Seasons in the Sun

The Sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.

The Sun is a Chariot of Fire. It travels, like a chariot, and it's on fire. The Sun is the Unquenchable Fire. It is the fire which never dies. The Sun is like a burning bush which is not consumed. 

At night the Sun travels under the world back to the East so it can rise again. It travels through the underworld, i.e. under-world, - under the world.

Nighttime is an evil time when our world is dark and black. The Devil is the "Prince of Darkness," literally.

Gerald Massey (1828-1907), who spent his life studying comparative religion, describes further:

"The Hebrew devil, or Satan, means the opponent or adversary, and the first great natural adversary recognized by primitive man was Darkness--simply darkness, the constant and eternal enemy of the light--that is, the power of darkness was literal before it became metaphorical, moral, or spiritual.

"Hence darkness itself was the earliest devil or adversary, the obstructor and deluder of man, the eternal enemy of the sun.

Osiris was the spirit of the Almighty manifest in a human. He was born of Sirius, he emobied the Sun, he was murdered by his evil counterpart by being locked in a box (solar eclipse) and then cut into 13 pieces (the zodiacs) of which one - his head/phallus (Orion or Ophichus) - was never recovered.

Zechariah's statement about there being light in the evening translates as "fear not, for in the dawn the shall be light (dawn being the evening of light and darkness/night and day"

The influence of night, the eclipse, and the black thunder-cloud being first felt, the primitive man visibly emerges from the shadow of darkness as deeply impressed and indelibly dyed in mind as was his body with its natural blackness.

The darkness then, in natural phenomena, was the original devil that put out the light by swallowing it incessantly, as the subtle enemy, the obstructor, deluder, and general adversary of man. The first form of the Devil was female, called the Dragon of Darkness, who was Tiamat in Akkad, and Typhon in Egypt. Typhon gave birth to Sut, who became the Egyptian devil—our Satan—and who was represented by the Black jackal, the voice of Darkness; and Sut, the black one, gives us the name of Soot, the black thing. Angro-Mainyus, the Persian devil, was the black one of the two powers of Light and Darkness.

The following sublime description of Night is an extract from the Vedas, made by Sir William Jones: O Night! avert from us the she-wolf and the wolf

Heaven and Hell are not just theologically opposite, they are geometrically opposite. Heaven is up. Hell is down. Heaven is and has always been up above. Hell is and has always been down below, under the earth.

Go outside at night and look up and you are literally looking at heaven. And what do you see? You see all the stars, which make up all the constellations.

Hell is hot and on fire, because the sun is hot and on fire and the sun goes down there every night, setting everything ablaze.

A baptism of fire with the depths of hell

The sun is straight overhead at midday, mid-day, the middle of the day. It is high noon, when the sun is at its most high. This is a good time to set your local clock to 12 O'Clock noon, when both hands point straight up.

Standardized time zones are a relatively recent invention. It used to be everyone set their clocks according to the sun, with high noon, midday, the middle of the day, defined as 12 O'Clock, when both hands point straight upwards. The invention of high speed travel via railroads necessitated the invention of a standardized time, as railroad timetables became increasingly complicated.

A tree is a basic sundial. Notice how the shadow cast by the tree changes position during the day.

Sundials are just fancy things that cast shadows like a tree onto a clock face. Notice the "clockwise" direction the shadow moves throughout the day corresponds to the "clockwise" direction the hands on a clock move. This is why clocks go clockwise. Also note that at mid-day the shadow points directly North, and mechanical clocks point straight up signifying high noon.

Shadows go "clockwise" only for people in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere everything is reversed; the shadows go counter clockwise.

Latitude of the Holy Lands

The Holy Land region is approximately between 25° and 50° North latitude. This is important because this is the latitude where the familiar seasons of the year exist, with the shortest day of Winter occurring in December and the longest day of Summer occurring in June. This region also conveniently contains the United States of America where a lot of Christians live. If you happen to live in this latitude range then you're lucky, you're already familiar with the same seasons of the year the ancient writers of the Bible experienced, and you can go outside any night and see the same stars they saw.

The range where we have the well known seasons of the year with Winter in December and Summer in June extends from 23.5° North latitude, known as the "Tropic of Cancer," up to 66.5° North latitude, known as the Artic Circle. The "Tropic of Cancer" is named after the zodiac constellation Cancer, for reasons that will become apparent later on.

As we head further North in this range the shortest day of the year, known as the Winter Solstice (around December 22), gets shorter and shorter, and the longest day of the year, known as the Summer Solstice (around June 21), gets longer and longer. When we reach the Artic Circle, at 66.5° North latitude, the shortest day of the year becomes so short the Sun actually never rises on that day, and the longest day of the year becomes so long the Sun actually never sets on that day.

If we continue further North, above the Artic Circle (66.5° North latitude), we find there is a period of perpetual dark days centered around the Winter Solstice (December 22) when the Sun never rises, and a period of perpetual light days centered around the Summer Solstice (June 21) when the Sun never sets. As we move further North the number of dark days centered around the Winter Solstice increase and the number of bright days centered around the Summer Solstice also increase. When we finally reach the North Pole this pattern reaches its extreme — we end up with one long period of darkness lasting half a year, and one long period of light lasting half a year. At the North Pole the sun rises around March 21, and just circles around the horizon day after day for half a year, never setting. Around September 23 the sun sets, not to be seen again until March 21 of next year.

When you think of it none of the Santa Claus story makes any sense. All children eventually realize this. Even if you insist the story is real and that magical miracles explain everything about it children eventually grow up and realize it's all just a ploy put on by the adults. The same is true of the Jesus story — it's all just a ploy put on by the churches. Eventually people realize the story doesn't make any sense and stop believing in it. I propose to go one step further and show how the story actually does make perfect sense by pointing out what most people overlook, the first being the latitude of the Holy Lands and the seasons of the year that area experiences.

If we move southward below the equator we encounter an interesting range where there actually isn't much land, but if you do happen to live in this range, such as in Argentina or southern Australia, then the seasons of the year are actually reversed, with the shortest day of Winter occurring in June and the longest day of Summer occurring in December. This range extends from 23.5° South latitude, known as the "Tropic of Capricorn," down to 66.5° South latitude, known as the Antartic Circle. The "Tropic of Capricorn" is named after the zodiac constellation Capricorn, for reasons that will become apparent later on.

Earth's Precession and the Stars

In addition to placing ourselves in the latitude of the Holy Land, we also need to make one other point of reference change, and that is we need to go back in time about 2000 years to when the New Testament was written. This is important because the position of the sun relative to the stars has changed somewhat during the past 2000 years due to the earth's precession.

The earth is like a big spinning top or gyroscope. If you spin a gyroscope and hold it on the tip of your finger you'll notice the axis of spin changes slowly over time making a small circle. You'll notice the same thing if you spin a top on the floor—the axis of spin changes slowly over time making a small circle. The only difference is the earth isn't suspended by a finger, nor is the earth spinning on a floor. There is no cosmic force of gravity "downwards" towards the South pole. The force of gravity is actually sunwards, towards the sun, and moonwards, towards the moon which is constantly orbiting the earth. It is these two forces which cause the slow precession of the earth.

The first difference is 2000 years ago the celestial north pole was not where the star Polaris is. Today the celestial north pole is very close to Polaris. We call Polaris the North Star because if you can find it and point to it you will be pointing North. However, around 0 A.D. the celestial north pole was actually between the Big Dipper and Little Dipper

The second difference is 2000 years ago the sun was entering Capricorn on December 22, whereas today the sun doesn't arrive at that position until January 18, almost a month later.

In the illustration here the sun has just set and the stars have just come out, and we can see that the sun is positioned on the front leg of the constellation Capricorn. This is where the sun was relative to the stars on December 22 around the year A.D. 1. In our present age you have to wait until January 18 to see this. 

To summarise, we need to go back in time about 2000 years, and we need to position ourselves at a latitude of around 25-50 degrees North so we are both at the time and the place when and where the New Testament was written. From here on out my discussion will be from the point of view.

