What
no one wants you to know about The practice of astrology has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity today. What was once considered just a entertaining feature in the newspapers is now the source of guidance for millions of people in this country. Astrology is probably the oldest form of belief in the world. It was practiced by the Babylonians, Egyptians, Sumerians and the Chinese many generations before there were any written religions that professed a belief in one Supreme God. Some people today, however, consider it unscientific and superstitious. Why, then, has it been so popular and survived so many centuries? The main reason is that every individual has an inner desire to know what their future destiny is. We may feel that understanding the spirit world also may help us make the decisions that will assist us in reaching our ultimate potential. Can astrology help you in these areas? If we are to put our faith in any astrological forecast, then it is important that we examine the science of astrology. By taking an honest and hard look at the facts behind the movement of the constellations, I believe we can discover something that will revolutionize the way we understand and interpret the constellations. The Truth About the Established Zodiac If we were to go back into history and trace the belief in the zodiac, we would find that it is the most widespread religious belief of all time. Most scholars of every age on every continent have ascribed some type of faith in astrology. Astronomical observations, like predictions of eclipses, solstices, early theories on gravity, and accurate estimations of the moon's size are some of the scientific accomplishments that astrologers have made in the years before Christ was born. Even though we can associate such great strides in science with those who professed a belief in astrology, there are also basic scientific and philosophical questions that arise with regard to the belief that has been handed down from antiquity. They are: 1. The original belief system based it's effectiveness on the idea that each planet was a god, and that they all revolved around the earth. One's temperament and destiny was predetermined based on which god's domain you were born under. If you were born under the Jupiter ( the Greek Jove) you would be jolly and "jovial". If you were born under Mars, you would tend to be antagonistic, or "martial". It didn't take long before people began to discount the idea that the planets were really gods. Even then, it wasn't until Copernicus in the 16th century that civilization accepted the idea that the sun was the center of the universe, not the earth. The popularity of astrology, based on the "geocentric" or "earth centered" universe was a great hindrance to the advancement of a sun-centered model of universe until that time. Eventually, when astronomers began to make careful note of the gravitation effects of large planetary bodies had on the earth ( i.e. the effects of the moon on tides), astrologers had a new "scientific" theory behind the effectiveness of their forecasts. Anything with mass exerts a gravitational force, therefore a planet or star system would exert a force that would predispose our dispositions and shape our destiny. Unfortunately, we also now know that the gravitational effects of the stars themselves at this distance are negligible. As a matter of fact, since a gravitational force is weakened exponentially with regard to distance, we can truthfully say that the doctor who delivered us at birth exerted a greater gravitational force on us than any star other than the sun. Science has now established that our dispositions and characteristics are more a product of our genetic heritage and the accumulation of our social experiences throughout our lives, rather than a static, unchanging destiny determined by stars and planets. 2. The most important reason for why we must question the authenticity of astrological readings that people give today is that the astrological signs no longer correspond to the dates throughout the year that they were originally assigned to. When we look at the signs of the zodiac, we understand our birth date is assigned to one of them based on the ecliptic, or path of the sun, and it's relation to the stars throughout the year. The ancient Babylonians, Chaldeans and Sumerians were incredible at astronomy and they flawlessly calculated the appropriate dates when the path of the sun and moon would seem to intersect the different signs of the zodiac. However, because there is a slight wobble in the earth's axis, the dates that we adhere to and the actual signs of the zodiac themselves having been slowly drifting apart! They are now off by a full thirty days! That means that if you were born in the middle of June as a "Gemini" your not really a Gemini, but a Taurus! This all but destroys any possibility of horoscopes having any predictive value for today. To many who have had what seemed to be accurate readings in the past, this may come as some shock. Every astrological chart, since they are based on the reckoning of these ancient dating methods, are completely worthless in determining a person's horoscope. What is the value of astrology today? If it has no supernatural predictive power, then what function does it serve? This is the amazing part. I will now share with you a truly fascinating truth that only now is being rediscovered by scholars, and has taken me years of study to appreciate. Because