f73v. Zodiac folios: Sagittarius

The Sagittarius folio is assigned to the month of November and the events for this month are shown below.

November

2^nd

18^th

21^st

23^rd

Annular eclipse of the Sun – invisible from location

Penumbral eclipse of the Moon – barely perceivable (Not visible from this location)

Mercury at superior conjunction

Jupiter at quadrature

This is an interesting folio and has some unique features. This is the one and only occasion where a nymph is seen holding a star downwards, 8 O’clock nymph on the inner circle of nymphs, the label may be translated as “behind the Sun " and the nymph with missing star behind it Mercury at conjunction. The male nymph at 1.30 O'clock in the second circle may be the Moon at eclipse, even though not directly visible, he is being touched by a "Conjunction Nymph" which may represent the Earth touching the Moon with its shadow. This may present a glimpse of the nymph used to portray the earth, in this case female. The two barrels behind the nymphs on the left of the outer circle may relate to the Annular eclipse of the Sun (even though not visible from this location) and is consistent with the imagery seen in the Gemini folio where nymphs are standing on such barrels, the position of the barrels relating to the type of eclipse. The “Conjunction Nymph" is also present. The large nymph directly above the head of the central figure looks like it may have been changed from male to female, the dot inside the star it holds looks more drawn with lines than a blob, this may be Jupiter (Iovis) at quadrature and the drawn star dot an attempt to represent the symbol for Leo, the constellation it is in at this time.

This folio has what appears to be two faint lesser markers and an almost too obvious pointing of the bow as a marker at the missing star of the nymph at 7.30 O’clock on the second circle of nymphs. The missing star may be Mercury which becomes invisible at conjunction (superior), although Mercury is often in conjunction with the Sun this particular one may be of particular significance because it occurs very close to the location of SN 1604, being next to the foot of Ophiuchus and the constellation of Sagittarius.


f73v, Sagittarius. Voynich Manuscript. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Overlay by P. Han showing folio markers and main possible points of interest.	Celestial North Pole centred star map, 21/11/1054 Kaifeng, China. Credit: Redshift6. Overlay by P. Han showing position of SN 1604 in relation to the superior conjunction of Mercury.

The top row of nymphs seem to be connected to the Annular eclipse, below is a possible translation of their labels.

f73v, cropped, Sagittarius. Voynich Manuscript. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Overlay by P. Han showing possible translation of labels of the top row of nymphs.

Below are two NCP centred star maps at the time of the Annular eclipse. The folio markers when centred on the eclipse show the angle from the eclipse to the NCP and SN 1054 and SN 1572, this angle is the same for both supernovae.


Celestial North Pole centred star map, 2/11/1054 Kaifeng, China. Credit: Redshift6. Overlay by P. Han showing folio markers in relation to the Annular eclipse of the Sun, the NCP, and SN 1054..	Celestial North Pole centred star map, 2/11/1054 Kaifeng, China. Credit: Redshift6. Overlay by P. Han showing folio markers in relation to the Annular eclipse of the Sun, the NCP, and SN 1572.

The eyes of the central figure appear to be part of the folio markers but the bow the archer is holding appears to be involved with the absent star, i.e., Mercury. Keeping the arrow of the archer as the arrow of the constellation Sagittarius, the central figure markers point to the conjunction of Mercury and the NCP as a possibility.


f73v, cropped, Sagittarius. Voynich Manuscript. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Overlay by P. Han showing central figure markers.	Celestial North Pole centred star map, 21/11/1054 Kaifeng, China. Credit: Redshift6. Overlay by P. Han showing folio markers in relation to the superior conjunction of Mercury and the NCP.

The eyes and pointing finger of the central figure form an angle that is of the type expected for the quadrature of Jupiter when observed in a heliocentric system. When these markers are overlaid onto a heliocentric star map of the event the angle is pretty close to the actual angle Jupiter from the earth in relation to the Sun, and significantly the line of the Sun through the earth at this time on such a star map points towards SN 1054. This interpretation requires the acceptance of a heliocentric system.


f73v, Sagittarius. Voynich Manuscript. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Overlay by P. Han showing central figure markers	Heliocentric star map, 23/11/1054, Kaifeng, China. Credit: Redshift6. f73v, Sagittarius. Voynich Manuscript. Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Overlay by P. Han showing central figure markers in relation to The Earth and Jupiter on a heliocentric star map when Jupiter is at quadrature.