This Lunary is made up of images and symbols, with no writing, and presents obvious challenges of interpretation. [1] Yet familiarity with the themes and presentation in written Lunary texts, as well as comparison to contemporary pictorial calendars, allows us to offer a tentative reading.
About the Lunary
The Lunary appears on the verso side of page six of the multi-paged manuscript, Rawlinson D 939 (henceforth Rawlinson). It is a folded parchment, and on the recto side are sixteen squares of beautiful drawings depicting Biblical themes: a nativity scene with figures of the Magi, the crucifixion, portraits of Saints Mary and John, a table of numbers and, in the catalog description, a “long series of enigmatical numerals and signs”.
The Lunary, like its textual cousins, takes its structure from the lunar calendar. We can assume that it should be read horizontally by Moon Day, with predictions following the thematic content of the many texts we have examined elsewhere in this site. For each Moon Day, whether good or bad, the physician will interpret symbols when responding to the patient’s questions. Illness and treatment, punishment of crimes, the meaning of dreams and even perhaps life trajectory might all be addressed during the practitioner’s visit. For the Moon’s influence on all human affairs was seen to be vast and profound.
The column of numbers along the left margin marks the cycle of the daily Moon, from one to thirty. The thirty rows are filled with images repeated throughout the chart (hands, heads, bloodletting instruments, arrows, flasks) and some unique depictions of cattle and a fence, a capsized ship, many human heads with swords and arrows, a dress, a set of keys, flames, and a number of gallows, some with the hanging victim’s head, others empty.
Interpreting the Lunary
Three tools will be used to interpret this pictorial text.
- First, its drawings will be compared to drawings in other texts contained in the same Rawlinson manuscript, namely the fourth section.
- Secondly, labels and images in other calendar manuscripts will provide interpretive clues.
- Thirdly, the content and language of the Lunaries themselves will be brought in for clarification, and links will guide the reader to the exact texts and contexts.
Comparison with Other Folding Calendars
On the verso side of section four of Rawlinson we find a Latin text accompanied by images similar to the Lunary illustrations. Many of them, like the one below, will be used for comparison.
Oxford, Bodleian, Ashmole 8 (henceforth Ashmole) is an early 14th-century English calendar consisting of one vertical sheet folded in the middle into six horizontal sections. The images are organized in columns and rows but the ink is faint from use and reading the symbols and labels is challenging. Nonetheless they help to elucidate the Rawlinson Lunary, as we will see.
Notable among the symbols are wavy lines, human faces with arrows, red crosses, gallows and dead figures in shrouds. Occasional words describing a person’s character traits (a lechor— accompanied by a lewd drawing–, a gode man) and professions are scattered throughout the calendar (a religious, a prelate).
Oxford, Bodleian, Digby 88 (Henceforth Digby) is a Middle English calendar with, among other texts, illustrations of tools of the occupations of the months.
Folio 97v presents an unusual list of 30 rows and 2 columns giving prognostics for nativities “Infans si natus fuit” and illness “Infirmitate”. It is probably an illness lunary, given its structure and content. Compared to Rawlinson, the drawings are crude; the nativity section has a few sketched human heads with an abundance of decorative pen flourishes.
Notable here is the last column depicting human heads in opposition to dead bodies, indicating, I believe, whether the patient will live or die.
Photo Courtesy Oxford Bodleian Library.
“Reading” the Rawlinson Lunary
Reference to symbols and drawings will refer to the map below. Superimposed blue lines on the calendar separate the left and right halves vertically, columns L1-L4 and R5-R8. Moon Days are labelled horizontally along the left margin, Days 1-30.
The first three columns of the calendar set the date and general characteristics of each Moon Day. Columns towards the middle fold display predictions about medical treatments and diagnostic procedures.
If the need was for medical advice and treatment only, then the calendar could have been folded outward to reveal just the left part of the “text” with its lunar coordinates, instruments and symbols. It would have served as a quick guide for the physician as he visited his patients:
What day is it? Where is the moon today? What is wrong with this patient? What prognosis will I give?
By contrast, if the practitioner was called upon to give advice on non-medical issues, he could open up the entire page and consult the material on the right side of the fold. Here were the keys to addressing the patient’s other worries: What does my dream mean? Will my stolen property be returned? Will the thief be caught or will he escape? Should I be planting my vines today? Is it safe to travel? What are my life prospects?
Analysis: Imagining a Practitioner’s Perspective
Our discussion imagines how a practitioner using this Lunary would utilize the text to diagnose illnesses and predict the outcome of disease and other events in the life of his patients. (boldface type indicates my imagined practitioner’s thought process throughout this discussion.)
