Washington D.C. and many of it's buildings and monuments are laid out according to the cardinal directions with the streets running due NS and EW.

 

In the map of Washington D.C. below, due east is up and the star chart shows the constellation of Orion rising due east over Washington D.C., as it has done every day for the past two hundred years.

 

Orion's belt points towards Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and while Orion is rising and low on the eastern horizon, Orion's belt is vertical, pointing to Sirius below.

 

 

In relation to the fixed stars, the sun rises later each day due to the rotation of the earth around the sun.

 

The sun rises just after Sirius at the latitude of Washington D.C. on August 15. This is known as the heliacal rising of Sirius. Prior to this time of year, the sun is above or too close to the horizon for the rising of the star to be visible.

 

Ancient Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius, which signaled the onset of the annual flooding of the Nile. Christians celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15, linking the Assumption to the first appearance of Sirius/Isis in the sky just before dawn.

Orion has also set due west at the latitude of Washington D.C. for the past two hundred years.

 

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Orion sets right behind the Washington Monument. Setting in the west, Orion's belt is horizontal, pointing to Sirius setting south of due west.

 

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Sirius sets over the Potomac River, on the alignment of Maryland Avenue. The bright star above Orion is Aldebaran, the alpha star in the constellation of Taurus.

 

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Aldebaran sets over the White House, on the alignment of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Source

 

It has already been established that the Goddess can be symbolized by an owl.

Columbia and the Constellation of Virgo

The District of Columbia has more astrological symbols than and other city in the world. The capitol city was built from the ground up with a specific esoteric design.

There were many changes however, and some things didn't go exactly to plan.

In David Ovason’s book, The Secret Architecture of our Nation’s Capital ... The District of Columbia and its Federal City were arranged, according to Ovason, so that the constellation of Virgo and its goddess symbolism dominates the structure.

 

Ovason notes that the right triangle of first magnitude stars that contains the constellation Virgo, Arcturus, Regulus and Spica, can also be found in the plan of the Federal city marked by the location of the Capital, the President’s House and the Washington Monument.

 

And he also notes that the consecration ceremonies for these sites all include prominent astrological connections to Virgo...

 

 

This earth/sky alignment can be seen every year, weather permitting, around August 10^th, as the sun sets down the Pennsylvania avenue sight line from the Capital, the great triangle enclosing Virgo appears in the darkening sky.

 

It was not as obvious 200 years ago when the plan was laid out, but now, at the moment of culmination, the alignment is clear and unmistakable.

 

As Ovason insists, it is plain that from its inception, the District of Columbia, and the Federal City,

“was intended to celebrate the mysteries of Virgo - of the Egyptian Isis, the Grecian Ceres and the Christian Virgin."

Source

 

 

 

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_washingtonDC09.htm

by ViolatoR
February 19, 2007

from AboveTopSecret Website

The Origin of Columbia

Today I would like to discuss the Goddess and how it is associated with the capitol of America - the District of Columbia. There will be plenty of background information, but I will try to maintain emphasis on the most recent aspect of the goddess as Columbia.

To begin...

Wikipedia: "Though he never set foot in what became the United States, Columbus is often viewed as a hero because of his pivotal role in U.S. history."

Columbus was fortunate enough to have a very symbolic name.

It would later be used to a great extent in America for it's many meanings and aspects, and slight historical significance. In fact Columbia would become the name of a new Goddess for a New World (NWO?).

Almost from the moment the New World was discovered, it was seen in mythological terms as an exotic goddess, an Indian Queen dressed in feathers and furs ridding an exotic beast like an armadillo and armed with a tomahawk.

 

The Catholic south adapted the idea of the Goddess of the New World into the ever-expanding hagiology of the Catholic Church.

 

The Virgin of Guadalupe allowed the archetype to become personal, a connection to the land and its ancestors, while joining a larger universalist vision inside the Church. In the largely Protestant north, things went quite differently.

The 17th century’s Indian Goddess became a tamer Indian Princess, modeled on the archetypal story of Pocahontas...

 

As the 18th century passed, and America grew more developed and its people more educated, the Indian princess gained a touch of Greek elegance.

"By the late 1790s," folk-art historian Nancy Jo Fox comments, "it was not clear whether a feathered Indian Princess had changed into a Greek goddess or whether a Greek goddess had placed feathers or plumes in her hair."

Source

Her Many Other Names

Most Female/Virgin/Goddess symbolism comes from the constellation Virgo.

The Virgin, Virgo was impregnated by God on the Spring Equinox as the Sun passed into Virgo on March 21st. Nine months later the Son of God is born on the Winter Solstice.

God's sun/son is born or rather re-born every year after the Sun stops on the Tropic of Capricorn for 2 days and on the third day rises from death and is re-incarnated into the world. It then proceeds to come back towards the Northern Hemisphere as the "light of the world."

The New World Virgin Goddess Columbia was just a new manifestation of the ancient consort and virgin mother of god.