it seems so fantastic, many people I share this with are skeptical...at first. If we can understand this in it's proper context, I'm sure that this will change your life in a dramatic and positive way. The Amazing Purpose of the I have found that the function and purpose of the zodiac today is the same as it was designated right from the beginning. Now, when I say that, I do not mean that the constellations and signs of the zodiac exist so we can find out if we are going to get a raise at work, have a romantic encounter, or the like. The signs of the zodiac are an amazingly universal phenomenon, and serve a purpose far greater than what many of us expect. It is interesting to note, that one of the most famous esoteric and mystical works of all time, the Jewish Cabala, says of the constellations that the stars each have a meaning, and the constellations of the zodiac are as one great "sky-message" that needs to be carefully interpreted. Cicero, the great Roman orator, in translating the account of Aratus,( 3rd century B.C.) says that the constellations are "signs measured out, so that many descriptions of divine wisdom might appear". Most of the scholars of today are united in their opinion that the symbols of the zodiac were originally meant, when properly understood, to described the major future events that God was going to bring to pass on the earth. Many great Arabic scholars, particularly during the medieval period, shared this same belief, and they carefully made note of all the names of the stars in each constellation of each sign of the zodiac. It is this hypothesis, with the zodiac's primary purpose being to serve as a divine prophetic messenger, foretelling not of trivial events but of God's work and intervention on the earth, that we will thoroughly investigate. In all of the most ancient literature of the world, the stars and constellations are mentioned. In all of these, it is recorded that all of the stars themselves have names. In the Psalms, for example, the poetic book of the Bible, it is written that "He ( the Lord) determines the number
of the stars, and calls each of them by name" ( Psalm
147
The greatest medieval scholar of the zodiac, the Arab Albumazer, cites that in all his studies, he had found that all of the names of the stars, as well as their forms had not varied or been changed from their foundation to his time. Those names he researched in the Egyptian, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Chaldean and Greek languages. We can expect, then, that a careful study of the forms and the individual names of the stars would begin to reveal the divine prophetic message that is hidden in the zodiac. If we look at what is considered by the ancients ( the Zodiac of Esne, for example) to be the first of the zodiac signs, Virgo, we see that it tells a very specific story. The primary constellation, is of course, the virgin. The virgin is holding seed in one hand and a stalk of wheat in the other. In mythology world-wide, this symbolism has always been one denoting fertility or fruitfulness. Ancient mythology is laden with stories of virgin maidens who bear famous children ( Krishna and Christ, for example). If we look at the decans ( corresponding minor constellations) that attend Virgo, we see that the first is called Coma, which means "the desired one". The picture of Coma is that of a young woman in a sitting position, with a young boy on her lap. The woman is identified by Albumazer, according to every ancient authority he has, as being the virgin herself. He also says that she is
The theme of the constellation is that a virgin would give birth, her son would be the Christ, the "desired one." Another minor constellation in this sign is "Bootes" which means "the Coming One". Now, we can interpret all of this in one of two ways. Some might try to view all of this as just an interesting bit of mythology that was prevalent several thousand years ago. There are many cultures which looked for a savior or Christ, frequently these cultures believed that the Christ would be born of a virgin. In Gaul, for example, there was an altar found that predated Christianity, and it was inscribed with the words "to the virgin, who is to bring forth". More likely, however, is the conclusion that the zodiac, as well as much of pre-Christian mythology, was God's prophetic message to the world about the coming savior, Jesus Christ! God was giving the world advanced information that He was going to send the savior! It comes even harder to escape this conclusion the more we examine the zodiac in light of the Bible. For example: 1. The first prophecy in the Bible about the Messiah takes place in the Garden of Eden, right after Adam and Eve have sinned ( Genesis 3:15) . God tells the devil (in the form of a serpent) that he is eventually doomed because He will put "Enmity ( hatred) between you and the woman; between your seed and her's, and he will crush your head, and you strike his heel". The seed of the woman who will defeat Satan is the Christ. This brings new meaning to the fact that the virgin in the constellation Virgo is holding seed in one hand. Furthermore, if we look at the pictures of the zodiac, we see many pictures of a warrior ( Jesus) crushing the head of a serpent, dragon, or other allegorical allusions to Satan, and his heel being struck or stung. This theme of a future hero who will defeat a serpent or dragon dominates the zodiac. 