On opening the calendar, the first three columns establish where he is in lunar time. The 30 days of the moon’s cycle are drawn with symbols telling him right away if the day is good or bad.
Left-Hand Columns (L 1-4)
The first column gives the Days of the lunar cycle using a numeration system also seen elsewhere in Rawlinson, where units are symbolized by a dot, five by a bracket ] and ten is indicated by a 0 . The same system has been documented in Royal Society MS 45 , also a portable almanac.[2].
The second column (L2). Illustrates the 30 lunar phases. These are small drawings of the moon’s phases, waxing from new moon to new moon, with the full moon occurring on day 15.
The third column (L3 ) qualifies the Moon Day. As in other Lunary texts, the Moon Day is deemed either good or bad.
But here symbols take the place of words: “bonne” (good) or “est a aimer”(to be cherished) is designated by a red cross [3]. A wavy line then would stand for the word “bad” , or other descriptions such as “deit estre haie et blame” (must be hated and reviled) (Rawlinson Poetry 241, Moon 15), or “pire ne n’est nesune” (there is none worse) (Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique 11004-17, Moon 25)
By analogy with other sections of Rawlinson, as well as Ashmole 8, we deduce that the red cross used several times in section 4 of the manuscript signifies a positive quality, or “good” .
In the Ashmole calendar, the Moon Day is qualified by one of two elements: the word “gode” or a wavy line. Since this category in the Lunaries always presents an opposition (Good vs. Not Good), it is easy to infer that the wavy line means “not good”.
Diagnosis and treatment
Now that the general tenor of the Moon Day is defined, the practitioner will begin to work. The next symbols are easy for him to read. They belong to his professional practice. Not unlike modern doctors who draw blood and send us for X rays today, the medieval physician also relied at first on checking the patient’s pulse and heart rate, and then performing analyses of bodily fluids.
The illustrations on his chart will tell him that if on inspection the urine is red, or clear, his patient suffers from a certain malady. Does he need to let blood? At what time, and in what quantity? Is it better not to do so? Most Moon Days show symbols to guide him.
The Fourth and fifth columns (L 4, 5) tell the practitioner what to do.
Usually, he will begin with some sort of procedure. On Day 8, not much is to be done: the image of a person in a death shroud indicates the patient is no longer alive.
Otherwise, there are human forearms and hands, bloodletting instruments (fleams), uroscopy flasks of various colors and patterns, and assorted vials.
Drawings of hands and forearms indicate that taking the patient’s pulse is the first step in the examination. Accordingly, on Days 1, 2, 9, 10, 20, 21, 23, and 29 the patient’s pulse will be felt.
While there are variations in the drawings, most hands are pointing towards the left, and only some show thumbnails. Whether this is significant or not is unclear.
Uroscopy and phlebotomy
The first step is to perform a uroscopy [4]. The color, smell and texture of the patient’s urine indicates what conditions might be present. It can, and often does, call for the common treatment of bloodletting. This procedure was done with fleams, folding handheld instruments (like a modern Swiss-army knife) with several blades, which were used to pierce veins.
On Day 1, for example, a pulse-taking symbol is followed by a urine flask. Both procedures are to be done to determine the patient’s status. On Day 4, bloodletting and pulse examination are to be combined with uroscopy.
In this section of his calendar, the practitioner encounters many depictions of fleams, indicating that phlebotomy should be performed. A fleam with a line across it, would likely tell him not to let the patient’sblood.
Thus crossed fleams on Days 6, 9, 19, and 30 showed the practitioner that bloodletting was not indicated. Many Lunaries do advise against it on Day 30: Yale, Beinecke, Book of Dreams, v line 183 asserts: “ne seignez tant ne quant”.
On many other days, fleams (some with small red dots of blood? Days 7, 11, 13, 18, 26 ) show it is recommended. Yale, Beinecke, Book of Dreams, v 49: “bon est la saignée a espurger le piz”. The dots might refer to the time of day for the procedure or the amount of blood to be drawn.
Predicting the Course of the Illness :
Our physician might be required to tell his patient about his recovery. Where would he find the symbol to help him predict that?
While many Lunaries bluntly announce that patients will die, will quickly recover, or languish for a long time, others are more ambivalent. Is this what happens on Day 10 where two hands are pointing in different directions? Or will the pulse be taken on both wrists? Might it announce that the patient will either recover or die? This was a safe declaration for the physician unsure of his diagnosis, or of the efficacy of his treatment.
