Homer’s Vault of Mysteries: The Voynich Manuscript

An intriguing 15^th Century manuscript and my theory on its origins.

     The Voynich Manuscript is an illustrated handwritten codex in an unknown writing system that can be carbon dated to the early 15^th century, between 1404-1438. It was probably written in Northern Italy and is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912. There are around 240 pages remaining in the book and the text is written from left to right. Many of the pages have illustrations or diagrams. It has been studied buy codebreakers and cryptographers worldwide and there is still no definitive answer to what it could be. The illustrations vary from pictures of unidentifiable plants and weird scenes of women bathing. Some say it may be the book of an alien visitor while others think it was just a hoax perpetrated back in the 15^th century to fool people or the church. I don’t think someone would have put so much effort into a hoax just to piss the church off. If you pissed the church off back then, you were more likely to be tortured or even killed.

There are six different sections of the book and since the text is undecipherable. Each section is typified by illustrations with different styles and supposed subject matter except for the last section, in which the only drawings are small stars in the margins. There are a few missing pages. Here is a breakdown of the illustrations:

Herbal: 112 pages, none of these plants have ever been clearly identified.

Astronomical: 21 pages: contains circular diagrams suggestive of astronomy or astrology. One series of 12 diagrams depicts conventional symbols for the zodiac.

Biological: 20 pages: mostly pictures of nude women some wearing crowns and most seem to be bathing or wading in pools of water.

Cosmological: 13 pages: more circular diagrams but of an obscure nature. This section also has foldouts, one of which spans six pages. It contains a map or a diagram of nine islands or rosettes connected by causeways and containing castles.

Pharmaceutical: 34 pages: Many labeled drawings of isolated plant parts, objects resembling apothecary jars, ranging in style from the mundane to the fantastical.

Recipes: 22: Full pages of text broken into many short paragraphs, each marked with a star in the margins.

(Wikipedia, Voynich Manuscript)

That is what Wikipedia has to say about the book. There are hundreds of websites that you can peruse if you are more interested in the factual matters. The best source I found was the Yale University Library’s Rare Manuscript department (Beinecke Library), it comes up if you google the manuscript. I could literally write a whole book about this but today I am just going to give you a very brief description of what I think it is and how I came to this conclusion. I have researched this manuscript since I first heard about it about ten years ago and I have had a few theories, the most recent one and one that a few other people have thought as well is that it could be associated with dimensional travel since many of the circular images bare a striking resemblance to much of the hardware in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Perhaps this book was one of the dimensional travelers guide books, the text could be coordinates and the unknown flora from a different Earth all together. I suggest you watch the video CERN and The Voynich Manuscript on Youtube, made by my friend UNIROCK tv. Although this idea is extremely far fetched it isn’t that far beyond reason. My theory is this unfortunate dimensional traveler got stuck in our time and Earth and his book is the proof he wasn’t from our universe or dimension at all. I do like this theory but recently I have come up with one that makes much more sense and is feasibly possible.

My newest suggestion is that the book is actually an ancient spell book, perhaps it’s a druid’s spell book or some shaman from a totally unknown tribe or people. The words are all repetitive and the scenes of women bathing are ritualistic in nature, that would also explain the star charts and astrology in the book as well. Who knows maybe the book is thousands of years old and shows flora and fauna from somewhere that doesn’t exist anymore, like Atlantis or whatever may be buried under Antarctica, researchers recently found a petrified forest buried under the ice in Antarctica, which means at one time this frozen continent was teeming with life. A few researchers even suggest that Antarctica was actually way more north than it is now and that rapid continental shift plac3d it in the “frozen” zone in a matter of a couple hundred years somewhere around 10,000 years ago. Why couldn’t this be an ancient religious text from a lost civilization? Researcher are finding things everyday that retire our understanding of ancient history and it really bothers me that main stream academics can’t accept that the ancients may have been as smart if not smarter than us today. It isn’t hard for me to believe that thee ancient people who cared way more for the natural world than us could have used nature for their “magical” spells and healing. Perhaps the Voynich manuscript is a glimpse of an ancient civilization that disappeared millennia ago. That is the most fun part of doing this kind of research, the answers are shrouded in mist, yet it is so fun to stumble around looking for valid answers. I don’t know what this ancient book really is nor does anyone else and that’s what makes this so interesting. Do some of your own research and come to your own conclusions. I would love to hear what you all think. Like I said, I could write a whole book on this and perhaps someday I will but in the meantime, I wanted to share this fascinating story with you all and hope it sparks some interest to do your own research on this subject. The pictures alone are worth looking at.