Depicted in Christianity as the Virgin Mary, Columbia was created out of Virginia and Maryland. To the Masons, the Square is the female aspect.

Washington's original plan for D.C. was a large square with the future Washington Monument (male symbol, compass) at the center.

In Egypt the trinity consists of Isis, Osiris, and Horus the son. Isis can be seen as the ultimate female deity.

Isis may be the oldest deity in Egypt, and certainly the oldest to survive the ages in much the same form. She may also be the most important, for although the other gods were worshipped widely, Isis was worshipped almost universally by all Egyptians. The major goddess of the Egyptian pantheon, she had many of the same attributes of other mother-goddesses found all over the world.

Source

Isis was as powerful, if not more powerful, than Osiris and Ra.

Isis was also known as Sopdet, consort of Sah. Sopdet (Spdt, Sepedet) is Sothis in greek. In 'The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys for Osiris', Isis calls herself Sopdet. Sopdet was also connected to the goddess Satet at Abu (Elephantine).

Besides these names, the same aspects of any Goddess can be found in:

• Aphrodite, Ishtar, Black Madonna, Mary/Maya, Goddess Athena, Goddess Astarte, Anunit, Astarte and Atarsamain

• She was the light-giver at this season of the year and was called Khut

• As the mighty earth-goddess her name was Usert

• As the Great Goddess of the Underworld she was Thenenet

• As the power which shot forth the Nile flood, she was Sati, and Sept

• As the embracer of the land and producer of fertility by her waters she was Anqet

• As the producer and giver of life she was Ankhet

• As the goddess of cultivated lands and fields she was Sekhet

• As the goddess of the harvest she was Renenet

• As the goddess of food which was offered to the gods, she was Tcheft, and lived in the Temple of Tchefau

• As the great lady of the Underworld, who assisted in transforming the bodies of the blessed dead into those wherein they were to live in the realm of Osiris, she was Ament - the "hidden" goddess. As Ament she was declared to be the mother of Ra

• To the Greeks she was known as Demeter and to the Romans as Ceres

• To the Chinese protestors of Red Square as the goddess of Democracy

   

  

   

• And of course the Goddess of the New World - Lady Liberty - Columbia

Attributes of the Goddess

The Goddess can be represented in many different ways.

As Venus she is depicted as, or on a clam shell. She is often depicted as a 5 pointed star, or wearing a pentacle as a crown. There's the Triple Goddess of the 3 phases of the moon. The flag of the District of Columbia has 3 five-pointed stars on it.

As the star Sirius she is the Blazing Star and represents water and the color blue, the Spirit of Wisdom and the Brightly Radiating One or Shinning One.

The sycamore specifically was regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis and Hathor, who was even given the title, "Lady of the Sycamore." Also as the virgin Columbian Flower with it's 5-Petals.

As Innana, Isis, Athena and Minerva she is often depicted with an Owl.

But perhaps the most attributes come when in the form of Columbia.

She is most often shown with an eagle, broken chains and pottery, a cornucopia, images of George Washington, a laurel wreath, a liberty pole and cap, a liberty tree, an olive branch, a rattlesnake, a shield and a stone tablet.

 

The statue of Columbia that used to stand behind the speaker's chair in the House of Representatives is a fine example. In this one we see the Eagle, and on the other side a snake coiled around a Greek column.

Source

Mother Earth, Primeval Waters, Constellations and Aliens?

Gen.1
[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Early in Egyptian history, Isis had absorbed the attributes of all the great primitive goddesses, and of all the local goddesses such as

• Nekhebet

• Uatchet

• Net

• Bast, Hathor, etc.,

...and she was even identified as the female counterpart of the primeval abyss of water from which sprang all life.

 

Virgin Mary

The name Mary could have some significance to it's connection with the sea, the Abyss, or the water of life which brings fertility to the land in the form of rain or annual floods.

Usual English form of Maria, which was the Latin form of the New Testament Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam) or Μαρια (Maria) (the spellings are interchangeable), which were from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam). The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including "sea of bitterness."

marine (adj.) Look up marine at Dictionary.com
c.1420, from M.Fr. marin (fem. marine), from O.Fr. marin, from L. marinus (fem. marina) "of the sea," from mare (gen. maris) "sea," from PIE *mori-/*mari- "body of water, lake." Cognate with O.E. mere "sea, lake, pool, pond,"

(The goddess star Sirius) In the ancient Vedas this star was known as the Chieftain's star; in other Hindu writings, it is referred to as Sukra, the Rain God, or Rain Star. The Dog is also described as "he who awakens the gods of the air, and summons them to their office of bringing the rain."

Source

This star was the most important of the stars to the ancient Egyptians, and the heliacal rising of this star came at the time of inundation and the start of the Egyptian New Year.

She marked the Summer solstice

As a goddess of the inundation, Sothis was a goddess of fertility.

She also was linked to the pharaoh and his journey in the afterlife. It is interesting to note that Sirius is associated with the flood season. Located just below the Dog Star there exists a constellation called Argo, the Ship.

