What 2 things/concepts are being connected is still a mystery.  Microsoft Copilot gave me a long list of possible interpretations.  If people are interested, I'm sure they can consult their own bot of choice.

I think traditionally Gemini is two identical male twins yet in the Voynich Manuscript we have a male and female.  An expected duplication but not in the expected way.

As I said before, I don't think the Zodiac section in the Voynich Manuscript was created as a typical, generic Zodiac reference.  I think it is showing some kind of process or schedule.