Biblical Astrology

The language of the Bible has a way of leading unsuspecting readers into thinking it was recording human historical events when, in reality, it was referring to the patterns of the stars. A general overview serves to explain how the Bible's allegorical language reflects a superstitious fear of darkness. This page serves as an introduction to a series of articles on bible astrology.

Circle

We go back to the ancient world when it was believed that earth was enclosed by a metallic dome called the firmament. Because of sky's blue color, they believed the firmament shrouded them from the water above.

⁶And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
⁷And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. (Gen. 1:6-7)

They believed that earth was stationary and that the stars moved in a circular fashion around earth.

¹⁰He has described a circle upon the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. (Job 26:10)

Isaiah describes God sitting above the circle, and the dome as a curtain and a tent. Apologists who say that the word "circle" implies that they knew earth was spherical don't know what they are talking about.

²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; (Isaiah 40:22)

This circle (Figure 1) was divided into twelve sectors we know today as the Zodiac. The primary development of the Zodiac goes back to ancient Egypt, Babylon and Greece. The names we are familiar with today came from the Greeks, but other cultures in the ancient world had their own names and myths associated with the Zodiac. The task before us is to decipher how the Bible's language relates to the constellations.

Figure 1.

Zodiac Motifs

The pie chart (Figure 2) shows the twelve "houses" with their dates. It's the same chart used by astrologers today. Ancients were correct in seeing the sun and its light as indispensable to life, but to the point where they worried that as daylight hours got shorter, the sun was endangered of dying a permanent death. When sunlight hours began to increase again, they were relieved. Thus darkness was personified as evil, because to them, it was the sun's enemy. This tension between good and evil ebbed and escalated every year.

The chart has four quadrants that represent the four seasons of the year. Starting at the bottom of the chart, in their mindset, the sun was dead for three days from December 22 to 24. It came back to life, or it was resurrected on December 25 when daylight hours start to increase. Evil was in power during the dark winter months, but it was also a time, as daylight hours were increasing, when the sun was winning its way back to glory.

At the spring equinox, when daylight and nighttime hours are equal, the sun has nullified the dark forces. As the days get progressively longer, the sun is on its righteous path back to full strength. It is the only season of the year when there is no dissension and there is peace on earth.

At the summer solstice, when the sun is at its zenith, it is on its throne at full power. As the sun starts to descend, the dark forces are starting to edge their way back. As the days get progressively shorter, the sun is still strong, but its strength is being sapped by all this constant tribulation.

At the fall equinox, things begin to look bleak. There is not much more that can be accomplished before the sun is betrayed and killed.

The zodiac year has twelve sectors because the moon makes approximately twelve cycles in a year. By most accounts, the ancient Egyptians developed the themes used today.

They had their creation myths which began from a primeval sea. Thus Capricorn the sea goat represents that transition. In fact, the entire winter quadrant has to do with water. We see parallels in the first chapter of the Bible.

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
²The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. (Gen. 1:1-2)

When the sun emerges from darkness, God said "Let there be light".

³And God said, "Let there be light; and there was light. (Gen. 1:2)

Then God separated the waters.

⁶And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." (Gen. 1:6)

In early spring, Aries the lamb symbolizes the time when lambs come out of their mother's womb. Taurus the bull represents the time when bulls were used for plowing. Gemini has the strength of two men. In the beginning of summer, Cancer the crab symbolizes a time of concern about which way the sun was going to go, because crabs move irregularly. When the summer months were the hottest, Leo the lion was the king of beasts. Virgo is at the end of innocence. Libra the scale weighs between good and evil. In the late fall months, Scorpio the scorpion and Sagittarius the archer were hurling their stings and arrows.

Figure 2.

Puns

Puns are words that have double meanings. Here is where the Bible trips up unsuspecting readers. The Bible's story motifs follow the course of the sun through the four seasons.