I hope you enjoyed this little teaser of the Voynich Manuscript and I hope you look into it for yourself, it’s been fun and I can’t wait to share a ne mystery with you very soon. Until then have a wonderful day and as always, PEACE!!!!!!!

Obscure Mythology Chapter 26: Zya

A figure in Shamanism, Siberia.

     Here we are! The final chapter! After 26 entries and almost six months we have finally come to the end of this project! The last entry comes from the frozen lands of Siberia and was the third to the last entry in the Dictionary of Mythology. It was this dictionary that inspired me to find these 26 strange and awesome examples of great myths and legends from around the world. I also wanted to mention that Siberia has been a gold mine for archeologists studying ancient man as the frozen land has preserved many specimens of not just ancient man but ancient animals such as the woolly mammoth. In fact, there is one baby mammoth so well preserved scientists believe they could clone it! That controversy s for another post though!

I enjoyed this little endeavor a lot and can’t wait to do something like this again in the future. Speaking of the future, I have a lot of cool stuff to share, some that I have been working on since before I started this mythology project! Anyway, let’s get on with our finally entry in the Obscure Mythology project.

Zya, Siberian, a figure in shamanism.

It is said that if one draws the figure of an enemy on cloth or paper and hides it in that person’s house, he/she will fall ill and die.

Yikes! The first thing that came to mind my when I read this was an image of me frantically searching my house for crudely drawn pictures of me every time I came home from anywhere. I’ve made a few enemies in my time since I have no filter when it comes to things I truly believe in, so I would spend the extra ten minutes a day searching! Just try to imagine for one second that something like this actually worked, I don’t think I’d be the only one paranoid. I could see someone starting a business where they would place your enemy drawings for you for a small fee. It would be absolute chaos and kind of interesting. I may have to file this away for future short story ideas! When I first stated this blog I posted a story about Bone pointing, an Aboriginal shamanistic practice that “kills” someone with psychic energy, and in a way Zya may have worked the same way. If the tribe or society believed that it worked then chances are when an individual did find a picture of them drawn by their enemy in their own homes perhaps it did make them ill and eventually die because of the psychological effects of those beliefs. That’s what this whole project was about, finding obscure or forgotten mythology and not only sharing them but also finding the commonalities among them no matter where they came from or who first believed them.

In conclusion, this has been an awesome journey and I want to thank you all for sticking with me this long and I can’t wait to share new mysteries, myths, legends, etc with you all! Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it) and as always….PEACE!!!!!

Obscure Mythology: Chapter 25, Yerunthully

Australian, a magical rope

     Here we are, just one chapter away from finishing the entire alphabet! I have had a great time uncovering these mythological gems and I am glad that I am going to actually finish this project, whether it’s a few months late or not! I started this Obscure Mythology project back in late May and now here we are in mid November with just one chapter to go. I am not going to lie, this summer was especially hard on me emotionally. I had to deal with real world issues that a person cannot be prepared for, such as losing a loved one and dealing with another who has full blown Alzheimer’s all the while still trying to work, pay bills, raise kids, have a little me time and write a weekly blog. In short I spent all this time dealing with adult things all while trying to keep some sort of sanity through it all. I believe it is reasons like this that our ancient ancestors started telling these myths and stories in the first place. They were a way to show us that even when life is bringing us down there is a reason for it all. I was devastated when my Grandfather passed away and I am still in a state of mourning yet I believe he is in a better place surrounded by friend sand family, looking down at his earthly family every now and then. Admittedly, there are not a lot of entries for the letter Y, in the Myth dictionary but when I came across this one I had to use it because it fits perfectly with the story of my Grandfather’s passing and some extraordinary events that happened shortly after. I will place the Y entry and the I will say a little about my experiences this summer.