Near the Cannis Major constellation is the Columb or Dove constellation, depicted with a twig in it's mouth.

Canis Major and Columba can be seen on the left
 

The Dogon and Sirius

The Dogon are an ethnic group located mainly in the administrative districts of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali, West Africa. Dogon religion is defined primarily through the worship of the ancestors and the spirits... They were called the 'Nommo.'

The Dogon are famous for their astronomical knowledge taught through oral tradition... referencing the star system, Sirius.

As the story goes... in the late 1930s, four Dogon priests shared their most important secret tradition with two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germain Dieterlen after they had spent an apprenticeship of fifteen years living with the tribe. These were secret myths about the star Sirius, which is 8.6 light years from the Earth.

The Dogon priests said that Sirius had a companion star that was invisible to the human eye.

They also stated that the star moved in a 50-year elliptical orbit around Sirius, that it was small and incredibly heavy, and that it rotated on its axis. The Dogons calendar is quite non-traditional in that its fifty year cycle is based neither on the Earth's rotation around the Sun (as is our Julian calendar) nor the cycles of the Moon (a lunar calendar).

Instead, the Dogon culture centers around the rotation cycle Sirius B which encircles the primary star Sirius A every 49.9 - or 50 years...

Since 1844, astronomers had suspected that Sirius A had a companion star. This was in part determined when it was observed that the path of the star wobbled. In 1862 Alvan Clark discovered the second star making Sirius a binary star system (two stars).

The Dogon also claimed that a third star Emme Ya - sorghum female - exists in the Sirius system.

It is described by the Dogan as,

"the seat of the female souls of living or future beings."

The Nommo
Author Robert Temple describes the Nommo as amphibious beings sent to Earth from the Sirius star system for the benefit of humankind.

They look like Merfolk; Mermaids and Mermen. They called the Nommo 'Masters of the Water', 'The Monitors', 'The Teachers or Instructors', 'Saviors', and 'Spiritual Guardians'.

The Dogon elder, Ogotemelli, describes Nommo as having the upper part as a man and the lower portion as snake; or as having a ram's head with serpent body.

As The Dog Star

As the major star of the "Big Dog" constellation, Sirius is often called the "Dog Star."

The name "Sirius" comes from the Latin Si-rius, from Greek Seirios, "glowing" or "scorcher." The Arabic word Al Shi'ra resembles the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian names suggesting a common origin in Sanskrit, in which the name Surya, the Sun God, simply means the "shining one."

It was thought that Sirius actually added to earth's heat because it was so bright.

This has been used to describe the origin of the phrase "dog days of summer."

Sirius was an object of wonder and veneration to all ancient peoples throughout human history.

 

The association of Sirius with a celestial dog has been consistent throughout the classical world; even in remote China, the star was identified as a heavenly wolf. In ancient Chaldea (present day Iraq) the star was known as the "Dog Star that Leads," or it was called the "Star of the Dog."

 

In Assyria, it was said to be the "Dog of the Sun." In still older Akkadia, it was named the "Dog Star of the Sun."

In Greek times Aratus referred to Canis Major as the guard-dog of Orion, following on the heels of its master, and standing on its hind legs with Sirius carried in its jaws. Manilius called it the "dog with the blazing face."

Source

She was occasionally depicted as a large dog, or in Roman times, as the goddess Isis-Sopdet, she was shown riding side-saddle on a large dog. Sometimes she was depicted as a seated cow.

She was also given a masculine aspect, and linked with Horus as Sopdet-Horus during the Middle Kingdom. She was also linked with Anubis during Greek Times as Sopdet-Anubis. (Anubis has the head of a dog or jackal.)

 

Sirius and Orion Over Washington

The Congress of Isis and Osiris just so happens to happen above... Congress.

Washington D.C. and many of it's buildings and monuments are laid out according to the cardinal directions with the streets running due NS and EW.

 

In the map of Washington D.C. below, due east is up and the star chart shows the constellation of Orion rising due east over Washington D.C., as it has done every day for the past two hundred years.

 

Orion's belt points towards Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and while Orion is rising and low on the eastern horizon, Orion's belt is vertical, pointing to Sirius below.

 

In relation to the fixed stars, the sun rises later each day due to the rotation of the earth around the sun.

The sun rises just after Sirius at the latitude of Washington D.C. on August 15. This is known as the heliacal rising of Sirius. Prior to this time of year, the sun is above or too close to the horizon for the rising of the star to be visible.

Ancient Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius, which signaled the onset of the annual flooding of the Nile. Christians celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15, linking the Assumption to the first appearance of Sirius/Isis in the sky just before dawn.

Orion has also set due west at the latitude of Washington D.C. for the past two hundred years.

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Orion sets right behind the Washington Monument. Setting in the west, Orion's belt is horizontal, pointing to Sirius setting south of due west.

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Sirius sets over the Potomac River, on the alignment of Maryland Avenue. The bright star above Orion is Aldebaran, the alpha star in the constellation of Taurus.