It's interesting to note that there is no year A.D. 0 or 0 B.C.. The years jump from 1 B.C. to A.D. 1.

The reason some constellations don't look anything like what they are named is because some constellations have more to do with what time of year it is when they become prominent and what that time of year originally reminded people of. For example, the constellation Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is the constellation that becomes prominent during the rainy season. The stars doen't look anything like a guy pouring a pitcher of water. Connecting the stars to try and make an image of a guy pouring a pitcher of water is futile. But every year when those stars are just above the horizon at sunset it always rains because it's that time of year. Hence people began identifying that set of stars with rain, and eventually personified those stars as a guy pouring a pitcher of water.

The Sidereal Year begins on the Winter Solstice (December 21 or 22). This is the beginning of Winter. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. The sun rises south of due east and sets south of due west. The sun is also at a low angle in the sky. Because the days are short and the sun is at a low angle it is cold during Winter. It rains a lot during Winter.

As the year progresses the days get longer and longer. Each day the sun rises and sets slightly farther north than it did the day before. After one quarter of a year we reach the Spring Equinox (March 21) when the sun rises due east (hence the term East-er) and sets due west. Day and night are of equal length. This is the beginning of Spring. The goodness of light and warmth begins to conquer the badness of darkness and cold. Crops begin to grow.

Easter - Due East

As the year progresses further the days continue to get longer. Each day the sun rises farther north of due east than it did the day before, and sets farther north of due west. At mid-year we reach the Summer Solstice (June 21) when the sun rises farthest north of due east and sets farthest north of due west. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. Summer begins on the Summer Solstice. The sun is high in the sky, giving lots of warmth and light. Crops continue to grow.

After the Summer Solstice the days begin to get shorter. Each day the sun rises and sets slightly farther south than it did the day before. Crops grow well during the Summer quarter. Near the end of the Summer quarter is harvest time, the best time of the year. We harvest the crops and crush the grapes to make wine. The sun has done it's job providing us with life-giving food and wine.

Three-quarters through the year we reach the Autumn Equinox (Sept. 22) when the sun again rises due east and sets due west. Day and night are again of equal length. This is the beginning of Autumn. The goodness of light and warmth begins to fail us. The badness of darkness begins to overcome the goodness of light.

During Autumn, the last quarter of the year, the sun dies. The days get shorter and shorter, and it gets colder and colder. Each day the sun rises and sets further south. Will the sun disappear forever? What will happen to us? Have no fear, have faith. Yes the sun will die, but the sun will soon be reborn. A new year will soon begin. This is the end of our story, and it is also the beginning. What happens after this? Go to the top of the page and read the story again. The story is circular—a new year begins immediately after the old year ends. A new year is born immediately after the old year dies.

Sunset is the special time of day we can determine the sun's position relative to the stars. At sunset the sun dips below the horizon, the sky gradually gets dark, and the stars become visible. With the stars visible and the sun just below the horizon the position of the sun on the celestial sphere of stars becomes apparent.

Sen Set - Sun Rise (Sun Arise: Aries)

The other time of day we can determine where the sun is relative to the stars is just before sunrise.

During a total solar eclipse, when the moon moves directly in front of the sun blocking almost all of it's light, the sky becomes dark enough for us to see some of the brighter stars, again allowing us to see the position of the sun on the celestial sphere of stars.

Now let us observe how the position of the sun relative to the stars changes as the days go by.

The animation at right shows how the sun's position changes day by day. (For this animation I have moved the sun slightly above the horizon but kept the sky dark so we can still see the stars.) Note how each day at sunset the constellation Capricorn (the goat) gets lower and lower until it is completely below the horizon. The sun appears to travel upwards along the green line through Capricorn towards Aquarius (the water bearer). The green line, representing the path the sun travels along, is known as the ecliptic.

If I allowed the animation to continue past January 10 we would see the sun continue it's journey upwards along the green line through the constellation Aquarius. (The corresponding animation file would be too big for some to download, so I stopped at January 10.

If I allowed the animation to continue for the rest of the year we would observe the sun travel through all 12 constellations of the zodiac. These 12 constellations are: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemeni, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. At the end of the year the sun completes its journey by arriving back at Capricorn where it started, ready to begin anew its annual journey through the 12 constellations.

Note that the ecliptic is a closed circuit around the celestial sphere. (We shall encounter the word "circuit" again later on.)

To the right we have a side view of the sun passing through the constellation Capricorn the goat. (In this side view I have switched to using icons to represent the Zodiac constellations.) Above the earth we have the visible night sky; below the earth we have the abyss of whatever is under the world that we can not see. Recall again that the sun rises in the East, and sets in the West. In this animation the sun is over there on the West side setting in the West. Note how each day at sunset Capricorn the goat gets lower and lower until it is completely below the horizon. The sun appears to travel through Capricorn as the days go by. On December 22 (the Winter Solstice) the sun is just starting to go through Capricorn. By January 10 the sun has made its way through most of Capricorn and we see that the zodiac constellation of Aquarius the water bearer is next in line.

(The other members of the zodiac would form a circle around the earth in this animation. I'm not showing them all right now to keep things simple.)

(All dates are for “Biblical Times”, about 2000 years ago. In our present 21'st century you have to wait until January 18 to see what they saw on December 22 due to the earth’s precession.

One natural place to start the year is at the Winter Solstice (December 22). This is the day the Sun is lowest in the sky, making this the shortest day of the year. From this point on the Sun gets higher and higher in the sky each day, making each day longer and longer.

Another often used place to start the year is at the Vernal Equinox (also called the Spring Equinox; March 21). On this day the Sun rises directly in the East, and day and night are of equal length.

The Jewish calendar begins with the month of Nisan, around mid-March to early April, a date hovering around the Vernal Equinox. The twelve months of the Jewish calendar are: 1)Nisan; 2)Iyyar; 3)Sivan; 4)Tammuz; 5)Ab; 6)Elul; 7)Tishri; 8)Cheshvan; 9)Kislev; 10)Tebeth; 11)Shebat; 12)Adar. This is a lunar calendar synced to the phases of the moon. A new moon begins a new month. The twelve lunar months total 354 days. To keep this calendar somewhat in sync with the solar year, a 13th "leap month" is occasionally added, called Adar II.

To further confuse things, the Jewish New Year, "Rosh Hashana," is celebrated on the first of Tishri, the seventh month, sometime in September or early October, a date hovering around the Autumnal Equinox.

Julius Caesar began his new solar calendar of Rome with January 1st in the year AUC 707 (45 BCE).1 Caesar did not commence the New Year on the winter solstice (22nd December), which he knew was the true beginning of the year. He wished to prevent disruption to the traditional, moon-regulated, commercial calendar as well as for the purpose of general convenience. Caesar adopted the rule of the moon and started the New Year by making it commence on the first new moon following the winter solstice. This happened to be ten days after the solstice and, hence, our 'New Year' is not the beginning of a new year at all. Consequently, we have at present three celebrations of the winter solstice or New Year. We have the astronomical or true New Year on the 22nd of December10; Christmas, the universal celebration of the rebirth of the sun—the resurrection of the Sun God; and, Julius Caesar's moon-fixed New Year, the 1st of January."2

For our purposes we'll start the year at the Winter Solstice, December 22. Three days later, on December 25, the Sun rises 1/10 of its width further northward, just barely enough to be detectable by carefull observation.

1. The Sun is born, or re-born, on December 25th.

[Jesus is born on Christ-mas day, December 25th. Actually, knowledgable Christians will admit the tradition of celebrating Jesus' birth on December 25 was an attempt to place a Christian significance on a pagan holiday. Pope Julius (350 CE) assigned the birth of Jesus to December 25.3 Pagans of numerous solar religions celebrated the birth of their Sun God on December 25th. What Christians don't realize is how much more of their religion has been borrowed from pagan religions. Christians admit they don't know what day Jesus was born. They don't even know what year he was born. This just raises a lot more questions about how much they don't know.]