In the Old Testament there are several books like Psalms and Proverbs, called the wisdom literature. Wisdom, in biblespeak, comes from knowledge of astrology. God's plan is written in the stars. He reveals his plan by the way he moves the stars and planets, not by mental telepathy. Angels bring their messages by the angles of the stars.

When stars are said to fall from heaven, it means they are descending. Dissension grows until it crosses the fall equinox, and then the sun is said to be betrayed. Then dissension grows to all out war. The fall equinox also symbolizes the gates to hell. Satan rules during the lower half of the sun cycle in fall and winter. The sun dies in the pits of hell at the winter solstice. At night the sun was believed to go under the world, so we have the term "underworld".

When the sun, or son of God, starts to ascend again (Jesus' ascension), the dark forces are trying to thwart him. It enters the gates to heaven at the spring equinox. In the spring, the sun brings righteousness and glory. It is in power during the light months of spring and summer, and on its throne at the summer solstice. This is where the kingdom of God is, when he has the power to send the righteous to heaven. The good side is on the right and the bad side is on the left of his throne.

The sun if crucified at the cross of the solstices and equinoxes. Sirius, the brightest star next to the sun, was called the star of Bethlehem. The stars of Orion the hunter was called the Son of Man. Orion has three stars that form its narrow waistline. The same three stars were the wise men from the east because they align with Sirius, the star of Bethlehem on December 25. Virgo was Virgin Mary and Bootes was Joseph. John the Baptist was Aquarius the water bearer.

This is only an introduction. Full explanations can be found on the home page.

Figure 3.

The Great Year

Another one of Christianity's insanities has to do with the end of the world and Jesus' second coming. For 2,000 years they have been waiting without satisfaction. The King James Version of Matthew 28:20 reflects that view.

²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Matt. 28:20 KJV)

It was a misinterpretation. According to the authoritative Strong's Dictionary, "world" was mistranslated from the Greek, aion, meaning "an age". Ignorant of astrology, Strong's goes on to say aion implies "world". There are some powerful differences between world and age.

A fundamentalist favorite, the New International Version gets it right with "age".

²⁰teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20 NIV)

The "end of the world" implies some kind of calamity like a giant meteor or a nuclear war. If something like that happens, one's faith is not going to make a difference. The end of the age refers to an astrological age within the Great Year.

The Earth's rotation axis is not uniform. Like a rotating toy top, the direction of the rotation axis has a slow wobble or precession with a period of 25,920 years.

Since the rotation axis is precessing in space, the orientation of the Celestial Equator (Figure 3) also precesses with the same period. This means that the position of the equinoxes is changing slowly with respect to the background stars.

Thus, Polaris will not always be the Pole Star or North Star. The Earth's rotation axis happens to be pointing almost exactly at Polaris now, but in 12,960 years the precession of the rotation axis will mean that the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra will be approximately at the North Celestial Pole, while in 25,920 more years Polaris will once again be the Pole Star.

Figure 4.

Astrologers call the 25,920 year cycle a Great Year and divide it into twelve Ages according to the constellations. When the sun enters the spring equinox, the constellation in the background determines the zodiacal Age. Figure 5 shows the sun entering the Age of Pisces at 6 BCE. 2160 years before, the sun was in the Age of Aries. 2160 years after Pisces, about 2012 CE, Aquarius will be in the background and it will be the Age of Aquarius. Because of the direction of precession, the Great Year cycle progresses in the reverse direction of the solar cycle.

Figure 5.

To summarize, the Age of Aries was marked in the Old Testament by the Passover lamb.

²¹Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. (Ex. 12:21)

The Age of Pisces began when the sun entered Pisces at the spring equinox (Figure 5).

¹⁸As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
¹⁹And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt. 4:18-19)

So when Jesus told his disciples he will be with them until the age, he meant the Age of Pisces. His time is almost over. There will be no end of the world, only the end of an Age.

²⁰teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20 NIV)

End

Take a tour of the Garden of Eden and see the stars of the Bible and where they fit in the Zodiac.

http://www.usbible.com/Astrology/bible_astrology.htm#year