2. The Bible itself makes several references to the constellations of the zodiac (Job 9:9, 38:31,32, 5:8) with the assurance that it is God who made them. In a reference to the mythology that grew out of the zodiac, Job states "These are but the outer fringe of His works" ( Job 26:14) in a confirmation that the figures tell an accurate, yet incomplete story of God's works. 3. The most convincing evidence of all, however, is that this constellation and the hypothesis which we are submitting here demonstrated their accuracy and amazing prophetic ability almost 2,000 years ago at the birth of Jesus. If the zodiac was indeed what we are saying it is, and the figures and the names of the stars were faithfully transmitted among the early astrologers, then we could expect that the great astrologers of Persia and Babylon would have certainly recognized the birth of the savior. It is as a matter of record, that a number of years before Christ was born, a star went supernova in the constellation of Coma, in Virgo. Right in the head of the "Savior" the new star appeared, and is recorded by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, as well as authorities in China. This charged the known world with the expectancy of a coming Messiah. Just a year before Christ was born, there was a series of conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn. A similar series of conjunctions had happened just before the birth of Moses, as we are told by the Jewish historian Josephus, which the Egyptian astrologers interpreted to be a bad omen for them, but good for the Hebrew people they had enslaved. Between the conjunctions, and the new star in Coma, the conclusion that any astrologer would have reached was that the Savior had been born in the Hebrew nation of Israel. When we read the gospel narrative in the book of Matthew, we see that Magi (some translations say astrologers) came from the east ( east of Jerusalem is Babylon and Persia). They asked
The fact that the astrologers in the lands where astrology began responded to the zodiac as if it were a "divine advertisement" for the coming Messiah of the world, Jesus, is irrefutable proof for the prophetic purpose of the zodiac. Between the historical astronomical information we have, and the gospel narrative, there is now no doubt what function the zodiac serves. It tells the story of the Savior. It served the purpose of validating, once and for all, who the "desired one" was. The stars testify of only Jesus as being the Messiah. The astrologers, when they found Jesus, they bowed down before him and worshipped him. The stars are still there today, and for us who appreciate their message and beauty, they make the same testimony today as they did 2,000 years ago. What about the Zodiac As I mentioned earlier, there is no evidence for the zodiac or horoscopes having any predictive value for today. There is no scientific, empirical or rational evidence to give any credence for the superstitious belief in stars or planets controlling our destiny. Although the Bible mentions the zodiac favorably with regard to it's telling of the gospel story, The Bible forbids the practice of trying to predicts one's personal future through these means.( Isaiah 47:13). The primary reason for this is that the stars do not control our future. It would be fatalistic to think that you could never amount to more than what the stars had determined for you. God, however, is a God of hope. He has a plan in mind for you, that is fulfilling, and exactly what your heart desires. One of the most influential people in the history of our nation was a brilliant skeptic named Thomas Paine. His brilliant writing is commonly pointed to as a source for much of what we believe about freedom and democracy. He struggled hard with the claims of Jesus Christ, and when it came right down to it, Paine's only objection was that he did not feel that Christianity could be the "true" religion because it only seemed like it was only offered to a small group of people in a very limited time. It was not "universal" enough. He wrote a theological work called "Prophecies" in which he detailed his problem with Jesus Christ. While reflecting on the verse from psalm 19:1 which states that "the heavens declare His ( God's ) handiwork" he states that:
then, he concedes, that he would be thoroughly convinced that the claims of Christianity were completely true. The zodiac and the gospel story written in it's characters are exactly what Thomas Paine was looking for. Unfortunately, he was looking for it in the sun and the moon, and the good news was written in the stars all along. He would have been particularly impressed with the fact that the nations of antiquity all did indeed understand the rudiments of the message. Written primarily in pictures of mythology, it was certainly more comprehensible to the ancients than any tome, scroll or book may have been to most of the citizens of the world at the time. The zodiac does tell us much about the savior, Jesus Christ. The eleven other signs of the zodiac likewise continue in their message of what the Messiah is like, his purpose on earth, and his future return in glory. In speaks of our place here on earth, and how we can relate to God. Space does not allow us to go into this here, but we would like to send you more information on related topics, or answer any questions you might have. All materials are free, and no one will attempt to call on you. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
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