The Sun Enters Aquarius at "Age 30"

The constellations of the Zodiac are not all the same size, nor are they evenly spaced. Some of the constellations even overlap one another. It's somewhat arbitrary where to draw the line between one constellation and another. Part of this problem is alieviated by simply declaring that the divisions between the twelve constellations are evenly spaced.

The zodiac is divided into twelve equal areas, with each area containing one zodiac constellation. Each area is known as a "house". So when the sun is in the constellation Capricorn, it may be said, "the sun is in the house of Capricorn."

If we divide a circle into twelve equal parts, and place the twelve constellations of the zodiac in order around the circle, one in each part, we see that each constellation occupies 30 degrees of the circle.

The sun travels about one degree each day. It's not exact, since there are actually 365.2421934 days in a solar year instead of 360. Also the earth's orbit isn't a perfect circle, it's slightly eliptical. The earth travels slightly faster during the winter months when it's slightly closer to the sun, and it travels slightly slower during the summer months when it's slightly farther from the sun. In general though, one degree equals about one day. (The seasons are primarily caused by the earth's tilt, not by it's varying distance from the sun.

It's still ambiguous exactly when the sun leaves one house and enters another. The standard dates used by astrologers for the past two millenium (the ones given in the table above) correspond to a time somewhere in the range of around 600 B.C.E. to 1 C.E. Today, some 2000 years later, due to the Earth's precession the sun is in Sagittarius on Dec. 22, and you have to wait until around Jan. 18 before you can say the sun is in Capricorn. However, the tradition of having Capricorn cover the days from December 22 to January 19 still remains today.

If we accept the old tradition of having the sun enter Capricorn on the Winter Solstice, a natural place to start the yearly cycle, then when the sun has traveled 30 degrees the sun exits Capricorn and enters Aquarius. Thus an allegorical story of the sun's annual travels could have the sun character visiting the Aquarius character at "Age 30" That's actually 30 degrees, or about 30 days, but an allegory could use 30 years instead.

2. On the Winter Solstice the sun enters Capricorn. The Sun then passes through Capricorn, traveling 30 degrees in 30 days, to reach Aquarius at "age 30". Entering Aquarius is the first big event of the journey. 

Jesus is said to have begun his ministry at age 30 (Luke 3:23). Jesus begins his ministry by visiting John the Baptist (Aquarius), who baptises with water.

3. The Sun's annual journey around the zodiac takes one year.

 Jesus' ministry is said to have lasted one year. [At least according to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). The Gospel of John implies Jesus' ministry lasted 3 years. The Gospel of John contradicts the Synoptic Gospels many times, which, by definition, is why it's not one of the "Synoptic" Gospels. Here we are concentrating on Jesus' mission as described in the Synoptic Gospels.]

The Sun enters Aquarius around Jan. 20. January is the rainy season. There is a lot of water everywhere. In January the days start to get longer and longer, as the Sun climbs higher and higher in the sky each day. The days also begin to get warmer and warmer, because the angle of the Sun's rays changes

The longer warmer days cause any snow that has accumulated in the higher mountains to melt, adding to the inundation of water. Rivers rise and may flood. This is the first step in the harvest cycle. We look forward to the promise of a good harvest later on in the year.

4. The Sun visits Aquarius who immerses the land with water.

Jesus starts his one year ministry by visiting John the Baptist who baptises with water

5. The temptation to give in to the forces of darkness,

6. and the resistance to that temptation.

[Jesus, after starting his one year mission by visiting John the Baptist (Mat. 3), is tempted by the devil (Mat. 4:1-11)] but he rebukes the devil's offers (Mat. 4:4,7,10-11)]

Aquarius goes below the horizon

After a month has passed the Sun leaves Aquarius and Aquarius goes below the horizon. We might say Aquarius has entered the underworld, or hades, or hell, or has been handed over. Since Aquarius is depicted by a man, we might figuratively say our character has been put in prison, since we won't be seeing Aquarius again at Sunset for quite awhile.

7. The Sun leaves Aquarius. Aquarius is figuratively is put in prison.

After Jesus visits John the Baptist who baptizes him with water, John the Baptist is put "in prison" (Mat. 4:12).

 [NOTE: The King James version reads, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;" (Mat. 4:12 [King James Version]) Actually a more literal translation reads, "And Jesus having heard that John was delivered up, did withdraw to Galilee," (Mat. 4:12 [Young's Literal Translation]) The single word παραδιδωμι, which the KJV version translates as "was cast into prison" means "to deliver up one to custody". The word "prison" is not found anywhere in the Strong's definition. (See Strong's #3860.)

8. The Sun goes on it's way, leaving Aquarius behind.

Jesus goes on his way. (Mat. 4:13-17)

In the Jesus story after Jesus [the Sun], visits John the Baptist [Aquarius] the Bible says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,....” (Mark 1:14; Matthew 4:12; Luke 3:20; John 3:24). Suddenly John the Baptist is "put in prison", and Jesus just goes on his merry way! There is no further explanation in the Bible, which seems quite strange if John were a real person. We want to know why he was "put in prison." What crime was he accused of? Who threw him in prison? Was there a trial? Did Jesus attend the trial and speak on his behalf? No. Nothing more is said. Jesus just continues on his journey and appears unconcerned about John the Baptist.

This is all very strange and hard to understand if interpreted as a story of real life events, but it all makes perfect sense when understood as an astronomical allegory. John the Baptist being put in prison is merely an allegory for the constellation Aquarius at sunset moving lower and lower until it is below the horizon at the end of the month and can no longer be seen. It is a natural phenomenon that requires no further explanation, and that is why there is no further explanation in the Bible.

So Jesus [the Sun], continues on his way into "Galilee". The word "Galilee" literally means "circuit". The original Greek word is γαλιλαις {gal-il-ah'-yah} (Strong's Greek #1056. Click here to see the verse in Greek), which is a word of Hebrew origin לילג {gaw-lee-law'} (Strong's Hebrew #01551). A "circuit" is a closed, usually circular path. The ecliptic is the circuit the Sun travels along during the year. The ecliptic is a great circle inscribed on the celestial sphere. Jesus, a personification of the Sun, continues on his way along the ecliptic, or "Galilee".

After the Sun passes through Aquarius, the Sun enters Pisces, the two fish. There's a lot of water around, brought on by Aquarius, and there's no harvest yet, and not much good hunting, so this is a good time to go fishing. Hence the theme of fish and fishing.

9. The Sun visits Pisces, the two fish. Theme of fishing.

So far we have about Jesus:

 1) Born on 25th of December, birthday of the sun.

 2) Starts his mission at "age 30" (Luke 3:23)

 3) Mission is said to take one year [Synoptic Gospels]

 4) Starts his mission by visiting John the Baptist (Mat. 3)

 5) Is then tempted by the devil (Mat. 4:1-11)

 6) resists the devil's offers (Mat. 4:4,7,10-11)

 7) John is put "in prison." (Mat. 4:12)

 8) Jesus goes on his way, leaving John behind. (Mat. 4:13-17)

 9) Jesus then visits Simon and Peter, two fishermen. (Mat. 4:18-22)

After passing through Pisces, the Sun enters Aries, the ram, sheep, or lamb. The traditional date for this is the Vernal Equinox (or Spring Equinox), March 21. This is an important date, because this is when day and night are of equal length, and after this day the days are longer than the nights. The battle of warmth and light against cold and darkness has finally been won.

Sin means a deviation from the way things ought to be. The sin of the Earth was that it was cold and dark during Autumn and Winter. We would prefer it to be warm and light. When the Sun reaches the lamb the sin of the earth is figuratively taken away, as that is when the warmth and light of Spring and Summer finally wins over the cold and darkness of Autumn and Winter. Thus figuratively the lamb is that which takes away the sin of the earth.

It's common for solar religions to associate their savior with the zodiac symbol the Sun is in at the Vernal Equinox. Jesus is known as the "lamb of God."

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

"When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36)

Jesus is often depicted with a lamb.

10. The Sun visits Aries, a ram, sheep, or lamb, on the Vernal Equinox, when darkness and cold, the figurative sins of the earth, are overpowered by light and warmth.

