VMs: Re: What do you think about Eight?

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Pamela Richards <spirlhelix@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi, Rene
> 
> The twelve signs have assigned compass directions,
> so
> a chart devised with the purpose of emphasizing that
> fact seems, forgive me, a little redundant.  There
> are so many ways to express direction using
astrology!
> Here are the directions of the signs:

What I meant was, that at any epoch another sign
will be due south. Thus, a link between compass
directions and the zodiac signs is not really 
redundant.
In reality, though, I don't believe that this is what
is meant by this particular illustration, and I don't
see much more than a flower-like ornament in
the middle. 

> These don't seem to be astrological charts to me,
> and astrological charts can convey a lot more
> information in much less space than the VMs
> chart illustrations take up. 
> That's why I tend to lean in the direction
> of numerology rather than a tie-in to astrology to
> explain the emphasis on the number eight.  

I see several possibilities.
The 8-fold division which appears in some
illustrations is not typical for astronomical or
astrological illustrations, so perhaps:
- the illustrations are indeed not astronomical
- the 8-fold division is something the VMs author
  just made up as he liked it
- it refers to an unknown (or little known) system
  in use at that time or before it.

While the last is probably the most intriguing,
it is not at all clear that it is the correct one.
As I wrote before, the "flower" or "starfish" in the
middle is pretty innocuous.

The figure is pretty interesting in itself, and one
of the better places in the MS (IMHO) to find some 
clue to the meaning of the script, or any evidence
at all that there is meaning in the MS.

The page:
http://www.voynich.nu/extra/mstaur.html
is one example. The 7 possible planet names
in the 12 segments are another. The alternating
scheme of red and yellow moons is yet another.
There's also some similarity to the circular 
astrolabe of MUL.APIN which I only know from an
illustration in Evans: "the history and practice of
ancient astronomy". If you're familiar with that
it would be great if you had anything to suggest
in that direction.

Cheers, Rene


		
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