Yerunthully, Australian, a rope.

When a person dies, this rope is lowered from the heavens so that the spirit can climb up. When the spirit reaches the top, the rope falls as a meteor.

     The night I had found out that Grandpa passed away, I wet out onto the steps outside the house to cry ad contemplate in peace. While I was sitting outside reminiscing and mourning, I looked to the night sky and prayed. I wasn’t praying to a God or mythological being, I was praying to my Grandfather, telling him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. I thanked him for all he did for myself and my brother as we were growing up and then I said good-bye, for now. As soon as I had finished my silent memorial I watched as a bright light streaked across the sky directly above me. I am a skywatcher, anytime I am outside at night I am looking for UFO’s, comets, or any other motion in the night skies and this was only the second shooting star I’d seen in probably 10 years. I took it as a sign that Grandpa had heard my words. About a week later I headed up to my hometown to attend my Grandfather’s memorial service. It was not easy but I knew it had to be done. I spent the evening catching up with relatives and sharing great stories about the man who raised me. As I left my Aunt’s house after hours of reminiscing I stared up into the clear summer night’s sky as I was unlocking my car and watched in sheer amazement as a bright light streaked across the night sky, blazing across the twinkling darkness until it disappeared into the horizon. I took it as another sign that Grandpa had been watching or that he had been present in spirit. It’s hard to explain how a few perfectly timed shooting stars could calm my anxiety and depression over losing my Grandfather but they did have a calming effect and even if it is just coincidence, it is better than nothing. Having something to believe in is what has brought mythology and religion into our existence in the first place. In my 24 previous posts about obscure mythology I have been noticing how all of these myths and legends seem to have similar beginnings or connections to vastly different cultures and I had always thought that perhaps some alien or supernatural forces were responsible but maybe, just maybe our myths and legends are so similar for the simple fact that we are all human beings and deep down we all have fear and confusion over why and who we really are. We are more connected than we may even know. It saddens me that we spend most of our lives enclosed in our own little bubbles worried about no one but ourselves, were greed and self preservation have separated us and pitted us against one another. These ancient myths, they hold arcane knowledge about how to live and coexist and they show us what happens when we forsake our ancient roots. We all have the same DNA, we are 99.9% related, researchers have pinpointed one ancient female from Africa (Mitochondrial Eve) who lived nearly 200,000 years ago who is responsible for every human on the planet! If we All come from the same blood, we are all family. This explains why our myths/legends have so much commonality; we are all from the same family. We are all spiritual beings on a physical trip before returning back to our original plane of existence wherever that may be. We need to stop worrying about the individual and start worrying about the family as a whole before it is too late.

When I read this entry, I imagined my Grandfather climbing the rope, getting ready to return back to his spiritual home and I can feel better knowing he is there watching us, waiting for us to return to him. Seeing those comets, shooting stars or whatever they may have been wasn’t a coincidence in my mind, it was a sign, a spiritual recognition that my Grandfather had moved on and that he was in a place were he could keep an eye on his family.

This summer was difficult emotionally and losing my Grandfather was painful but I now accept it as a part of life and something that must be experienced in order to truly understand life, death and everything in between. I am certain that many ancient myths were told and retold not to scare us about death and what comes next but to be ready for it and to accept it.

I am one chapter away from ending this project and blasting forth with a whole bunch of strange and mysterious things I have been researching since May. I appreciate all of you who have stayed the course and enjoyed my Obscure Mythology and my ramblings. I shall return very soon with all new exciting material! Until then have a great week and as always, PEACE!!!!!!!

                                    above image: My Grandma, me and Grandpa (RIP)

Obscure Mythology Chapter 24: Xalaquia, Central America

An Aztec Festival In honor of Chicomecohuatl.