 [Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the earth.]

11. Easter, when we celebrate Jesus as risen from the grave, is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. It is a Spring time celebration of the rebirth of the Sun and the Sun overpowering the cold and darkness of Winter.

Pisces & the Christian Symbol of the Fish

Due to the earth's precession the Vernal Equinox gradually moved from Aries the ram to Pisces the fish sometime vaguely around 1 CE to 300 CE. (Since there are no well defined borders between the zodiac constellations there's no definitive date.) Hence the symbol of a fish, representing Pisces, became the symbol of Christianity, because the Sun was in Pisces, the fish, on the Vernal Equinox.

The symbol of the fish is also found in the miter the Pope wears. (See the fish in the side view?)

As for Christ on the cross, the oldest artistic representations of the Christian cross depict a figure of a lamb (Aries). The practice of symbolising the saviour by a lamb continued until the Council of Constantinople (692 CE) under the pontificate of Agathon and during the reign of Constantine Pogonat. It was decreed that, instead of the ancient astrological symbol of Aries the lamb, all crosses depicted in art should be combined with the figure of Jesus. The retiring of the Lamb as the main Christian symbol, translated from the Latin, is as follows:

In the Roman Sotteranea of Antonio Bosio, concerning the image of Christ under the figure of a lamb:

In certain representations of the images of the saints, a lamb is portrayed. We, therefore, accepting the old forms and shadows as signs of the truth and as traditional symbols of the church, prefer Grace and Truth, which we accept as the fulfilment of the Lamb. So, that which is perfect, let us place in pictures, even before the eyes of all. We have decreed that the Lamb, which taketh away the sins of the world, Christ our God, ought to be portrayed henceforth in human form in place of the Lamb.

 (Higgins, Anacalypsis, Vol.2, pp.111-112) 

At first, Jesus was represented fully robed, standing calmly before the cross with outstretched arms. The lamb continued to be shown, usually at the foot of the cross. Later, the figure of Jesus was placed on the cross, undraped, bleeding and tortured by pain from wounds, as he is represented on crucifixes today. Pope Adrian I confirmed this point.1

12. Due to earth's precession the Sun is now in Pisces the fish on the Vernal Equinox.

[A fish is now the symbol of Christianity.]

Spring Calms the Storm

Autumn and Winter are the seasons for stormy weather. Around Spring time the storm season ends and we start having nice weather again. So when the Sun enters the constellation of spring time the storms calm.

13. The Sun in Spring brings an end to stormy weather.

 [Jesus does a lot of talking in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. If you have one of those Bibles that print the words Jesus speaks in red you'll see we have several pages entirely red. Scholars of Comparative Religion say all of the ideas expressed here were already extant in previous religions, so there's really nothing new. In Matthew chapter 8 Jesus gets to moving again, and in Matthew 8:23-27 we have the story of how Jesus Calms the Storm.]

Taurus

Around roughly 4000 B.C.E. to 2000 B.C.E. the Sun was in Taurus the bull on the Vernal Equinox, and we find in ancient religions of this period that a bull was worshipped as the one who saves the world from the evils of winter. Due to the earth's precession this later became Aries the lamb who saves the world, and later when the Sun was in Pisces the symbol of the lamb was abandoned and replaced with that of a fish.

There are no bulls in the Gospels, nor are there any crabs, lions, or scorpions. We do find a bull and lion in Revelations 4:7, "and the first living creature like a lion, and the second living creature like a calf, and the third living creature having the face as of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle." This is a reference to the four seasons of the year. The lion is Leo, the calf is Taurus, the man is Aquarius, and the eagle is one of the three symbols for Scorpio (see Saint Matthew: a sermon by Robert Taylor - 1831)

Instead we need to look at what changes happen around this time of year and compare that to what happens in the Jesus story.

Aquarius Beheaded

Recall how Aquarius went below the horizon early on in our story. Aquarius is down there in the underworld, where the dead are, or is figuratively "put in prison". Some months later, if you wait a few hours after sunset, you'll see Aquarius poking its head up above the eastern horizon, rising from the underworld, and it appears as if Aquarius is being beheaded by the horizon. Aquarius figuratively "rises from the dead" and is beheaded by the night eastern horizon.

By mid-May you only need wait until 11:00 PM to see the beheading of Aquarius. By July it's too late for this story, as Aquarius is already above the eastern horizon by sunset.

14. The head of Aquarius rises from below the eastern horizon (rises from the dead)

 15. and appears beheaded by the horizon.

Following the Jesus story we come to the beheading of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, who baptizes with water, is our personification of Aquarius the water bearer, who starts the harvest cycle by bringing on the rainy season. In Matthew 14:1-12 John rises from the dead: "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead!" (Matthew 14:2) and then John is beheaded by Herod, a personification of night. (See The Birth of Jesus for more on how Herod is a personification of night and the evil cold and darkness that comes with it.)

16. There is some inference that John somehow survives this beheading and "rises from the dead" intact (Mark 6:16 "When Herod heard this, he said, 'John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead.'") And sure enough as the night progresses we see all of Aquarius rising intact from below the eastern horizon.

The Bible says Joseph took Jesus as a baby and fled to Egypt where they stayed until the death of Herod (Mat. 2:13-15). However, here we have king Herod apparently still alive and ruling 30 years later during Jesus' mission. And now we have a headless John running around still alive. This Jesus story is impossible to interpret literally, but quite easy to interpret using solar mythology. (We'll talk more about Herod in a later lesson.)

The Sun Walks on Water

Right after Taurus the Bull lies the Milky Way, that starry band that lies like a lake across the night sky. The sun crosses the Milky Way around May 20 to June 4.

17. The Sun “walks on the water”.

At this point in Jesus' travels we have the story of Jesus crossing the lake by walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). “Jesus went out to them, walking on the water.”

The Summer Solstice

Since the beginning of the year when our story began the sun has been climbing higher and higher in the sky each day. Each day the sun rises farther northward in the east, and sets farther northward in the west. The days are getting longer and brighter and warmer.

On June 21 we reach the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. On this day the sun rises farthest northward, the sun climbs to its highest point in the sky, and then sets farthest northward in the west. It is the beginning of Summer, a period of bright, sunny, warm, and wonderful weather.

It is at this point in the Jesus Story that we have the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus goes up a high mountain, the highest point Jesus reaches in the story, and shines brighter than ever, the brightest he shines in the whole story. "His face shone like the sun." (Matthew 17:1-13)

18. The sun reaches the Summer Solstice.

Jesus has his transfiguration.

Jesus brings with him Peter, James, and John, and at the mountain top they meet Moses and Elijah. For an interesting aside about Elijah and Moses on the Transfiguration see commentary by Bishop John Shelby Spong.

The Summer Solstice is a turning point in our story. Up to now everything has been getting better and better. But from this day forward the sun starts slipping southward again. The sun can not escape its ultimate fate. The sun will continue slipping southward, Autumn will come, and the sun will eventually die in the cold dark of the Winter Solstice on December 22, to be resurrected again three days later, on December 25—Christmas day. This turning point is the first time we may think about the eventual death of the sun—it's ultimate fate in winter.

Jesus first predicts his death just before the Transfiguration (Matthew 16:21-28). Peter says, "Never Lord! This shall never happen to you!" That is, everything is wonderful right now, let's just have it this way always and forever. But the sun can not remain at it's highest point forever. If it did there would be no seasons of the year and no harvest cycle. We rely on the harvest for our food, without which we would die.

And just as the sun can not escape it's fate, so too Jesus, a personification of the sun, can not escape his fate, as he begins to tell us at this point in the story.

But that is all a long way off. For now all is happy and wonderful. It's summer time, and thoughts of the sun's ultimate death in winter are easily dismissed. It's just too good a time right now. Even though Jesus is now on his way to Jerusalem, where he predicts he will die, it's still a happy story up to this point. Jesus hasn't encountered any problems yet. Indeed, the happiest point in his story is about to occur.

