The Charm of the Voynich, cont’d
In a previous post, I commented on the charm-like text written on the final page of the Voynich manuscript and since that time had a surprise… In October 2015, I discovered a page in a mid-15th century codex that resembles and expands on the information written on a fragment at the beginning of Der Neusohler Cato that I discussed in relation to the VM text.
In the Cato, the fragment on the left illustrates an abracadabra-style word (abgracula) broken down until it resembles a symbol that I imagine could be included on an amulet or hilt of a sword or dagger. I don’t know if that was its function, it could be an incantation for “reducing” the severity of an illness, like a prayer (with the crosses perhaps signifying the signing of the cross while speaking the incantation) or something else. This was only a hunch, when I first saw it, since the Cato fragment contained few clues to its function.
Since then, I discovered another version of the same charmlike text, contained within a shape that resembles a shield, with writing in the shield margins.
Comparisons between the Cato Fragment and the Fugger Text
There are some differences. The ink is much darker in the Cato fragment and the handwriting more spidery and awkward. The writing style is a fairly common one for the 15th century in this region, so while it is similar, it’s probably not in the same hand, especially considering the different rendering of the letter r and the way it joins to the following letter.
As for the content, the Cato fragment begins with abgracula and the Fugger codex with magnum nomen dominum (“In the name of the Father”) followed by abraculauß on the second line. Also, the Cato fragment breaks down to an amulet-style symbol while the Fugger text retains the letter shapes to the end. Despite differences, the resemblance is clear, with the crosses and progression of sounds broken down in the same general way.
The text around the margins of the shield appear to be a mixture of old Germanic and Latin and unfortunately, some of it is smeared. On the right, it appears to say, “The writing pertains to p???tate…” (“The writing is for p???tate…”). Could the unclear word be “prostate” (as in a prostrate person, someone lying down due to illness or impending death? Or does it perhaps say praetare, plaetare or photare or something along those lines (maybe someone who knows Latin can make it out). I’m wondering if it’s a variation of praeterea. I refer to the text before the “photare/photate” as Germanic because it’s not strictly German, but is readable as northern old German. On the opposite side of the shield is text about praying Our Father (pater noster).
It doesn’t seem like a traditional last rights incantation which is why I wonder if it’s perhaps a sick-bed incantation/prayer.
Connections to the Voynich Manuscript
How this ties into the Voynich manuscript is that the last page struck me as having an incantation-like quality (long before I knew anything about medieval charms) and the above example lends some weight to that possibility. Also note that the VM charm appears to be a mixture of Latin-like sounds and Germanic words and the handwriting in this abraculauß text is from the same writing tradition as the last page and some of the marginal notes in Beinecke 408—a handwriting style* that is primarily concentrated in northeast Switzerland and southwest Germany at about the same time as Sagittarius with legs and a crossbow was popular, but which also found its way (with a handful of modifications) to a monastery in mideast England, probably through one or more traveling monks.
There was a commercial workshop in central Europe in the 1400s producing religious texts and chronicles for those who could afford them and the head of the studio was also a writing tutor, so it’s not surprising that there are quite a few manuscripts from this area with very similar handwriting.
*(When commercial block prints and the printing press came along, this specific style of writing died out and medieval scribes had to find a new line of work.)
J.K. Petersen
© Copyright 2015 J.K. Petersen, All Rights Reserved
Hi JK, this post was written in 2015 so don’t know if you’ve updated it. I was just looking at the last page of VM, and have recently been reading a few texts also regarding medieval magic circles and necromancy or exorcism.
The crosses are common in magic circles and charms though are not always used. They usually come beginning and end to enclose sacred names, particularly of God or Jesus and sometimes Abraham, which is what you have in your last example.
Magic practitioners drew power from the names of god, angels, Jesus, cardinals etc. when conjuring spirits or demons to do their will. So around a drawn magic circle, for instance, you might see something like + El+Alpha and Omega+ Adonay+AGLA+Tetragrammaton + , names of God without actually naming God. I’ve been looking at 57v’s magic circle in particular to see if I can match symbols to names, though the crosses aren’there (they didn’t always use them).
I don’t read Latin, though have French and medical terminology so can make out some of the words. I do wonder if the ott9 word is perhaps Alpha and Omega. I’d love your thoughts on this.
Re 57v being a magic circle : I’m becoming somewhat swayed by this idea. I just read a study of them. So I’ll give you some of the similarities with 57v.
The name at top left outside the circle that looks like 8airox (I at first thought it might translate Thaurus). This position was often indicated on magic circles and will be either the specific name of the summoned spirit or a generic placeholder for the name (usually indicated as Nomen or N if generic).
The lines that seem to indicate start/end of a circle’s line of text: these would not be start/stop in a magic circle but indicating a gap in the four circles’ lines of text. This is a path for the magician to enter the circle.
The o with a dot in the centre very middle. This indicates where the magician stands.
The compass cardinals: all four represented by the figures. Notice they are not looking at 8airox – it is the magician who will face that spirit position when he calls the spirit. The one holding the ring might indicate east (though east is usually at the top) but could also be holding up a ring, the ring of Solomon, itself inscribed, another common feature.
The circles themselves: the outer circle could well be the invocation or prayer describing what’s needed from god to control the spirit and the intention: invisibility, love, revenge on enemies, illness to someone or health to another, for example. So something like, “in the name of the lord God our father, I conjure you (demon or spirit’s particular name) to grant me invisibility, etc. Amen.
But it might not be. Sometimes that happens. What the circles almost always contain are magic symbols, and lists of god’s names, jesus’s names, abraham’s less commonly, angel names very commonly, and planet names. All for the magician to draw power from. Sometimes there are devil or demon names too but far less common.
So I’d sure like your help in possibly identifying names of god (most common) in the 57v possible magic circle! Because I think that might be exactly what it is.
Just to add: magic circles in the Munich Handbook of Necromancy are sometimes shaped like shields exactly like the one in your example.
One more add: All the conjuration invocations usually end with Amen and start with Latin ut, meaning “that” in English, i.e “That by the grace of our lord you will grant me invisibility. Amen.” Very shortened example.
So a good start might be made trying to identify “that” at the beginning of phrases (perhaps on the recipe pages, which might not be herbal recipes specifically, but phrasing or prayers for invocations), amen at the end, and the names of god (most common names in circles, same name repeated more than once, but at least ten maybe twenty exist – most common seem to be El, AGLA, Alpha and O, Adonay) in the circle or on the last page.
Cheers!
Hello, Barbara, thank you for your comments.
I haven’t updated this post, but I have written additional posts about charms as I learned more about them, and have posted quite a few additional illustrations. You can find them through the search box.