From the viewpoint of the Capitol building, Aldebaran sets over the White House, on the alignment of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Source

It has already been established that the Goddess can be symbolized by an owl.

Columbia and the Constellation of Virgo

The District of Columbia has more astrological symbols than and other city in the world. The capitol city was built from the ground up with a specific esoteric design.

There were many changes however, and some things didn't go exactly to plan.

In David Ovason’s book, The Secret Architecture of our Nation’s Capital ... The District of Columbia and its Federal City were arranged, according to Ovason, so that the constellation of Virgo and its goddess symbolism dominates the structure.

 

Ovason notes that the right triangle of first magnitude stars that contains the constellation Virgo, Arcturus, Regulus and Spica, can also be found in the plan of the Federal city marked by the location of the Capital, the President’s House and the Washington Monument.

 

And he also notes that the consecration ceremonies for these sites all include prominent astrological connections to Virgo...

 

 

This earth/sky alignment can be seen every year, weather permitting, around August 10^th, as the sun sets down the Pennsylvania avenue sight line from the Capital, the great triangle enclosing Virgo appears in the darkening sky.

 

It was not as obvious 200 years ago when the plan was laid out, but now, at the moment of culmination, the alignment is clear and unmistakable.

 

As Ovason insists, it is plain that from its inception, the District of Columbia, and the Federal City,

“was intended to celebrate the mysteries of Virgo - of the Egyptian Isis, the Grecian Ceres and the Christian Virgin."

Source

Pierre-Charles L’Enfant and the Design of Washington

Pierre-Charles L’Enfant... adventurous Frenchman and a contemporary of Weishaupt, who was primarily responsible for the name and design of the District of Columbia...

 

Pierre was educated first as an artist, where he studied the science of landscape design from the works of Andre le Notre, who designed the great historical axis of Paris, and then as a soldier, where he learned the art of fortification.

 

In 1776, as a lieutenant, he joined his regimental Masonic lodge where he met the Marquis de Lafayette and many other young Frenchmen fired up by the new ideals of liberty and equality. In 1777, he offered his services to the new Continental Army of General Washington, and was appointed a captain of engineers...

 

When he learned, in 1789, that his old friend General Washington was planning to establish a new federal capital down in Virginia, L’Enfant wrote directly to him, announcing that,

“…no nation, perhaps, had ever before the opportunity offered them of deliberately deciding on the spot where their capital city should be fixed.”

Arriving in Georgetown early in 1791, armed with Washington’s instructions to assist the current surveyors... L’Enfant quickly took charge...

 

Andrew Ellicott, the chief surveyor was a knowledgeable astronomer, and he undoubtedly helped fix the precise point on the horizon marking the August11th sunset.

 

This angle, 22 degrees north of west, did double duty, pointing to the sunset where, 200 years later, the triangle containing Virgo would appear in the sky and also marking the September 18^th rising of Sirius over the Capital. This one alignment, from the Capital to the White House, graphically unites the two most prominent astronomical goddess images, Sirius and Virgo.

L’Enfant’s plan was changed through the years, and his steadfast defense of certain points led to his being considered difficult. He wanted to keep intact not only the precise sightlines of his alignments... L’Enfant’s idea was to preserve a direct view of the western horizon for the mid-August time period when the Virgo triangle appeared in the sky... the earthly reflection of the Virgo triangle.

 

While this view has been destroyed, the careful angle of Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capital to the White House still allows us to identify the crucial moment of revelation.

Source

 

The Goddess of... Revelations?

Revelation 12:

[1] And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
[2] And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
[3] And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
[4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
[5] And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The moment the sages of 1177 foresaw, just after the turn of the seventh millennium of the Hebrew calendar and the beginning of the third Christian millennium, the alignment of eclipse cycle and the sacred calendars, occurred on October 3/4^th, 2005, and two days later, on October 5/6^th, the great portent appeared in the sky.

 

The sun in Virgo, from a sidereal perspective, falling on the Virgin’s robed shoulder, “clothed by the Sun,” a thin crescent moon on the cusp of Virgo/Libra, “with the Moon under her feet,” and “pregnant” with the conjunction of Mercury, Jupiter and the alpha star of Virgo, Spica, at the level of her womb.

 

“Crowned with twelve stars,” suggests the return of the cusp of Virgo/Leo, ancient starting point of the zodiac, to the fall equinox.

 

The Red Dragon, even with all its evil connotations, can be seen as the Head of the Dragon marking the solar eclipse, waiting to eat the child, the Sun/Son, the moment it is born.

So, in Washington City, at noon on October 5/6th, 2005, even though the sun was veiling the event, the Great Portent moved into alignment over the city’s monuments. The White House’s south front would have been a good place to view it, and in our computer view, that’s our observation point.

 

As the Sun touched the meridian on October 5^th, the whole of the Portent spread out to the east, from meridian to eastern horizon.