Now that the patient’s medical issues have been addressed, she and her family might have further questions for our practitioner. All the symbols on his paper seemed mysteriously impressive and learned to those in attendance. The skilled way the practitioner has performed his examination and analysis gives reassurance that he must be knowledgeable on other subjects.
The chart in his hands shows different symbols on the other fold; one can glimpse many arrows and hooded heads. There are beautiful line drawings of a woman and a cleric, two oxen near a fence, pictures of gallows.
Will these tokens allow him to predict if the thief who stole the cart will be found? and tell if he will be hanged? Should the patient start taming his farm animals today? Is it safe for the inquirer’s son to travel by sea? What is the meaning of the patient’s dream last night? Can her daughter marry and wear a new dress on this Moon Day?
With the consultation in this medical/astrological visit no longer strictly medical, our physician’s symbols must provide answers to these other worries and uncertainties. His tools are now less precise, more amenable to different interpretations.
Modern readers will wonder: What do the eyes and arrows mean? In practice, assigning meaning to many of these symbols would have been intentionally vague, so the calendar user could formulate his advice in the moment. Thus, an eyeball on the chart could indicate the act of finding, seeing or dreaming, depending on the circumstance. If the patient were worried about a dream, the eyeball with an upward arrow could assure him that the dream will have a good outcome. A gallows with a head hanging might tell victims that the crime against them will be punished by hanging , and so on.
Right-Hand Columns (R 5-8)
Many of the drawings in this half of the manuscript seem to be inserted haphazardly, and not necessarily in columns; assigning them categories is difficult. We will attempt to find analogies, again, with other calendars.
Gallows
The fate of thieves and fugitives is a recurring theme in the textual Lunaries. References to hangings are not uncommon. See, for example, “Le larron qui emblera sera pendu.” (The thief will be hanged) British Library, Lansdowne 214, Moon Day 12. The same fate awaits criminals on Moon Days 2, 13, 20, 25, 29.
Is it reasonable to ascribe this theme to the gallows drawings? For the inquirer wondering if a robber of his property will be properly punished, the answer would be clear on days 4 and 9. Yes, he would be hanged.
Several sets of gallows appear in Rawlinson also on days 2, 3, 9, and 17 (R 6 and 7). Some feature a structure with ropes. Two show a round object, presumably a human head, hanging from the rope. Empty gallows would indicate an unpunished thief.
Eyes
On Moon Day 1 in Rawlinson a red eye might literally denote a physical organ, “an eye”, and perhaps signal an eye disease [5], mentioned in some Lunary texts. But the symbol could also carry a more metaphorical meaning.
Small drawings of eyes are prevalent in this text, as in Days 4, 23, 24, 27. Because similar illustrations in section 4 of Rawlinson are labeled “oculus”, the meaning of “eye” or by extension “seeing” could be applied.
Many of the textual Lunaries refer to “seeing” a dream, meaning that it will come true: “Ceo qe en avision verras” (What you see in your dream) Rawlinson Poetry 241, v 704; “Ki en sounge ren verra” (He who sees something in a dream) Digby 86, Moon Day 10.
In this context then, the symbol of the eye could belong to the dream divination theme common in the Lunaries. Whether dreams will be seen could be symbolized by an eye. Thus, the small eye on Day17, for example, might tell the reader that the dream will be seen, or will come true, whereas the one with a line across it on Moon 19, might mean the opposite.
Also, on Days 23 and 24 a single eye with an arrow pointing up might signal that the dream will turn to good. By contrast, an arrow pointing down to the eye on Day 29 means that the dream has no value, or will not happen: “songe cort a nient” (Yale, Beinecke Book of Dreams, line 24)
Another common category in the Lunaries is thievery and the fate of stolen objects [6]. Sometimes the disappeared item is “returned in secret”, and does “not remain hidden”. The verb used is celer, to conceal, hide from view. Might the eyes signal “seen” and “unseen” property?
Lunaries link stealing “embler” with hiding “celer”: Rawlinson 241, line 576 assure users that “Le avoir qe serra emble ne serra pas lunges celee”. Similarly, Montpellier H 435, 12th Moon Day advises that the robber will return his loot without being seen: “Et ce qui ce jour sera emble sera rendu celeement”.
Following this can we surmise that on Days 23 and 24 (R 6) the missing objects will be found, since the eye has an arrow pointing up?
Natural phenomena:
Various symbols otherwise randomly scattered on this half of the text (R 5-8) could refer to the patient’s fate, or something they will encounter when traveling. Again, the interpretation of these symbols was likely contingent on the patient’s questions and concerns.