Summer Time

In the Babylonian zodiac the sign for the house of Cancer was the ass and foal.1 Two bright stars in the constellation of Cancer still bear the names "northern Ass" and "southern Ass", with the "southern ass" lying directly on the ecliptic.

"North and south of the nebula Praesepe are two stars, which Orientalists speak of by a name evidently of some antiquity. Asellus means an Ass, and one was called Asellus Borealis, the northern Ass; while the other, Asellus Australis, is the southern Ass. The sign [for Cancer] was afterwards known by the symbol Cancer, which stands for these two asses."2 This glyph for Cancer is still used today.

A quick check of any star map confirms this. The star γ (gamma) is named Asellus Borealis, or 'northern donkey', and the star δ (delta) is named Asellus Australis, or 'southern donkey'.3

"Asellus borealis and Asellus australis, the Northern and the Southern Ass Colt, were the ’Όνοι, or Asses, of Ptolemy and the Greeks; the Aselli, or Asini, of the Latins, distinguished by their position as here given, even to the present day, and now popularly known as the Donkeys. ... and the Arabians similarly knew them as Al Himārain, the Two Asses."4

Hence as the Sun travels through the constellation of Cancer, it figuratively rides two asses, or an ass and colt, into the middle of summer. Of course everyone is happy to greet the arrival of summer. It's the best time of year, and the harvest is just around the corner.

Comparing this with our Jesus story, a high point of the Jesus story is Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, awkwardly riding both an ass and colt. "They brought the ass and the colt and put their garments upon them, and he sat on them. (Matthew 21:7) We have here Jesus riding on both an ass and a colt. Quite a trick if interpreted literally, but in astronomical allegorical terms it's simply what happens.

19. The Sun figuratively rides an ass and foal into the middle of summer.

Jesus rides an ass and colt into Jerusalem.

Harvest Time

On August 23rd the sun enters the house of Virgo the virgin. Virgo is the virgin that figuratively gives birth to the sun each year when the sun passes out of Virgo. Even though Virgo gives birth, she remains a virgin, just as Mary is the virgin who gives birth to Jesus and yet remains a virgin.

A star on the shoulder of the Virgin Mary was a traditional symbol in all art prior to the 1600's. The star is derived from the star 'Spica', which is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.1 'Spica' is Latin for "ear of wheat," which Virgo holds in her hand. The sun's ecliptic path passes very close to this bright star as it moves through Virgo. Hence when the sun reaches Spica, it's time to harvest the wheat. Virgo is also sometimes depicted as holding an ear of corn.

Food and drink are literally the elements which sustain life. Mother earth brings forth food which grows up out of the ground. Because life springs forth from the earth, the earth is given the female role of mother, since it is from the female that life emerges. And if earth is the mother, then the father must be the god above who pours down rain from the sky impregnating the earth. This is why God above is a masculine "He" instead of a feminine "She" or a sexless "it."

The sun is born or re-born in four different ways:

1.Christmas Day (three days after the Winter Solstice).

2.By passing out of Virgo the virgin.

3.The dawn of every new day the sun arises born again.

4.Solar eclipse. The following verses describe a solar eclipse:

Isaiah 13:10

The rising sun will be darkened

 and the moon will not give its light.

Jeremiah 15:9

"Her sun will set while it is still day;"

Joel 2:31

"The sun will be turned to darkness

 and the moon to blood"

 The sun is "turned to darkness" during a solar eclipse. The moon becomes as blood during a lunar eclipse, when it is "full" and the earth's shadow falls upon it; it's deep copper colour, like that of dried blood, being due to the fact that the light, falling upon it, has passed through a great depth of the earth's atmosphere.2

Amos 8:9

"In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD,

 "I will make the sun go down at noon

 and darken the earth in broad daylight.

Mark 13:24-35 (Matthew 29:29-51)

 This is a description of a solar eclipse. "The sun will be darkened." is the solar eclipse. "The moon will not give it's light" because the moon is in front of the sun. "The stars will fall from the sky." During a total solar eclipse it's so dark that the stars become visible. "The day and hour unknown". Today we can predict solar eclipses years in advance down to the minute, and the newspapers always tell us when one is about to happen. Back then a solar eclipse could take a community by surprise. The text essentially says, "Don't panic. The sun will reappear and everything will be alright." The reappearance of the sun after a solar eclipse could be thought of as the sun's "second comming."

The Scales of Justice

After the harvest the sun moves from Virgo into Libra, the Scales. (September). These are the "Scales of Justice." The harvest has been gathered, it is now time to sell the harvest. Scales are used in buying and selling the harvest. At the end of harvest time, when there is nothing left to sell, the money changers pack up and leave. The Bible says, “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers.” (Mark 11:12-19; Matthew 21:12) Jesus, the sun, representing the passage of time, moves out of Libra, the Scales of Justice, and the money changers pack up and leave, because the season has passed and they are finished selling the harvest.

As we enter the season of Autumn the leaves fall from the trees and the trees appear to wither. It is at this point in the story that Jesus is said to curse the fig tree and make it wither, a story which makes no sense if Jesus were a real person, but it makes perfect sense when understood as an allegory. It is simply Autumn, and Jesus, the sun, who makes the seasons pass, causes the leaves to fall from the trees (Mark 11:20-25; Matthew 21:18-22)

In the Jesus story we then have the Last Supper, where Jesus and his twelve disciples, a reference to the twelve zodiac months of the year, recline and eat the harvest. (Mark 14:12-26; Matthew 26:17-30; Luke 22:7-38) This is the natural time of year to have a huge feast. In America we celebrate Thanksgiving and have a huge feast of food. We eat the flesh of the fruit—figuratively the flesh of Jesus, who personifies the sun which make the fruit grow; and we drink wine—the blood of the grapes, figuratively the blood of Jesus, who personifies the sun which made the grapes grow. Without this food we would perish.

Note that food and drink are literally the elements which sustains life. When we participate in the Communion ritual in church we eat bread, figuratively the body of Jesus, and drink wine (or grape juice), figuratively the blood of Jesus, because food and drink are literally the elements which sustains life. It is the sun which makes plants grow so we can have food to eat and wine to drink. We personify the sun as Jesus and then give thanks to Jesus (the sun) for our food and drink. The harvest is our salvation.

Scorpio

In late October the sun enters Scorpio, the Scorpion. The name of this sign in Arabic and Syriac is Al Akrab, which means wounding him that cometh. The brightest star in this sign bears the ancient Arabic name of Antares, which means the wounding.1 Thus, when the sun enters the house of Scorpio, the Scorpion figuratively stings the sun wounding it to make it slowly die.

By late October it becomes very noticeable that the days are getting shorter and colder as the sun rises lower and lower each day. The sun, which lived to give us the harvest of food so that we may live, is now weak and dying. Darkness and cold begin to reign. The sun spends more of it's time down below in the underworld then it does above. The sun has descended down into hell. Night is longer than day, and the days aren't very warm.

We've harvested the food. We've had our feast. Now the year tragically winds down and comes to an end as the days become short and cold. Similarly, after the last supper the Jesus story goes tragically downhill.

In the Jesus story Jesus is betrayed by Judas, one of the twelve. Judas represents Scorpio the scorpion. Scorpio stings the sun condemning it to death, just as Judas kisses Jesus condemning him to death.

It is interesting to note that even though the chief priests want to arrest and kill Jesus, they can not identify which person is Jesus, and resort to bribing Judas to point him out for them. It should be obvious by now which person Jesus is. Jesus has thousands of people following him. A huge crowd welcomed him as he entered Jerusalem, riding both an ass and a colt, quite a theatrical performance that would naturally draw a crowd. After entering Jerusalem Jesus continues to teach every day to the crowds assembled. Supposedly by now anyone could point him out, yet inexplicably the chief priests can not identify him, and resort to bribing Judas to point him out for them.

