Map directions

The most fundamental correlates to establish in the ninefold Voynich map (Rosette) are the four directions. This, like everything else, is much discussed, with advocates for every possibility. There is, however, what I would describe as a majority opinion and it provides the most probable alignment. It is based on assuming that the two suns in the corners of the map indicate an east/west axis, and that the small diagram in the bottom left with a pointer marks north - both very defensible assumptions. We won't go over all the arguments here. No other alignment is as cogent.

 

The alignment is as follows:

The purpose of this post is just to put this on record. The Voynich space is so full of chatter and contradictions that it can difficult to get a sense of what is solid and what is not. With only slight exaggeration, there are some Voynich groups where people will argue for twenty years as to whether it's a "map" or a "chart". Debates about the directions can be tangled and confusing.

Amidst it all, though, you will find a good body of considered opinion favoring the above alignment. On the available evidence, it is the natural reading of what is suggested. Objections can be made, but none of them changes the strong likelihood that this is the correct reading.

It is an important question. We are given a map. What are its directions? It is surely a vital step towards understanding the map that we know this. For the purposes of study, anyway, we have to adopt a working assumption and proceed with it. This is the model that I think is most adequate for such purposes. In fact I think it can be safely adopted as a working model for subsequent study: it can be taken as some (reasonably) solid ground.

We ought to be ever ready to scrap it if we must, but it is the safest platform from which to begin.

These seasonal parallels follow naturally:

 

 

 
And these correlates:

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The various other possibilities are illustrated below:

R. B.