Burckhardt's Alchemy

 

The Voynich manuscript is not as directly alchemical as it might seem. It is natural that we place it in the Renaissance tradition of northern Italian alchemical herbals, but even in that genre it is an outlier. It does not present a familiar and recognizable system of alchemy. It must be alchemical if only because it is astrological, and alchemy and astrology are sister sciences. But it is not overtly and explicitly alchemical in the usual sense.

Nevertheless, the work unquestionably presents a traditional, or premodern cosmology, and this is inherently alchemical in the broader sense.

The very best account of the traditional cosmological sciences - especially in the European and Islamic traditions - is the book by Titus Burkhardt (grandson of Jacob Burckhardt, the renowned art historian) Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. This is one of the few serious works on the subject that properly situate it outside of the usual scientific progress narrative in which the traditional cosmological sciences - astrology and alchemy - are reduced to proto-scientific superstitions. This book by Burckhardt is the perfect corrective to that widespread but naive view.

I would go so far as to say that Alchemy by Titus Burckhardt is essential reading for anyone who pretends to study the Voynich manuscript. It is even more essential for anyone who wants to understand alchemy and alchemical cosmology in general. It is one of those pivotal works. If you haven't read it, you haven't made a start on the subject.

I cannot recommend this work more highly. Again: you will find that the Voynich is an outlier even in the broader alchemical tradition, but it nevertheless presents a premodern cosmology and Titus Burkhardt's book is by far the best induction into traditional cosmological thought.

This should be the first book on the reading list of anyone hoping to get their mind around the Voynich manuscript. Until you've read it, you'll labour under many misconceptions. I read it some thirty years ago, and (along with Mircea Eliade's Forge and Crucible) it was profoundly illuminating and remains the cornerstone of my reading and thinking in this field.

R. B.