Venus and Anchises

03 Sunday May 2015

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William-Blake-Richmond-Venus-and-AnchisesWilliam Blake Richmond’s Venus and Anchises (1889 or 1890).

Anchises major claim to fame in Greek mythology is that he was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite (and in Roman mythology, the lover of Venus). One version is that Aphrodite pretended to be a Phrygian princess and seduced him for nearly two weeks of lovemaking. Anchises learned that his lover was a goddess only nine months later, when she revealed herself and presented him with the infant Aeneas. Aphrodite had warned him that if he boasted of the affair, he would be blasted by the thunderbolt of Zeus. He did and was scorched and/or crippled.

Astrology in old mysterious manuscript

20 Friday Mar 2015

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Pages from the astrological section of the Voynich manuscript

(Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Written in Central Europe at the end of the 15th or during the 16th century, the origin, language, and date of the Voynich Manuscript—named after the Polish-American antiquarian bookseller, Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired it in 1912—are still being debated as vigorously as its puzzling drawings and undeciphered text. Described as a magical or scientific text, nearly every page contains botanical, figurative, and scientific drawings of a provincial but lively character, drawn in ink with vibrant washes in various shades of green, brown, yellow, blue, and red.

Details about the manuscript:

Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Voynich Manuscript Has Real Message After All