Identifying Details

Joannes Richter Updating the overview for my studies towards the fundamental wave of human activities I decided to convert the old database1 to a new manuscript (Bipolar Monotheism) in which the layout has been increased from DIN-A5 to DIN-A4, allowing me to increase all photographs to a respectable size. Superfluous information and references to sources were banned to the footnote area, which cleared the pages from debris for a minimal amount of information. Checking the text for obsolete issues I noticed contradicting topics which had been caused by inserting new text between old chapters. The work really needed some rework. While doing this job I noticed a strange effect in identifying details. The enlarged photographs offered me a great advantage in discovering new details, which had been hidden in the previous versions of my manuscripts. Enlarging illustrations really is advantageous! I discovered the Adam's Apple in a Janus Coin allowing me to interpret the androgynous symbolism in the Janus' coin. In the Rosarium Philosophorum two water sources have been identified. I added a note to the symbolism of the yellow garment of the tax-payer in Masaccio's painting The Tribute Money. In order to check the symbolism of the kingfishers in Bosch's Garden of Delight I checked the overview kingfisher images, and (apart from the regular blue & orange birds) I identified many green & orange combinations but I never found any combinations of three colors (blue, green and orange). I also tried to solve some of the enigmatic problems of the Voynich manuscript, described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript". As remarkable illustrations I detected two enlarged V-images at the pdf-page 3 (numbered 2 in the Voynich manuscript), which might be considered as capitalized or royal symbols. Additionally at pdf-page 65 (numbered page 33) of the Voynich manuscript I identified human faces in the plants' roots, which probably are only detectable in a good copy of the manuscript. At the bottom of the in the Voynich manuscript at pdf-page 6 we may also identify many faces in the bottom line, representing the soil, in which the plant is growing. These identification of human faces in the plants' roots and soil definitely prove that the manuscript is not a standard herbal handbook. The faces may be stored in the soil and move to the roots, from where they are transported to the flowers. At pdf-page 28 of the Voynich manuscript at we may also identify similar faces in the flowers, symbolized by three dots for the eyed and a nose. Therefore we may expect the plants to extract human faces from the soil to bring them to the flowers. I am not convinced whether this story is a creation legend. At pdf-page 114 the manuscript suddenly switches from herbal descriptions to astrological or astronomical charts. I am still searching for key to solve this problem... The rest of the details2 have been documented in this paper, which merely is an additional working sketch for Bipolar Monotheism and Red and Blue in the Voynich-Manuscript.

1 The Hermetic Codex - Scribd 2 see appendix 1 for details

The Adam's Apple in a Janus Coin

The first new insight had been achieved by closer inspecting the Janus coin 3, which did lead to a relatively convincing gender-determination of the faces. The Adam's apple of the left face had been sized to a remarkable volume, which exceeded the right face. This convinced me to consider this Janus-portrait as an androgynous symbol. I never had been thinking of using a coin's detail like the Adam's apple to identify androgyny. And working with coins I never would have looked at these small details to discover religious information. This was the first result of my rework process, but it was worth to look for more similar details.

Fig. 1: The Adam's Apple in a Janus Coin

3 The full-sized illustration is documented in the appendix 2

The water sources in the Rosarium Philosophorum

The second insight arose from the enlarged image of the Rosarium Philosophorum 4, Prague (1578), which I had interpreted as two rocks or stumps of cut-down trees. They had been colored red and blue to emphasize their androgynous character: the left sided rock/trunk is the red-colored male side referencing to the sun at the left side of the painting. The right sided rock/trunk is colored blue referencing to the moon crescent at the right side of the painting5. What I had overseen was the water pouring from these rocks or trunks and flowing into the landscape. What had been symbolized by this water pouring out of the male, respectively elements? Why did I oversee the pouring water?

Fig. 2: Trunks with water sources in Rosarium Philosophorum, Prague (1578) In the web I tried to find some similar illustrations to Rosarium Philosophorum. None of these images however showed more details where the water was flowing to. The image seemed to have been cut off at the sides, leaving the question unanswered...

4 Jaro Griemiller z Tebska 5 The full-sized illustration is documented in the appendix 3

Yellow garments for the tax-payer in The Tribute Money Masaccio 6

Saint Peter, who also had been considered as a traitor because at the crucial moment he did leave Jesus alone, is wearing a yellow garment7 in this painting. In previous descriptions I had not noticed the symbolism of the yellow garment and at a second sight I identified the meaning of this color for the medieval observers and added the corresponding note. And yes indeed, Yellow for Saint Peter had been uploaded at 07 / 04 / 2010 whereas The Hermetic Codex had been initiated two weeks earlier (at 06 / 13 / 2010) and may not have been updated after the discovery of yellow's symbolism in St. Peters betrayal.

Fig. 3: The Tribute Money by Masaccio (1420)

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Reference: Red and Blue in the Middle Age Yellow for Saint Peter

The Kingfishers' Green

The next step was the failing color green in the kingfishers' image by Hieronymus Bosch. I had identified the difference some years ago, but never solved it. There were some indications for a triad of colors (red, blue and green), which had been used as imperial symbols instead of the Biblical bipolarity of red & blue. Did I miss any religious attribute referring to the green color? Green had been used in a great number of medieval paintings and ancient temple decorations. I checked the overview kingfisher images, and apart from the regular blue & orange birds I identified many green & orange combinations but I never found any combinations of three colors (blue, green and orange). The blue, green and orange combination does not seem to exist. Bosch must have created a symbolic bird.