Judas is a personification of Scorpio. Pilate, whom Jesus sees next after being betrayed by Judas, is a personification of Sagittarius, the next sign in the zodiac following Scorpio. Scorpio, the scorpion, stings the sun condemning it to death, just as Judas kisses Jesus condemning him to death. After the sun has it's fateful encounter with Scorpio it moves on to Sagittarius, leaving Scorpio below the horizon, a figurative death for Scorpio. Similarly, after Jesus (the sun) is kissed by Judas (Scorpio), Jesus (the sun) moves to stand trial before Pilate (Sagittarius), and Judas (Scorpio) dies a tragic death.

There is a contradiction in the Bible regarding the death of Judas. Matthew 27:3-5 claims Judas returns the money and then hangs himself in an act of suicide. But in Acts 1:18 Judas is said to have used the money to buy a field in which "he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out," which sounds somewhat like an accident. Christian apologists try to come up with clever scenarios whereby both are true so there is no contradiction. I leave it to the reader and his imagination to try and reconcile these two conflicting passages. For our purposes we only care that Judas dies (Matthew 27:1-10), followed immediately by Jesus being handed over to Pilate (Matthew 27:11-26).

Sagittarius is the last constellation the sun passes through before the Winter Solstice, when our story ends. Similarly, Pilate is the last person Jesus sees in his story before the story ends. Pontius Pilate is a personification of Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is a man on a horse with a bow and arrow. The theme is hunting. We're all done harvesting, so let's go hunting. It is a good time of the year to go hunting. The animals are full grown. And we've not much else to do, except it sure is getting dark and cold this time of year, isn't it? What's happening to our sun? It seems to be leaving us. Will it leave us forever?

After the death of Judas (after Scorpio goes below the horizon), Jesus (the sun) is handed over to Pontius Pilate (Sagittarius). Pilate is the last person Jesus encounters in the story before being put to death, only to be resurrected three days later; just as Sagittarius is the last zodiac month of the year the sun passes through before dying on the Winter Solstice, December 22, only to be resurrected three days later and begin anew its journey northward, on December 25, Christmas day.

"Pontius", ποντιος {pon'-tee-os} (Strong's Greek #4194), is literally "of the sea", a reference to the sea of stars above. (It's also of Latin origin, betraying it's late addition to the text.) [Click here to see the verse in Greek].

"Pilate", πειλατος {pil-at'-os} (Strong's Greek #4091), is literally "armed with a spear". Sagittarius, the archer, is armed with a bow and arrow, which serves the same purpose as a spear. The theme is hunting. We're all done harvesting, so let's go hunting.

Sagittarius also pierces the side of the sun with his arrow, just as Jesus has his side pierced while on the cross.1

But the days are getting shorter and shorter, and colder and colder, as the year comes to a close. The dark nights are getting longer. Things look dark and gloomy. What will happen to our savior, the sun, who makes the harvest grow providing us with life saving food? Will he disappear forever? Are we doomed? Is this the end? The good news of the Bible is, "No, this is not the end. It is the preface to a new beginning. The sun will arise again, the cycle will begin anew, and we will all be saved, again."

HEROD

Jesus is handed over to Herod (Luke 23:7-11) This makes it somewhat difficult for us to place these events in a historical context, because Herod died in 4 B.C., yet here we apparently have him alive again, at a time supposedly around A.D. 27. Christian apologists deal with this by claiming this is a different Herod, not the same Herod who tried to kill Jesus when Jesus was born. Christian apologists go even further to claim the Herod mentioned in Acts 23 is a third Herod. Well, why not? After all, the Bible doesn't explicitly say these are all the same Herod.

But of course using this logic we could claim multiple copies of any character whenever it was convenient for us. We could have two Judas characters, both who betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, one who returns the money and hangs himself (Matthew 27:3-5), and the other who uses the money to buy a field in which "he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out." (Acts 1:18). The Bible doesn't say there are two different people both named Judas, but then again the Bible doesn't explicitly say the Judas who tripped and fell is the same Judas who hanged himself, though such would be the natural conclusion, were it not for the fact that the two versions of the story contradict one another.

So the Bible does not explicitly say this is a different Herod, though it would be the norm for any writer to mention such a thing if it really were a different person who happens to have the same name. After all the Bible does distinguish between John the Baptist and John the brother of James and son of Zebedee, so there's no confusion between which John it is referring to. Yet for Herod the Bible makes no distinction, leading us to believe it is the same Herod mentioned earlier.

This of course leaves us desperate when trying to force this story into a historical context. However, there is no problem when we interpret the story as an allegory, with Jesus a personification of the sun and Herod a personification of the darkness and cold of night time and the dark and cold seasons of Autumn and Winter. As an allegory Herod figuratively "dies" every morning with the rising of the sun (Jesus), and regains power every evening with the setting of the sun. Herod also looses power when the bright warm seasons of Spring and Summer commence. Herod regains power in the dark and cold seasons of Autumn and Winter.

Herod is a personification of Night. Herod, or the darkness of Night, is taking over Jesus, the sun, as the days get shorter and shorter in Autumn and darkness begins to reign. (See Matthew Chapter 2—The Birth of Jesus for more on King Herod).

ANTI-SEMITISM

We also have clear anti-Semitism in the Bible here. The writer makes it very clear it is the Jews who are forever to blame for demanding Jesus be crucified. The Bible says, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25) Christians have used this passage ever since to justify persecution of the Jews. Yet the Jews don't have this as a part of their sacred scriptures. You don't find anywhere in the Old Testament a statement that the Jews should forever hence forth be persecuted. It is only in the Christian scriptures that we find this statement.

Imagine if the Koran had a statement that Muslims used to justify endless persecution of Christians. Christians would forever be persecuted by Muslims, because of a statement in the Koran, a book Christians don't believe is holy scripture and never read.

Persecution of Jews diminished after World War II when it was revealed that 6 million Jews had been exterminated during the war by the Nazis. It finally became unfashionable to persecute Jews.

THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS

Jesus is crucified and placed in a cave. It is the end of the story. A sad ending. But have faith. Jesus, the sun, will arise again — a new year will begin. Three days after Jesus is placed in the cave he will arise again. This is the prophecy. This is the good news of the Bible.

On Christmas day, December 25, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. December 22 was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the sun was at its lowest. Three days later, on December 25, the sun rises 1/10 of it's width farther north — just barely detectable by carefully observing the shadows cast at sunrise. Our savior, the sun, has been reborn, to begin the cycle of the year and the cycle of life again.

Originally Jesus was said to have been born in a cave. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) article on "Bethlehem" says, “The tradition of the birth in a cave was widely accepted, as we see from Origen's words about a century later: — In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and the rumor is in those places and among foreigners of the Faith that indeed Jesus was born in this cave —. (Contra Celsum, I, li.) It is reproduced also in the apocryphal gospels (Pseudo-Matt., xiii, ap. Bonaccorsi, op. cit., 159-163; Protevang. of James, xvii sqq., Bonaccorsi, 155-159; Gospel of the Infancy, II-IV, Bonaccorsi, 163-164).”

[See Eusebius's Life of Constantine, lib. 3, chs xl, xli, and xlii.] [Also see Matthew Chapter 2—The Birth of Jesus]

[Also note that archaeological evidence indicates Bethlehem of Judea was uninhabited at the alleged time of Jesus' birth. "There is surprisingly no archaeological evidence that ties Bethlehem in Judea to the period in which Jesus would have been born." (The likelihood is there was no settlement at this site at that time.)— Where was Jesus really Born? Archaeology magazine’s article Volume 58 Number 6, November/December 2005]

Hence the story is circular, just as the years are circular. A new year begins after the old year ends.

Here is a literal translation of Matthew 2:1. This shows why it is so difficult to create a decent English translation of the original Greek. This explains why there are so many different English translations of the Bible.