 

The first thing we notice is that the Washington Monument is not due south of the White House, as L’Enfant planned. It is offset to the east just enough to align with the fixed star Spica and the conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury. This is apparently not accidental, as the dedication ceremony for its present location, done in 1880, was aligned down the Mall with the rising of Spica...

 

Further down the Mall to the east is the new Moon, on the Virgo/Libra cusp, under the feet of Virgo, and beyond that in Libra is Venus.

Source

Esoteric and Occult Goddess worship has culminated in the design and purpose of Washington D.C.

Embodied as the Goddess Columbia, who is the new face of an old deity. According to this website (www.goddesscolumbia.com), the design in D.C. was meant to be fulfilled in recent time, and was not exactly aligned until now.

The great 'wonder in heaven' of revelations occurred in October of 2005.

According to the dates set forth in the book of Daniel, Mt. Zion will be in the hands of unbelievers for 2,300 years.

• The Greeks conquered Israel in 333BC and 2,300 years later in 1967AD the Jews re-conquered it after the 6-Day War.

• The two other periods linked with the abomination of the Temple are 1,290 and 1,335 years.

• The Muslims turned the Dome of the Rock into a mosque in 677, and 1,290 years later in 1967 east Jerusalem was annexed by Israel.

• The other period is 1,335 years after the Muslims captured the Temple.

• And that is 45 years after 1967, or 2012.

I’ve sug­ges­ted else­where that there’s a link between some stel­lar events and the schedul­ing of fest­ivals in archaic Greece. What I haven’t had is a nice bit of text say­ing this. At least not till now. While wait­ing for a cata­logue to come avail­able recently I star­ted brows­ing The Attic Fest­ivals of Demeter and Their Rela­tion to the Agri­cul­tural Year by Allaire Chandor Brumfield.

One of the fest­ivals she talks about is Pro­er­o­sia. This seems to be a sac­red plough­ing fest­ival held on Pyanep­sion 5 at Eleusis before the mys­ter­ies and this is firmly dated by his­tor­ical inscrip­tion. There is another clue as to when it’s held as she’s found a quote from Hesychius.

καὶ ὸ δε̂μος δὲ αύτὰ προαρκτούρια καλεῖ

 

The key bit is προαρκτούρια, proark­touria, before Arcturus. The date she uses for the heli­acal rising of Arcturus, the first appear­ance of Arcturus in the morn­ing sky, is Septem­ber 18. She cites a book I haven’t read for this, so I’ll have to look into it, but it seems approx­im­ately right. This is a bit of a prob­lem because the quote doesn’t match the inscrip­tion.

The earli­est match between Pyanep­sion 5 in the ancient Athenian cal­en­dar to the mod­ern cal­en­dar I can make is Septem­ber 19. To get this I’ve assumed that the sum­mer sol­stice was observed on June 18 as the same day as a new moon. This would sur­prise any­one famil­iar with mod­ern astro­nomy, because the sol­stice is around June 21. How­ever, this was not known in archaic Greece and for the days around the sol­stice the Sun appears to be rising over the same part of the hori­zon, so it is pos­sible that it was cel­eb­rated earlier or later by a few days from year to year. If, like most years the first New Moon was con­sid­er­ably after June 21, then Pyanep­sion 5 could be around what we would call Octo­ber 21. It doesn’t seem to pos­sible to have Arcturus rise before the Pro­er­o­sia if it is held in Pyanepsion.

Another answer she con­siders is one put for­ward by Mommsen that προαρκτούρια refers to the heli­acal set­ting of Arcturus which was, accord­ing to Columella, Octo­ber 29. This would fit the data and ensure that the Pro­er­o­sia was always before the Arcturus event, but as she notes it’s unusual for the set­ting of Arcturus to be men­tioned without spe­cify­ing the set­ting. Usu­ally if a star is men­tioned without fur­ther details if refers to its rising.

Com­par­ing it to other texts that men­tion Arcturus a set­ting inter­pret­a­tion remains dif­fi­cult. Hesiod in line 609 of Works and Days says “...when Orion and Sirius are come into mid-heaven, and rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arcturus, then cut off all the grape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home.” You can make a case for before the set­ting of Arcturus, make sure you’re ploughing’s done before he leaves because he’s the plough­man, but it smacks of excuse-making.

Boötes from the cleaned Urano­graph­i­carum.

Adding to the con­fu­sion is some quer­ies over another inscrip­tion from Thorikos. We would expect it to be held in Pyanep­sion, because this was the sac­red plough­ing month. How­ever a stone from Thorikos put it in Boedromion, the month before Pyanep­sion. And also pos­sibly even in Metageit­nion, the month before that. As you ima­gine clas­si­cists would love to get their hands on the stone but they can’t. It’s been lost. And it was only tran­scribed by a farmer and appears to have a lot of errors in it anyway.