Fig. 5: The Kingfisher in The Garden of Delights (1510)

Fig. 4: A European Kingfisher

Closer Looks at the Voynich manuscript

I also tried to solve some of the enigmatic problems of the Voynich manuscript, described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript". First of all I observed that the flowers never had yellow colors, which statistically cannot be observed in nature. Therefore the author must have painted symbolic flowers to illustrate some metaphysical theory.

Fig. 6: Flowers in Red & Blue in the Voynich manuscript (1420) Now it would be interesting to check whether the manuscript did contain any cartouches or royal, capitalized names which might enable us to decipher the encrypted text. I loaded the complete pdf-version of the Voynich manuscript, but merely analyzed the herbal illustrations and the text's structure. There were too much details to copy in the astronomical pages and the abundantly illustrations of human corpses. As remarkable illustrations I detected two enlarged V-images at the pdf-page 3 (numbered 2 in the Voynich manuscript), which might be considered as capitalized or royal symbols (see appendix 2). At the bottom of the in the Voynich manuscript at pdf-page 6 we may identify many faces in the bottom line, representing the soil, in which the plant is growing. Each of these faces is marked by three dots as may be observed in the detailed illustration. At pdf-page 28 of the Voynich manuscript at we may also identify similar faces in the flowers, symbolized by three dots for the eyed and a nose. At pdf-page 50 of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify an unidentifiable animal eating or sucking from the leaves. At pdf-page 65 (numbered page 33) of the Voynich manuscript at the bottom we may identify human faces in the plants' roots. The uncolored faces are only detectable in a good copy of the manuscript.

It is this last identification of human faces in the plants' roots that definitely proves that the manuscript is not a normal herbal handbook.

Appendix 1 - Analysis of the Voynich manuscript

V-images at page 3 (numbered 2 in the Voynich manuscript)
The first V-image seem to be followed by o8aV, the second one by a8aid

Fig. 7: V-Images at page #2

I retouched the page labeled 2 with both Vs and considered both Vs the only real capitals of the document. The first V might be a vessel, from which in the second V a substance may be rising or into which a substance might be dropped. The curl however more or less suggests a rising substance like smoke or odor. Still these images may be interpreted as characters or even illuminated capitals. There is however no real interpretation to easily be found.

Fig. 8: V-Images at page #2

Fig. 9: Details for the page labeled 2

Faces in the bottom line

At the bottom of the in the Voynich manuscript at pdf-page 6 we may identify many faces in the bottom line, representing the soil, in which the plant is growing. Each of these faces is marked by three dots as may be observed in the detailed illustration.

Fig. 10: many faces in the bottom line of the #6 of the Voynich manuscript

Fig. 11: detailed samples of the faces in the soil at page 6

Faces in the flowers

At pdf-page 28 of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify similar faces in the flowers, symbolized by three dots for the eyed and a nose.

Fig. 12: faces in the flowers

Unidentifiable animal eating from the leaves

At pdf-page 50 of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify an unidentifiable animal eating or sucking from the leaves.

Fig. 13: unidentifiable animal eating from the leaves

Human faces in the plants' roots

At pdf-page 65 (numbered page 33) of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify human faces in the plants' roots. The uncolored faces are only detectable in a good copy of the manuscript.

Fig. 14: human faces in the plants' roots at page 65

Fig. 15: Left Face

Fig. 16: Right Face

These faces for which the gender cannot be identified, clearly identify the manuscript as an nonherbal book.

Human corpse at the bottom of the page

At pdf-page 119 (numbered page 66) of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify a human corpse at the bottom of the page.

Fig. 17: human corpse at the bottom of the page At pdf-page 208 (of a total of 209 scans) of the Voynich manuscript at we may identify a note dated III/2 1967 and signed HH.

Fig. 18: a note dated III/2 1967 and signed HH

Appendix 2 - Gender-identification in the Janus Coin

According to Macrobius and Cicero, Janus8 and Jana are a pair of divinities, worshiped as the sun and moon. For this reasons they were regarded as the main gods and received their sacrifices before all other deities. Janus and Janua are variant forms of Dianus and Diana. Both refer to the root of dies "day" and deus "god"9. These bipolar characteristics may be joined by and inherited from the sky-god Dyaus towards the words Diana, Day, Deus, Dieu,

Fig. 19: Bifaced, androgynous Janus as a Coin Please check to identify the faces as male (left, with closed lips and a prominent Adam's apple) respectively female (right, with opened lips without an Adam's apple) characters...

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Information from: Wikipedia-entry (Janus) See the documentation at: The Sky-God Dyaeus

Appendix 3 - Rosarium Philosophorum10

The Rosarium Philosophorum's tree has been founded: on a red rock with a rich water source (at the side of the male sun) and at a blue rock with a rich water source (at the side of the female moon)

Fig. 20: Rosarium Philosophorum, Prague (1578)

(picture : from Jaro Griemiller z Tebska, Rosarium Philosophorum, f. 184r, Prague, 1578)

10 Jaro Griemiller z Tebska