His but Jesus begat in Bethlehem (literally "house of bread") of Judaea (literally "he shall be praised") in the day of Herod (literally "heroic") his king behold wise men out of the east (direction of the sun's rising) raise partly toward Jerusalem = "set ye double peace"

Note in every English translation the word "Bethlehem" is left untranslated. The Greek is βηθλεεμ, pronounced bayth-leh-em' [Strongs #965]. This is actually two Hebrew words found many times in the Old Testament, the words are בית   לחם [Strongs #01035] "Beyth Lechem," pronounced bayth leh'-khem

Matthew, Chapter 2

LATE ORIGIN OF STORY

 The earliest Christians, viz., the Ebionites, Nazarenes, Corinthians, &c., excluded as forgeries the two first chapters of Matthew, containing the miraculous conception and birth, declaring them to be spurious, and not to be found in the genuine copies of Matthew. Both Saint Jerome and Epiphanius allow that this is true.1

 The writer of that portion of the Gospel according to Matthew which treats of the place in which Jesus was born, states that he was born in a house. In Matthew 2:11 the Greek word is οικια. (Strong's Number [3614]) However, the writer of the Luke version implies that he was born in a stable (Luke 2:7). If these accounts were contained in these Gospels in the time of Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian, who flourished during the Council of Nice (A. D. 327), it is very strange that, in speaking of the birth of Jesus, he should have omitted even mentioning them, and should have given an altogether different version. He tells us that Jesus was neither born in a house, nor in a stable, but in a cave.2 [See Eusebius's Life of Constantine, lib. 3, chs xl, xli, and xlii.(on CD-R)]

 In Matthew 2:4 the Magi ask about "the Christ", referring to Christ Jesus. This again betrays the late origin of this chapter. Speaking of Jesus as "the Christ" is equivalent to speaking of Tacitus as "the Historian," or George Washington as "the General," or of any individual as "the Mister," without adding a name by which either could be distinguished. Therefore, it would have no sense or meaning, unless it was written after Christianity was already well established and the term "Christ" had already became exclusive to meaning Christ Jesus.3

COMPARATIVE RELIGION:

 This story of the child who threatens the reign of a ruling monarch is a common motif found in many ancient religions. It is also found in the Old Testament with Moses as a baby being placed in a basket and sent down the river to avoid the mass slaughter of all the children.

Darkness hears a child will be born that will overthrow him. Indeed when the Sun rises it will conquer the darkness. So darkness orders all the stars extinguished. Allegorically all the children of the land are to be killed. What better way to insure darkness rules than to murder all those little points of light. All the stars are killed, but the sun survives the slaughter and rises anyway, conquering the darkness.

The Players

Jesus — The Sun. Comparative Religion shows that all the ancient religions were forms of sun worship. The story of Jesus is just another allegorical personification of the sun as will be shown here.

Herod — Night; Darkness. We have seen in the lecture on Night how Darkness is the original evil. The ancient religious stories personified the evil Darkness and gave it names. In this case the name for Darkness is Herod.

 Darkness reigns supreme at night until overpowered by the rising sun in the morning. The sun rising in the morning is figuratively a form of the sun being born. Just before the sun rises all the stars disappear. Figuratively this is Darkness trying to save itself by killing all the stars. What better way to keep things dark than to kill all those little points of light. But Darkness fails to kill the sun. The sun rises, overpowering the Darkness, the darkness dies, and its reign is ended.

 There is no historical record of this mass infanticide slaughter ever actually happening or being ordered. It never really happened on Earth. Our whole story takes place in the starry night sky. Paul says, "For our conversation is in heaven [i.e. the stars above] from whence also we look for the Saviour [the Sun], the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20)

The Three Magi or Wise Men — The three bright stars in the belt of Orion, which rise in the East just as the Sun sets in the West. These three stars travel across the sky at night and eventually set in the West at dawn. It's as if the stars were following the Sun, looking for it.

Bethlehem — Literally "house of bread", referring to the zodiac house of Virgo the eternal celestial virgin.

Star of Bethlehem — planet Venus, which is always seen near the sun.

Joseph — the constellation Bootes, which is next to Virgo, the virgin.

 SYNOPSIS

 Our story takes place every night after September 23, the Autumn Equinox, when the Sun moves out of Virgo the celestial virgin. After the Sun sets the three bright stars in the belt of Orion rise in the east, slightly south of due east. They travel across the sky during the night, towards where the sun set. They set slightly south of due west, near where the Sun set the evening before.

 During the last quarter of the year you will see this story repeated each night. On September 23 (the Autumn Equinox) these three bright stars rise in the east around 11PM. By December 1 these three stars rise in the east around 7PM, just around Sunset. This is probably the best time for this story, as the stars will travel all the way across the night sky and set in the west just before sunrise.

 Here now is my annotated explanation of Matthew Chapter 2 — The birth of Jesus. (The rest of the Jesus Story can be similarly annotated, which I am working on. Indeed the rest of the Bible can be similarly annotated, which I am working on.)

 MATTHEW 2

 THE VISIT OF THE MAGI

 After Jesus [the Sun] was born in Bethlehem [literally "house of bread". The zodiac house of Virgo. Thus "After the sun has moved out of Virgo"] in Judea during the time of King Herod [during the night], Magi from the east [the three stars in the belt of Orion which rise in the east] came to Jerusalem [the starry night sky] and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? [where is the Sun?] We saw his star [the Sun's "star" is the bright planet Venus, which is always seen near the Sun] when it rose in the east [the Sun and its star always rise in the east] and have come to worship him." [Since Jesus is a personification of the Sun this shows the whole religion was originally about Sun worship.]

 When King Herod [night] heard this he was disturbed, [night is worried there is a Sun that will rise (be born) and conquer him.] and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ [the Sun] was to be born. [Note the use of the word "Christ" here to refer to Jesus. This betrays the late origin of the text.] "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:

[Following is a garbled quote of Micah 5:2 This is an attempt to tie this new story with the established Jewish stories, which are also astrological. However, the quote isn't exact, indicating the writer isn't familiar with the original Hebrew but is instead using a poor Greek translation of the original Hebrew. (Note that Judah is not the same as Judea.)]

 "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

 are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

 for out of you will come a ruler

 who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

 Then Herod [night] called the Magi [astronomers] secretly and found out from them the exact time the star [Venus] had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem [the house of Virgo] and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child [see if the Sun is in Virgo]. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was [the Sun rises in the east, and sets in the west]. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed [seeing the Sun is always nice]. On coming to the house [the zodiac house of Virgo], they saw the child [the Sun] with his mother Mary [Virgo], and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of frankincense and of myrrh. [Gold is bright and shiny like the Sun. The scent of frankincense when burned was considered by the ancient people to be evidence of God on Earth.] And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. [The three bright stars in the belt of Orion return to their starting point by setting in the west and going under the earth back to their starting point, thus returning by another route.]

 THE ESCAPE TO EGYPT

 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. [Egypt is the underworld, below the horizon. Hence the Sun, along with the constellation Virgo (Mary) and Bootes (Joseph) sets at the end of the day and goes below the horizon.] Stay there until I tell you, for Herod [night] is going to search for the child [the Sun] to kill him."

[Thus begins the common motif of a prophesied child (the Sun) who threatens the reign of a ruling monarch (darkness).]

 So he [the constellation Bootes (Joseph)] got up, took the child [the Sun] and his mother [Virgo (Mary)] during the night [this is when the story takes place] and left for Egypt [went below the horizon], where he stayed until the death of Herod [Herod "dies" when the Sun rises in the east the next morning].

[The Sun sets, along with the constellations Bootes and Virgo, and it is night time. They all stay underneath the earth (Egypt) until sunrise, when the Darkness of Night (Herod) will die.]

 And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." ["Out from under the world the Sun will rise." This is an attempt to tie this story with the established Jewish stories, which are also astrological.]

 When Herod [night] realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time [the time of Sunrise]he had learned from the Magi [the astronomers who watch the sky and know when the Sun will rise].

Darkness kills all the stars at Dawn, just before Sunrise, but fails to kill the Sun. The Sun rises, ending the reign of darkness of the night.]

 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: [Jer. 31:15 Another attempt to tie this story with the established Jewish stories, which are also astrological.]

 "A voice is heard in Ramah,

 weeping and great mourning,

 Rachel weeping for her children

 and refusing to be comforted,

 because they are no more."