On the plus side I can at least now point to another fest­ival and say that there’s evid­ence that stel­lar cal­ib­ra­tion was used else­where. Yet it opens up far more ques­tions that will need look­ing into.

http://alunsalt.com/2006/08/31/stars-and-festivals/

Science is a systematic knowledge of the physical or material universe gained by observable facts. The sacred writings of all world religions basically contain a system of faith. Yet each do make statements within the province of science that provides a uniquely valid test to prove their authenticity. If their scientific observations are in reality superstitions reflective of the culture in which they were written, these so called sacred books are disqualified as the inspired Scripture of God. If, indeed, the scientific observations of any of these purported Holy Scripture agree with the facts of science today, then that Bible is the inspired Word of a true and living God. Why? The Creator and God of the universe is the God of science — the author of the scientific laws that govern His universe. Only the God of science could cause scientific facts to be recorded in a book —the Bible — hundreds or thousands of years before scientists discover them.

Only the Judeo-Christian Bible contains scientific facts that anticipated scientific discovery by hundreds and in some cases several thousand years. The following are examples of remarkable scientific observations found in the Judeo-Christian Bible.

Three thousand years ago the Hindu scriptures recorded the earth was resting on the backs of several huge elephants. The elephants were resting on the back of a very large turtle that was swimming in a sea. Greek mythology claims that the god Atlas was holding the earth on his shoulders. But our Bible says in Job 26:7 — "[God] hangeth the earth on nothing." What a remarkable statement of fact. The earth is suspended in space. Nothing is holding it up. Job wrote about the same time the Hindu Scripture was written. How did Job know this scientific fact? Only God could have revealed this to Job. The Old Testament prophets wrote as they were moved by the holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Judeo-Christian Bible is the inspired Word of God.

For thousands of years people believed the earth was flat. If one went too far, he would fall over the edge. This was taught in both Hindu and Buddhist scripture. In the 1500s, the first ship sailed around the world. This proved the earth was round. But the round earth was recorded in the Judeo-Christian Bible long before man discovered it in the 1500s.

The prophet Isaiah (40:22) spoke of the "circle of the earth." Solomon wrote, "He [God] set a compass [circle] upon the face of the deep." Proverbs 8:27. In our century, Arabs spoke of infidels being pushed over the edge into space. About 3,000 years ago, our Bible said the earth was round. This was not discovered until 500 years ago. Indeed, the Judeo-Christian Bible is the inspired Word of God.

Ancient people were afraid of the sun, moon and stars. They thought they were alive — that they were gods. But over 5,000 years ago, the Judeo-Christian Bible in the first chapter of Genesis pointed out that the sun, moon and stars were created by God. Remember, our God states that He is the one and only God. This proves the sun, moon and stars that He created are not gods.

Eclipses are an example of what people feared. An eclipse happens when the sun’s light is blocked by the earth or moon. The moon is bright because it reflects the sun’s light. But when the earth blocks that light, the moon looks like it is disappearing. Also, when the moon comes between the earth and the sun, it looks like the sun is disappearing.

This was frightening to people long ago. Some thought eclipses happened when the moon was mad at the earth and turned its face away. The Chinese believed that an eclipse was caused by a demon or some huge animal that ate the sun and then would give them up again. God told Jeremiah (10:2 KJ): "Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." God went on to reassure Jeremiah that the universe is under God’s control.

Later scientists learned that heavenly bodies were not alive and that man need not fear them. Thousands of years before scientists discovered that the planetary bodies were inanimate, the Judeo-Christian Bible contained this scientific fact.

Until modern times people thought the ocean floor was sandy like the desert and saucer shaped—deepest in the middle. This was even true of the pre-1900 geologists. But in the 1900s oceanographers found the sea had many deep valleys or canyons. The deepest canyons were called trenches. The Marianas Trench in the Pacific is so deep that if Mt. Everest (29,000 feet high) was dropped into it, the peak would still be a mile below the water’s surface. There are also underwater mountains. The Atlantic Ocean contains an undersea range of mountains 10,000 miles long.

In addition, 3,000 years ago the Judeo-Christian Bible spoke of the valleys and mountains of the sea. In Psalm 18:15 (NIV) David wrote of God being the creator of "the valleys of the sea." God asked Job (38:16 NIV): "Have you walked in the recesses [valleys] of the sea?" The prophet Jonah was thrown off a ship and spoke of falling to the bottom of the mountains in the sea (Jonah 2:6).

The Judeo-Christian Bible spoke of the valleys and mountains of the sea thousands of years before scientists discovered them. Indeed our Bible is the inspired Word of God.

In the 1800s, Matthew Maury, an officer in the United States Navy believed his Bible. As a Christian he loved to read the Bible. One day Maury was reading about the dominion man was given over the animals in Psalm 8. He was amazed that verse 8 spoke of the fish and all creatures that swim in the "paths of the sea." "Paths of the sea"— how could this be? He never knew there was such a thing. He was determined to find them. Maury discovered that the oceans have many paths or currents, which were like rivers flowing through the sea. Maury wrote the first book on oceanography and became known as "the pathfinder of the seas"— "The father of modern navigation."