Might the person experience unusually hot weather on Day 13 (R 7)? — the calendar shows a brilliant red sun. A drawing elsewhere labeled “earthquake” terre motus is similar to hilly landscapes on Days 9 and 10 (L5, R 6) and likely foresees turbulent times.
Navigation was an important and crucial method of transportation at this time. Many Lunaries warn of dangerous travel by sea. In this Lunary, Day 30 (R 6) is foretold by a drawing labeled navigatio periculosa (“Perilous navigation”) also found elsewhere in the manuscript.
Arrows and Heads (R 6-8)
Throughout the calendar there are arrows pointing in different directions. Their meaning is unclear, although we can propose some possible interpretations.
Location
In section 4 of Rawlinson we see an illustration with a label “in diversis locis fames erit” (there will be famine in many places). The arrows pointing left and right then mean “widespread, far-flung”, perhaps “affecting many people”, as famine or drought do.
Predicting Life and Death
But one arrow? In our text a single arrow can point to and away from a human figures, carrying different possible meanings, depending on its context:
Once the practitioner reaches the last column of symbols, he encounters one of two images: a head facing left or an arrow pointing left. However mysterious or ambiguous the arrows might be in different calendar settings, it is noteworthy that for every Moon Day in this manuscript, the last category of prediction ( R 7-8) is either a head or an arrow. Days 3, 6, 9, 11, 17, 19, 22 and 27 have an arrow pointing left on the right margin. The rest of the Moon Days show a human head looking left.
Similar oppositions– a head indicating “life” vs a symbol of death– appear in other illustrated calendars we have been examining. In Ashmole 8, the last column shows either a head turning left or a dead body. More significantly, several faces with an arrows pointing outward from the mouth are labeled “long life” “longe lef”. Are arrows coming from a person’s mouth symbols of life and breath?
On Day 14 (R 6) a female head holds a ring in the right hand and has an arrow pointing away from her mouth. Will she have a long life? What does the ring symbolize? Is she simply speaking? [7]
In the Digby 88 calendar, a column entitled “Illness”, infirmitate, shows either a figure lying in a shroud (dead) or a head looking left. Do the arrows here, as in the other manuscripts, indicate “death”, and the heads ”life”? And do heads looking left, in general, indicate the person is alive?
Longevity is forecast in all these calendars, in the same position, whether it applies to recovering from illness or being born. A physician called to a sick person could also be attending a pregnant patient. With the symbols on his chart he can announce the fate of both the sick person and the newly born child whose destiny the parents were anxious to know.
The survival of a newborn is equated with someone’s recovery from illness in Cambridge Trinity MS R 7 23, Moon Day 3. The verb mourir has two subjects: “Qui chiet en maladie et enfant nee tost murrunt”, “He who falls ill and the child born today will die soon” .
In some brief Lunaries, predictions for a child’s life appear as the last category of the divination: “Le enfaunt ki nestera nee viura mie longmen” (The child born today will not live long) Cambridge E e.1.1. Moon Day 3. “Lo malaute es tostz gueritz. Lo sompnis es duptos. L’efan que y nayssera viura trop” (The sick will recover quickly. The dream is doubtful. The child born today will live long) Paris BNF, Fr 1745 MoonDay 14.
Arrows pointing to or away from humans remain problematic.
If an arrow pointing out from a person’s mouth means “breath” or “life”, does the arrow pointing towards a figure mean the opposite, i.e. death? Much like the pigs we have seen elsewhere in Rawlinson, will our cleric die an early death?
So on Moon Day 15 (R 6) we see a female head with a sword pointing to her forehead and a set of keys. Will she be murdered?
Agriculture and Domestic Themes
Although agricultural practices are frequently mentioned in different Lunary manuscripts, they are very rare in our manuscript. Only a handful of drawings echo life outside the urban centers.
Texts of BL Sloane 2806 confirm that Day 8 is “good to sow all manner of seeds” (“Lune viii toute manere de semence est bonne a semer”) and BNF Fr 12786 Day 17 assures “It is good on this day to sow and to plant vines and trees” (“Bon fet a icel jor semer / Et vignes et arbres planter”).
Yet in Rawlinson only twice is a Moon Day declared good for planting. The image of a shovel on Days 5 (L 4), and (coincidentally, as in the text mentioned above) Day 17 ((L 5), are the sole indices that perhaps the audience for this calendar might have been urban dwellers and not necessarily farmers.
Likewise, farm animals appear only once in this calendar. The drawing of two oxen, one yoked, on Moon Day 19(R 6) ,is remarkable, and can also be explained in the context of other Lunary texts.
