06-11-2026, 08:50 PM
Folio You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is, in effect, a small Rosetta Stone that provides solid clues regarding the nature of the Voynich manuscript.
The four human figures in the central circle appear to represent the four cardinal directions. The one on the right holds a round object, perhaps to signify the East—the direction from which the celestial bodies rise. He extends his arm and looks toward the figure representing the South, and the latter toward the one representing the West. This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that neither of them extends an arm toward the figure representing the North; thus, the arms of the other three appear to trace the arc of light. The glyph in the bottom-right corner of the page, which resembles an uppercase S, would also reinforce this idea, as it would signify *Septentrio*—that is, a northerly orientation.
It is a representation of a clock—specifically an astronomical clock—that features a projection of the celestial sphere onto the Tropic of Cancer; we can therefore infer that it depicts the arc of maximum daylight—that of the summer solstice—for any location on Earth. If we look at the lines that mark the divisions across all the rings on the page, we can see that they align with the figure representing the West; these lines, therefore, signify the coming of evening—the sunset.
Interestingly, the famous astronomical clock in Prague—which tracks the hours using various systems—displays the hours on its outer ring according to the old "Italian" (or "Bohemian") timekeeping method, where the day begins at sunset. This is the same system we see on this clock and these rings.
But the resemblance to the Prague clock—the basis of which dates from the same period as the Voynich manuscript—does not end there. If we examine this famous clock, we can see an orange arc that marks the boundary between dawn and dusk; it is fixed for the summer solstice at the latitude of Prague, corresponding to 16 hours of daylight. Dawn arrives around 4 a.m.—in Roman numerals—and twilight at 8 p.m.
If we look at the group of symbols outside the outermost ring, we see something curious. Let’s set aside the transliterations of the script. What we see is that the group begins with the number 8 and ends with the 4—the ancient number 4. That group is positioned just after the lines, so the number 8 represents sunset—the start of the day, much like on the Prague clock—and the group of symbols concludes with 4, the dawn.
The four human figures in the central circle appear to represent the four cardinal directions. The one on the right holds a round object, perhaps to signify the East—the direction from which the celestial bodies rise. He extends his arm and looks toward the figure representing the South, and the latter toward the one representing the West. This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that neither of them extends an arm toward the figure representing the North; thus, the arms of the other three appear to trace the arc of light. The glyph in the bottom-right corner of the page, which resembles an uppercase S, would also reinforce this idea, as it would signify *Septentrio*—that is, a northerly orientation.
It is a representation of a clock—specifically an astronomical clock—that features a projection of the celestial sphere onto the Tropic of Cancer; we can therefore infer that it depicts the arc of maximum daylight—that of the summer solstice—for any location on Earth. If we look at the lines that mark the divisions across all the rings on the page, we can see that they align with the figure representing the West; these lines, therefore, signify the coming of evening—the sunset.
Interestingly, the famous astronomical clock in Prague—which tracks the hours using various systems—displays the hours on its outer ring according to the old "Italian" (or "Bohemian") timekeeping method, where the day begins at sunset. This is the same system we see on this clock and these rings.
But the resemblance to the Prague clock—the basis of which dates from the same period as the Voynich manuscript—does not end there. If we examine this famous clock, we can see an orange arc that marks the boundary between dawn and dusk; it is fixed for the summer solstice at the latitude of Prague, corresponding to 16 hours of daylight. Dawn arrives around 4 a.m.—in Roman numerals—and twilight at 8 p.m.
If we look at the group of symbols outside the outermost ring, we see something curious. Let’s set aside the transliterations of the script. What we see is that the group begins with the number 8 and ends with the 4—the ancient number 4. That group is positioned just after the lines, so the number 8 represents sunset—the start of the day, much like on the Prague clock—and the group of symbols concludes with 4, the dawn.