The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript
Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill
Inner Traditions
ISBN: 1594771294
Non-Fiction, History, Spiritual
Reviewed by Pamela Crossland

Kennedy and Churchill take on the mystery of a book discovered by Wilfrid Voynich in an Italian monastery nearly a hundred years ago. They guide the reader through the maze of speculation about the convoluted history of the book and who might be connected to it. Those connected include names such as Roger Bacon, John Dee, and the Cathars. They do not have a theory of their own to share but are even handed in presenting the ideas of others.
It is a book no one can read nor understand housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Thirty one impressive plates and multiple black and white illustrations are included of weird plants, an astrological system that is unlike anything in current use and nude nymphs dancing in some sort of green fluid. The calligraphy itself is compelling, looking rather eastern with its elegant swirls.
Everything about this manuscript is open to conjecture: Are the nymphs engaged in some sort of group suicide while reclining in their green baths as Dr. Leo Levitov speculated? Does the green fluid represent some sort of medicinal hydrotherapy? Is this an ancient alchemical text? Or is it all some tremendous hoax, a get rich scheme?
This volume is absolute fascinating, though it may be a bit overwhelming for someone who has no knowledge of cryptography. Once presented, I suspect that even a casual reader will have this mystery teasing the very back part of his mind; for as a species one of our greatest strengths is the inexhaustible curiosity that compels us to poke and prod at the unknown and unexplained.