Domesticating farm animals appears many times although recommended on different days of the lunar cycle in different manuscripts. In one, Moon Day 7 is good to tame and buy animals: “Luna .vii.a Bon est a bestes danter e achater” Yale,Beinecke, Ms 395, Book of Dreams and Moons); Moon Day 22 is good to fence in horses or other animals,“chevaulx pour garder ou aucunes autres bestes” (Montpellier H 435), and Moon Day 2 is good to tame horses and castrate animals (“donbter chevaulx, chastrer bestes” (BL Lansdowne 214)
The carefully drawn fence in the background of our calendar’s oxen undoubtedly tells of a propitious time to train and enclose farm animals. Ashmole 8 again confirms our reading of Rawlinson. On Moon Day 16, a pair of oxen are labeled: “gode to tame” .
Domestic life, questions of marriage, social relations, moving into a new house, are common in the more discursive Lunaries. Marriage and new clothes are often linked in the Lunaries. For example, one assures us that it is good to “put on new clothes and arrange marriages” on Moon Day 2 : nouviaux vestemens vestre, espousailles faire (BL Sloane 2806). Likewise, BN Fr 837, Day 2, affirms that “if you have new clothes you can wear them for the first time today. And he who wishes to marry can do so successfully today” Tes noviaus dras se tu les as a cel jor premier vestiras. Et qui marier se voudra, Cel jor bon fere le fera.
This pictorial text has abridged many themes from other Lunaries. Yet on Moon Day 21 (R 6), a fleam, a urine flask and a new dress accompany a lovely female figure in profile. Now we can almost read the entire prediction: “Yes”, the practitioner would assure his patient, “The 21st Day of the Moon is a good day. Your urine looks a little cloudy and we must let your blood. But, not to worry. Go ahead and buy a new dress for your daughter; it’s a perfect day for her to get married! And be assured: you will live a long life”.
Looking Ahead
The above discussion has been based on careful analysis of only a few pictorial Lunaries. The discovery of further examples of this genre in the future may well sharpen our understanding of contemporary prognostic practices and the use of these unusually intriguing guides.
Footnotes
[1] Medieval illustrations continue to delight modern readers, both for their artistic merit and their subject matter. There are blogs, particularly those from the British Library: BLMedieval, British Library blogs, popular articles in magazines, (The Conversation) and examination of specific manuscripts related to medieval medicine. Jennifer Borland’s Visualizing Household Health: Medieval Women, Art, and Knowledge in the Régime du corps explores historiated initials in the various manuscripts in the context of social history and in particular the role of women in the medieval household.
[2] The same system of numeric notation is described by Robinson, Pamela. “A ‘Very Curious Almanack’: The Gift of Sir Robert Moray FRS, 1668.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 62, no. 3, 2008, 301–14. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20462680
[3] The letter X in Old French mantic alphabets, many of which occur in the same manuscripts as the Lunaries (Digby 86, Modena Estense 32, for example) denotes “Pais et properite, sante et bonne fortune”– Peace and prosperity, health and good fortune. See L. S. Chardonnens, “Two Newly Discovered Mantic Dream Alphabets in Medieval French” Medium Aevum 80, 2011
[4] Uroscopy was the macroscopic analysis of a patient’s urine and provided clues to a patient’s illness. Its color, smell and viscosity were observed. This explains the different patterns and colors depicted in the Rawlinson MS: red, green, red and green, black, clear. Uroscopy was key to the physician’s profession. They were frequently depicted holding up urine flasks in manuscript illustrations in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For a wealth of information on Henry Daniel, author of 14th c Liber Uricrisiarum, visit the Daniel Project at https://henrydaniel.utoronto.ca. M Teresa Tavormina, “Uroscopy in Middle English: A Guide to the Texts and Manuscripts”. Studies in Medieval & Renaissance History. 3d ser. 11 (2014): 1-154.
[5] The Lunary in London, BL Additional 17914 specifically refers to eye diseases and blindness in newborns.
[6] Interestingly, in late Anglo Saxon England, robbery (rapicitates) was especially called out among all other injustices (et omnes iniquitates) as deserving of royal punishment; it is mentioned specifically in the oaths that newly inaugurated kings swore to their people to justify their forthcoming rule. This is sometimes interpreted as highlighting the importance of theft prevention in early medieval law for preserving the relatively primitive social order: T. Lambert, Law and Order in Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017, pp. 63 ff. and 207-213.
[7] Girls in the Lunaries are sometimes described as “parleresse” (chatty) London BL Additional 17914, Day 13 or “gangleresse” (gossip-loving) Yale,Beinecke, Book of Dreams, Moon Day 7
[8] NOTE