     First of all I have to apologize for a few missing N’s in my last post, the computer I used has a sticky N button that I have to wail on to get to register and sometimes when I am typing too fast the N doesn’t register. I try to go back ad double check but alas, I always seem to miss a couple. There may even be a couple in today’s blog so please accept my apologies in advance and I will do more to keep, small but annoying problems to a minimum. Now on to today’s post. There are not many entries in the Mythology Dictionary under X but what really surprised me was that I had found my subject after reading just two entries! When I read this, I had to analyze and discuss it! So many emotions and thoughts came into mind after I read this. It truly exemplifies many of the reasons why organized religion can be dangerous and how easily people can be brainwashed by those in power. In all of my research into Central American and South American myths and beliefs I have never come across this before and I am very curious to see if there are any other festivals like this one in other Mezo-American religions. I don’t want to say anything more until after I introduce you to the Aztec festival, Xalaquia.

Xalaquia, Central America, an Aztec festival in honor of Chicomecohuatl (Aztec maize goddess)

This festival took place at the end of June when the maize was fully grown and featured the Xalaquia, a female slave painted to represent the maize plant. She was required to dance throughout the sixteen days of the festival, until on the last morning, she was led to the teocalli (an Aztec temple or place of sacrifice) and killed by the officiating priest who tore out her heart and offered it to the goddess.

     Sacrifice was common place in ancient times and just about every civilization did it on an occasion or two, by biblical times Jewish and Christian religions began to sacrifice animals instead of humans but there were still many areas of the world that had no problem with killing humans to appease their gods. The Inca would choose special women from the upper class, drug them and place them in certain sacrificial pits, leaving them to die from starvation or exposure. They believed by giving the gods and their ancestors one of their elites they would be better taken care of. The Celts would ritually bind and strangle one of their own dumping them in the local bogs which were purported to be the borders to the land of the spirits and gods. In all these cases the individuals had been so indoctrinated and drugged that they willing gave their lives for the better of the whole. The Aztecs were a little different and very brutal. They didn’t normally sacrifice there own, they used slaves or captured warriors. In one week of sacrifices in the early 1500’s Aztec priests sacrificed over 80,000 prisoners! One after another they were dragged up onto a huge stone slab and a priest would use a specially crafted obsidian knife to cut open their ribcages and rip out their still beating hearts. There was always a reason for the sacrifices whether it be to stop a drought or just to show their love to their gods. I believe the priests and elite practiced these sacrifices for one more nefarious reason, to control their population through fear. Any society wiling to rip the hearts out of anyone they didn’t like or opposed them sent a real strong message to those who lived within that society. It especially applied to those civilizations who chose from their own people to make their sacrifices. How many times was someone sacrificed for political or personal reasons back then? I know this isn’t exactly the same as sacrifice but many now believe the Salem witch trilas were concocted by a few church elders who wanted the lands and holdings that some of the accused women owned. It’s a messed up but very plausible theory and one worth looking into, which I shall do in a future post!

Going back to the entry from today, after I read it, I tried to imagine myself in that poor slave girls shoes. I would imagine that if she was a slave, I doubt they drugged her or were too nice to her during that sixteen days of dancing. I wrote a short story about a tribal princess being sacrificed by her father, I think I posted it on here earlier this year, anyway, had I know of this festival I think I would have written it in that particular dancing slave girls thoughts. I may have to try it. This was just one of many festivals and Holy Days that involved human sacrifice. It was these kinds of festivals and rituals that not only kept the populace content but also in line. It amazes me how our ancient ancestors who were just as intelligent as us, if not more, could have allowed these kind of things to happen, but those in power have always found ways to keep their power and their people under control.  I should note that the various accounts of when the mysterious god, Vericocha, and his men came to the Aztec people one of the first things he did was to ban all sacrifices of any kind and that decree was the reason the Aztec priest and elites drove Vericocha and his followers away. They knew the hold that sacrifices had and were not willing to give up that kind of power not even for a God! Well I suppose I’ve taken up enough of your time. I hope you have enjoyed this entry and we are now only two letters away from ending this project and moving onto others. As always, thanks for reading and have a wonderful day……..PEACE!!!!!!!!!