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Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

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• Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  bi3mw > 17-06-2023, 09:54 AM

  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. a tree in an alchemical work of the 15th century.
  The new link to the manuscript: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
  
  The John Rylands Library, Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit, Alchemica (German MS 1), 15th century
  

  Quote:2v: N1: a naked Queen stands before a tree in fruit with a bird perched just above her head, the sun is to her right, the moon to her left, more birds are to the sides; beneath her is distilling equipment.

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  R. Sale > 17-06-2023, 05:40 PM

  Not trying to cause problems. Newer mss. may contain information and explanations not found in earlier texts. Just suggesting that references should have provenance (date & location - if available), when they are new to the discussion.

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  ReneZ > 17-06-2023, 11:17 PM

  (17-06-2023, 05:40 PM)R. Sale Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Not trying to cause problems. Newer mss. may contain information and explanations not found in earlier texts. Just suggesting that references should have provenance (date & location - if available), when they are new to the discussion.

  
  They may, of course, though we need some kind of assurance that the material in these newer MS isn't completely new.
  Alchemical works that do not postdate the Voynich MS by a significant amount of time exist, but are quite rare.
  The 'Buch der heilligen Dreifaltigkeit'  is the best known example, and the Ryland MS shown a few posts before is a copy of it. This may well be the only illustrated work of its kind.
  
  Most of what we would now call alchemy was developed after the Voynich MS and has no relevance for our purpose.

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  bi3mw > 18-06-2023, 11:26 AM

  I would like to refer to "Splendor Solis", Plate 6. Although the earliest surviving edition I could find ( Cod. 78 D 3, Kupferstichkabinett ) is from 1531, the text itself is very likely from about 1440. It is unfortunately no longer verifiable whether possible, older editions were already illustrated. At least in the text of the 15th century, the motif "tree" may already have been present.
  
  

  Quote:"Splendor solis" is an illustrated alchemical manuscript in Middle Low German from the 15th century. The text was most likely written by Ulrich Poyssel around 1440 under the pseudonym Salomon Trismosin."

  
  See Page 28 to 29:
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  British Library, Harley MS 3469, 1582, Splendor Solis, Plate 6
  
  f. 15r: Philosophical Tree with three generations of Aeneas’ family: Aeneas, his father Anchises, and his son Silvius up in the tree.
  
     
  
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  Quote:Known to alchemists as the arbor philosophica, or philosophical tree, the tree of life stands for the opus alchymicum, the alchemical process regarded as a preliminary stage of the perfection to which alchemists aspire.
  
  Jörg Völlnagel

  
  Thus, the Arbor philosophica / Arbor Philosophicus also appears in MS Vat.lat. 7286 (see post #217). This is what I mean with the repetition of figurative representations (see post #220).
  
  
  edit: The illustration of the birds and the crown somehow reminds of the illustration in the "Book of the Holy Trinity" ( see post #221 ).
  

  Quote:Soaring birds are frequently used in alchemy to symbolise sublimation...
  
  Jörg Völlnagel

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  bi3mw > 18-06-2023, 06:03 PM

  Here is another tree in an alchemical context (?):
  Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Ashburnham 1166, Miscellany of Alchemy, folio 16r, ca. 1470
  
  
  Adam as prima materia, pierced by the arrow of Mercurius.
     
  
  I think I have also seen this illustration in another alchemical manuscript but I can't remember where.
  
  edit: No, it was not the same motive. It can be seen in a late work (1579).
  
  Glasgow University Library, MS. Ferguson 6, Rosary of the Philosophers
     
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• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  Aga Tentakulus > 14-11-2023, 01:15 PM

  I find it interesting that a star can also be called wormwood.
  
  Wormwood fascinated medieval alchemists and its connection to madness and disorder is already biblical: "The third angel sounded his trumpet. Then a great star fell from heaven; it blazed like a torch and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs. The name of the star is "wormwood". A third of the water became bitter, and many people died from the water because it had become bitter." (Rev 8, 10-11)
  
  Wermut faszinierte mittelalterliche Alchemisten und sein Bezug zu Wahnsinn und Unordnung ist schon biblisch: „Der dritte Engel blies seine Posaune. Da fiel ein großer Stern vom Himmel; er loderte wie eine Fackel und fiel auf ein Drittel der Flüsse und auf die Quellen. Der Name des Sterns ist «Wermut». Ein Drittel des Wassers wurde bitter und viele Menschen starben durch das Wasser, weil es bitter geworden war.“ (Offb 8, 10-11)
  
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• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  bi3mw > 18-03-2024, 06:43 PM

  I don't think it's quite that simple. I would see distillation as just one of the, let's say seven, stages of the alchemical process. So you would have to transfer the imagery of Q13 to these stages. This is partly possible, but it does not (yet) result in a coherent sequence. I would also assume that the "great work" here is not gold but a kind of "burnt water". If that is the case, the stages would not be transferable 1:1 anyway ( multiple distillation ? ).

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  pjburkshire > 18-03-2024, 06:59 PM

  (18-03-2024, 06:43 PM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I don't think it's quite that simple. I would see distillation as just one of the, let's say seven, stages of the alchemical process. So you would have to transfer the imagery of Q13 to these stages. This is partly possible, but it does not (yet) result in a coherent sequence. I would also assume that the "great work" here is not gold but a kind of "burnt water". If that is the case, the stages would not be transferable 1:1 anyway ( multiple distillation ? ).

  
  I know about the desire to turn lead into gold but I never heard of "burnt water".  Is "burnt water" some kind of holy water?

• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  bi3mw > 18-03-2024, 07:09 PM

  "Burnt water" is something like a preform of "aqua vitae" (if you define "aqua vitae" as edible):
  
  

  Quote:"The term was used by the 14th-century alchemist John of Rupescissa, who believed the then newly discovered substance of ethanol to be an imperishable and life-giving "fifth essence" or quintessence, and who extensively studied its medical properties.

  
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• RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

  pjburkshire > 18-03-2024, 07:38 PM

  (06-02-2020, 02:00 AM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This comparison with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in the VMS just came to my mind. As mentioned elsewhere, I consider Quire 13 "alchemy-suspicious" anyway.
  
  
  
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  Many people have suggested that the Voynich Manuscript was written as a health manual for women. I don't agree with that in its entirety but I think some of it does have to do with pregnancy. I think people in the early 15th century had some very strange ideas about pregnancy. I think page You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in Quire 13 is part of the information about pregnancy.
  
  I don't know how much correct human anatomy they knew back in the early 15th century but I suspect they knew about intestines. I think that image is more likely supposed to represent intestines than a water-cooled still.
  
  It kind of looks like what is on shutterstock.
  
  Digestive tract vector icon isolated on white background
  
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