Maury received his idea about ocean currents from reading Psalm 8:8 which was written about 3,000 years ago by King David. David wrote as he was moved by the Spirit of God and probably never actually saw an ocean.

Incidentally, Psalm 8:8 also spoke of fish in the "paths of the seas." All fishing boats make a good catch in the currents or paths of the sea. They have learned this is where the fish swim.

In ancient times, most religious scripture taught that lightning bolts were missiles thrown in anger by their gods.⁹ In China, Taoist scripture regarded the rainbow as a deadly rain dragon.¹⁰ In Confucius scripture, the goddess of lightning, Tien Mu, flashed light on intended victims to enable Lei Kung, the god of thunder to launch his deadly bolts accurately.¹¹

Since rain is so necessary to life, ancient people pondered what caused it. Some tried to stab holes in the clouds with spears. The Vedas (Hindu scripture) advised to tie a frog with its mouth open to the right tree and say the right words and rain would fall.

Our Bible also talks about rain, lightning and storms. But it contains none of these superstitious ideas found in the other so- called scriptures. The Judeo-Christian Bible taught that earth’s weather followed rules and cycles. Genesis 8:22. "While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Job stated (28:26): "God made decrees [rules] for the rain. And He set a way for the lightning of the thunder:" Centuries later, scientists began to discern the "rules for the rain" that Job talked about. Rainfall is part of a process called the water cycle. Here’s how the cycle works. The sun evaporates water from the ocean. That water vapor rises and becomes clouds. This water in the clouds falls back to earth as rain, collects in streams and rivers and makes its way back to the ocean. That process repeats itself again and again.

About 300 years ago, Galileo discovered this cycle. But amazingly the Scriptures described this cycle centuries before. The prophet Amos (9:6) wrote that God "calls for the water of the sea. He pours them out on the land." How did Amos know this? He wrote as he was moved by the Spirit of God.

Actually, scientists are just beginning to fully understand God’s "decrees or rules for the rain." Since 68 BC it was thought that somehow thunder triggered the rainfall. Now scientists are beginning to realize that as stated in Job 28:26, it is lightning that triggers the rain to fall. Job knew this 3,000 years ago. Certainly his writings were inspired of God (2 Peter 1:21).

Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus

Remember the story of Job? Job was extremely wealthy — enjoying a wonderful family. Then tragedy struck. He lost his wealth. His children were killed and his wife deserted him. Then Job lay in excruciating pain, covered with sores from head to toe. All this was too much for Job. He accused the Lord of being unjust. God didn’t answer Job’s accusation directly. He merely raised questions concerning the wonders of His creation. Three of these questions found in Job 38:31, 32, illustrate the dynamic logic conveyed in God’s questions.

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

"Canst thou . . . loose the bands of Orion?" Garrett P. Serviss, the noted astronomer, wrote about the bands of Orion¹² in his book CURIOSITIES OF THE SKY.

At the present time this band consists of an almost perfect straight line, a row of second-magnitude stars about equally spaced and of the most striking beauty. In the course of time, however, the two right-hand stars, Mintaka and Alnilam, will approach each other and form a naked-eye double; but the third, Alnitak, will drift away eastward so that the band will no longer exist.

In other words, one star is traveling in a certain direction at a certain speed, a second one is traveling in a different direction at a second speed, and the third one is going in a third direction and at a still different speed. Actually every star in Orion is traveling its own course, independent of all the others. Thus, these stars that we see forming one of the bands of Orion are like three ships out on the high seas that happen to be in line at the present moment, but in the future will be separated by thousands of miles of ocean. In fact, all these stars that at the present time constitute the constellation of Orion are bound for different ports, and all are journeying to different corners of the universe, so that the bands are being dissolved.

"Canst thou bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades . . . ?" Notice the amazing astronomical contrast with the Pleiades. The seven stars of the Pleiades are in reality a grouping of 250 suns. Photographs now reveal that 250 blazing suns in this group are all traveling together in one common direction. Concerning this cluster, Isabel Lewis of the United States Naval Observatory tells us: ¹³

Astronomers have identified 250 stars as actual members of this group, all sharing in a common motion and drifting through space in the same direction.

Elsewhere Lewis speaks of them as "journeying onward together through the immensity of space."

From Lick Observatory came this statement of Dr. Robert J. Trumpler:¹⁴

Over 25,000 individual measures of the Pleiades stars are now available, and their study led to the important discovery that the whole cluster is moving in a southeasterly direction. The Pleiades stars may thus be compared to a swarm of birds, flying together to a distant goal. This leaves no doubt that the Pleiades are not a temporary or accidental agglomeration of stars, but a system in which the stars are bound together by a close kinship.

Dr. Trumpler said that all this led to an important discovery. Without any reference whatsoever to the Book of Job, he announced to the world that these discoveries prove that the stars in the Pleiades are all bound together and are flying together like a flock of birds as they journey to their distant goal. That is exactly what God said. "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?" In other words, Canst thou keep them bound together so that they remain as a family of suns?