 THE RETURN TO NAZARETH

 After Herod [night] died, [night "dies" when the Sun rises in the morning. Thus "After the sun rose..."] an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt [below the horizon] and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel [above the horizon] for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

[The Sun rises, along with Virgo and Bootes. The "land of Israel" is the hemisphere above us. "Egypt" is the hemisphere below us, below the earth, under the world, the underworld', where things go when they set in the west, and where things come from when they rise in the east.]

 But when he heard that Archelaus [Dawn] was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod [night], he was afraid to go there. [The constellations Virgo and Bootes don't show themselves during the day.] Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee [the ecliptic], and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene." [The word "Nazarene" is not to be found anywhere in the Old Testament, so it's not for certain how this fulfills any prophecy. Nazarite = "one separated". Nazareth = "the guarded one".]

 [THIS ENDS MATTHEW CHAPTER 2]

THE CHRISTIAN CROSS

 "Galilee" is literally "Circuit". i.e. a closed, usually circular path. The ecliptic is the circuit the Sun travels along during the year. The ecliptic is a great circle inscribed on the celestial sphere. The ecliptic is also a circle on a planisphere. The circle you often see in the center of the Cross, the symbol of Christianity, represents the ecliptic, the circular path of the Sun. The four posts of the Cross divide the year into the four seasons. The circle in the middle is the circuit the Sun makes during the year. A planisphere is a map of the starry night sky. A planisphere also doubles as a time of year calendar. On the planisphere along with the stars is drawn the ecliptic — the apparent path the Sun takes through the stars during the year. On the planisphere the ecliptic is close to a circle. You can divide the planisphere into the four seasons of the year by drawing a cross on it. Thus you end up with a cross with a circle in the middle. The Cross on top of Goleta Presbyterian Church has the traditional circle in the middle of it.

Virgo is the virgin that gives birth to the Sun each year when it passes out of her. She is the one who gives birth and yet remains always and forever a virgin.

 The Zodiac is divided into twelve "houses." Each "house" contains one of the twelve Zodiac constellations. The "house" containing Virgo is known as the house of bread, because it's the house the sun is in during harvest time. Virgo is always represented as holding a sheaf of wheat.

 Bethlehem is a word which can be found numerous times in the Old Testament. It is actually two Hebrew words, בית  לחם [Strongs Hebrew #01035] pronounced bayth leh'-khem — "bayth" is literally "house", and "leh'-khem" is literally "bread". Thus "Bethlehem" is literally "house of bread." Click here to hear the Hebrew pronunciation of "Bethlehem". Without knowing this one may be tempted to take out a map and search for a town called Bethlehem. However, one should actually be looking for a place known as the "House of Bread." This may seem trivial at first, but it actually is a great first step towards exposing the allegory. There has always been a place known as the "House of Bread," except it's not a place on Earth, it's a time of the year! It's a reference to harvest time!

 (It's also quite possible that at the alleged time of Jesus there was no town on earth known as Bethlehem.4 Alvin Boyd Kuhn wrote, "Indeed it could be affirmed that the ancient books would have proclaimed the Christ-birth as "occurring" in Bethlehem even if no such town had stood on the map; or rather they would have seen to it that a town appropriately located according to some semantic scheme would have been given the name of Bethlehem. (That the name of this particular town is to be accounted for in this way is indeed fairly probable, for this was the ancient religious custom.)"5)

 After harvest time the harvest cycle begins anew. It's time to begin the story of the harvest cycle again, starting with the Sun moving out of Virgo, the eternal virgin. Thus we have the virgin birth of Jesus at the beginning of the story. The story of Jesus is the story of the harvest cycle and the passage of the seasons of the year.

Matthew, Chapter 3

A fuller explaination of the Jesus Story is here:

Another letter explaining the Story of Jesus as an Allegory for the Sun passing through the Zodiac each year

 Here is a brief explanation: •Jesus goes on a journey during his ministry.

•Jesus' ministry is said to have lasted a year.

•It takes a year for the Sun to pass through the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

•Jesus starts by visiting John the Baptist. The theme is water.

•The Sun starts it's annual journey in January in Aquarius, the bringer of water, because it's the rainy season. This corresponds to Jesus visiting John the Baptist, who baptises with water. This happens at the beginning of the Jesus story, because rain happens at the beginning of the year, and is the first step in the harvest cycle.

The Players

 Jesus - The Sun. Comparative Religion shows that all the ancient religions were forms of sun worship. The story of Jesus is just another allegorical personification of the sun as will be shown here.

 John the Baptist - Aquarius. January. The rainy season.

 Jesus [the Sun] visits John the Baptist [Aquarius] from Jan. 20 - Feb 18, the rainy season. The "time of John the Baptist" is a time of the year. It's like saying "January."

 The "Kingdom of Heaven" is Harvest time, the time of year we all eagerly wait for.

Matthew, Chapter 4

A fuller explanation of the Jesus Story is here:

Another letter explaining the Story of Jesus as an Allegory for the Sun passing through the Zodiac each year

 Here is a brief explanation: •Jesus goes on a journey during his ministry.

•Jesus' ministry is said to have lasted a year.

•It takes a year for the Sun to pass through the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

•Jesus starts by visiting John the Baptist. The theme is water.

•The Sun starts it's annual journey in January in Aquarius, the bringer of water, because it's the rainy season.

The Bible story then says, "After John was put in prison,..." (Mat. 4:12, Mk 1:14, Lk 3:20, Jn 3:24) Suddenly John the Baptist is "put in prison." There is no further explanation, which seems quite strange if John were a real person. We want to know why he was "put in prison." What crime was he accused of? Who threw him in prison? Was there a trial? Did Jesus attend the trial and speak on his behalf? No. Nothing more is said. Jesus just continues on his journey.

 This is all very strange and hard to understand as a story of real life events, but it all makes perfect sense when understood as an astronomical allegory. The Sun, personified as Jesus, is in Aquarius, personified as John the Baptist. As the month progresses, and the earth continues it annual revolution around the Sun, the Sun appears to move out of Aquarius and into Pisces, the two fishes, and Aquarius at sunset ends up below the horizon. John the Baptist being put in prison is merely an allegory for the constellation Aquarius at sunset moving lower and lower until it is below the horizon at the end of the month and can no longer be seen. It requires no further explanation because it is a natural phenomenon. It is simply what naturally happens each year and therefore requires no further explanation.

 The Players

 Jesus - The Sun. Comparative Religion shows that all the ancient religions were forms of sun worship. The story of Jesus is just another allegorical personification of the sun as will be shown here.

 Galilee - The Ecliptic path the Sun follows. The Greek word γαλιλαιαν literally means "Circuit".

 Nazareth = "the guarded one"

 Capernaum = "village of comfort"

 Zebulun meaning "a habitation"

 Naphtali = "wrestling"

 Jordan = "the descender"

 The Gentiles [ethnos {eth'-nos}] = a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together

 the kingdom of heaven = Harvest Time

 The temptation of the Sun to be lazy is a common motif in ancient religions. The story of the temptation comes early in the year, when the days are still short. The sun needs to do a lot of work to rise up higher and higher, making the days longer and longer, so the harvest can grow, so we can have food to eat.

 Mat. 4:12 John the Baptist is "cast into prison."

 As the days go by the Sun moves along the ecliptic on its annual journey it moves out of Aquarius [John the Baptist], leaving Aquarius below the horizon. Figuratively John the Baptist [Aquarius] has been cast into prison, that is, that constellation at sunset is now below the horizon. The constellation will reappear again six months later in the story, when it rises in the East, and gets its head cut off by the horizon. (See Mat. 14:2)

"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 Harvest time is coming, so get to work planting and working those fields.

Mat. 4:18 Jesus visits two fishermen, Simon and Andrew his brother. The sun moves along the ecliptic passing out of Aquarius [John the Baptist] and into Pisces, the two fish. Hence we have the theme of the Sun visiting two fish, or fishermen.

History of Research into Solar Mythology and the Bible

The knowledge that the stories in the Bible are actually allegories rooted in Solar Mythology is nothing new. There is evidence that people were well aware of it at the time of the formation of the Catholic Church. There is also evidence that these people were eliminated by the Catholic Church and all books expo