The Voynich Pipes

[MarcoP]

I think A and S on the wheel's spikes relate to Aequinotia and Solstitia (the left A was apparently misplaced). So the twelve long spikes mark intervals of 30 degrees corresponding to the zodiacal signs. Short marks split each sign in two, creating intervals corresponding to the 24 hours (as the text says, this is some kind of clock).
Possibly, the cross formed by the lines connecting equinox and solstice points suggested the image of the cross of Christ.

Thank you Marco, this clarifies things to me a bit. Someone mentioned earlier that there were attempts to make the study of the stars seem like a proper thing for Christians to do. Might the references to Christ be read in that context perhaps?


Your saying "this is a clock" reminded me that our clocks also have long and short spikes, though the intervals are different. Maybe this isn't so weird at all.

Hi Koen,
yes, my opinion is that the circle in the image represents a clock.
See also the illustration You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (with 12 spikes).

I think Anton has put the question very clearly here:

Actually what I try to ascertain is what of the three things do the alternating sticks/pipes represent:

- nails
- crown of thorns
- cross in motion

The verse seems to be intended to explain that, but clarity was sacrificed to poetry.

I can't say I have an answer. I think there are no references to the crown of thorns, but I am uncertain about the nails and the cross.
Possibly this is a "moralization" of the clock, as you seem to suggest ("to make the study of the stars seem like a proper thing for Christians to do"). The details of this moralization are still unclear. I think it could be a reference to the four "cardinal" spikes as the four nails on the cross (counting the top "INRI" nail), but maybe there is more to it or it's something entirely different.
It's difficult to come to a definite interpretation of these verses. 

Coming back to the VMS, I think numbers (12 / 24) are very relevant here. The Voynich pipes illustration has different numbers (28) and different "markers" (pipes instead of "nails"). So I think the Voynich illustration is unrelated to these "clocks", but in the most generic sense of being some kind of cosmological diagram illustrating divisions of the "whole" (the circle). But, as always, who knows?

Examples like this are very instructive to me, because they remember how difficult it is to make sense of medieval images and texts even when I can read the alphabet and have a basic knowledge of the language.