INCREDIBLE! God's laws of cosmology are loosing or dissolving the constellation Orion. Sometime in the far distant future, Orion will be no more. Conversely, wonder of wonders — every last one of the 250 blazing suns in the Pleiades are ordained of God to orbit together in their symmetrical beauty throughout eternity.

"Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" Garrett P. Serviss wrote:¹⁵

Arcturus, one of the greatest suns in the universe, is a runaway whose speed of flight is 257 miles per second. Arcturus, we have every reason to believe, possesses thousands of times the mass of our sun. Think of it! Our sun is traveling only 12 ½ miles a second, but Arcturus is traveling 257 miles a second. Think then of the prodigious momentum this motion implies.

A further observation of Arcturus by Serviss reveals: ¹⁶

It could be turned into a new course by a close approach to a great sun, but it could only be stopped by collision head on with a body of enormous mass. Barring such accidents, it must, as far as we can see, keep on until it has traversed our stellar system, whence it may escape and pass out into space beyond to join perhaps one of those other island universes of which we have spoken.

Charles Burckhalter, of the Chabot Observatory, added an interesting note regarding this great sun: ¹⁷

This high velocity places Arcturus in that very small class of stars that apparently are a law unto themselves. He is an outsider, a visitor, a stranger within the gates; to speak plainly, Arcturus is a runaway. Newton gives the velocity of a star under control as not more than 25 miles a second, and Arcturus is going 257 miles a second. Therefore, combined attraction of all the stars we know cannot stop him or even turn him in his path.

When Mr. Burckhalter had his attention called to this text in the book of Job, he studied it in the light of modern discovery and made a statement that has attracted worldwide attention:¹⁸

The study of the Book of Job and its comparison with the latest scientific discoveries has brought me to the matured conviction that the Bible is an inspired book and was written by the One who made the stars.

The wonders of God’s universe never cease to amaze us. Arcturus and his sons are individual runaway suns that seem to be out of orbit in our galaxy. Traveling at such incredible speeds, why don’t they crash with other suns or planets? Where are they headed? Only God knows. Indeed they are not runaways. They will not crash. Why? God is guiding them.

Few have suffered the multiple tragedies of Job. How could God reach through the enormity of Job’s self-pity? (Job thought God just didn’t care.) In these three questions (Job 38:31, 32) God is in reality saying:

Job, you think I am not concerned about your suffering. Well, let Me ask you these questions. Can you loose the bands of Orion? No, you cannot. But My Divine power will. Some day Orion will no longer exist. Job, can you bind the 250 stars of the Pleiades together in their symmetry of beauty and not have a single one drift off? Only I have this power and wisdom. Can you prevent the runaways — Arcturus and his sons — from colliding as they go dashing out of the Milky Way? No, only My Divine power and wisdom can.

Job, if I am caring for the details of the universe, do you doubt that I not only care for the details of your life, but I have the ability to solve your problems? Trust that there is a good reason I am permitting these tragedies. Remember, Job, I work from the perspective of your eternal welfare.

What an awesome way God chose to tell Job that He was in full control of human affairs, including Job's life!

Some write off the history of Job as Old Testament folklore. Whoever heard of God talking to a man! These are hand-me-down tales! However, the account of Job cannot be gainsaid. Whatever the method of communication used by God, the astonishing facts cannot be refuted. These scientific facts recorded in the book of Job concerning the Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus anticipated scientific discovery by nearly 3,000 years. Scientists only discovered these startling facts in the Twentieth Century, yet they were recorded in the book of Job nearly 3000 years ago. What an awesome confirmation of the Bible! Who can doubt the Bible is the inspired word of God? Yes, the book of Job has a powerful, exclusive lesson for modern man. Twentieth Century science has proven God’s Word, the Bible, is true.

The Hindu scriptures, the Vedas and Uparushads, consider that "all the objects and phenomena of nature which man is surrounded, are animate and divine."¹⁹ This includes the sun, moon, earth, clouds, rain, rivers, seas and rocks as being alive. Writers of the Buddhist canon also ascribe life to numerous non-living objects— sun, moon, lightning, rainbows, mountains, etc. The Taoist and Confucian writings of China contain similar errors.

The Koran, the scripture of Islam, written 1,500 years after the Hindu scripture, does not contain many of the ancient superstitions. Yet its observations of the universe are seriously flawed. The Koran speaks of seven literal heavens which are solid.²⁰ These heavens contain lamps or stars whose main purpose is to be "darted at the devils."²¹ Mohammed wrote that "the sun sets in a sea of black mud."²²

The Judeo-Christian Scripture made scientific observations that were confirmed centuries later by modern science, while the sacred scripture of other world religions merely reflected the scientific superstitions of their culture. How could the Judeo-Christian Scripture anticipate scientific discovery by 3,000 years? The Judeo-Christian Bible was written by men who were inspired by the Creator and God of the Universe — the God of science. Only the Judeo-Christian Bible is the Divine Revelation provided by our infinite Creator to direct us in the path to eternity.