Numerology, the study of the symbolism of numbers, is quite ancient, and goes back to at least to the Pythagoreans in ancient Greece, and even further, when we study ancient cultures and their rituals. In the Christian tradition, there has been somewhat of a dilemma: although its obvious that scripture makes symbolic use of numbers, so did the ancients, whose philosophy was corrupted by idolatry. Wikipedia sums it up:
"The Fathers repeatedly condemned the magical use of numbers which had descended from Babylonian sources to the Pythagoreans and Gnostics of their times. They denounced any system of philosophy which rested upon an exclusively numerical basis. Even so, they almost unanimously regarded the numbers of Holy Writ as full of mystical meaning, and they considered the interpretation of these mystical meanings as an important branch of exegesis. There was reluctance in the Christian teachers of the early centuries to push this recognition of the significance of numbers to extremes."
Nevertheless, St. Augustine wrote:
"Numbers are the Universal language offered by the deity to humans as confirmation of the truth."
If we look at the symbolism of numbers in the Christian tradition, there has been almost a complete ignorance of it. As far as I know, the most extensive study of numbers from a Biblical scriptural viewpoint was summed up in a book by E.W Bullinger in the 19th century, Number in Scripture. But some of it is his own guesswork, containing hits and misses. The subject begs for further study.
The symbolism of numbers, for the most part, has been lost to the modern world. Wikipedia states: "There are no set definitions for the meaning of specific digits." And different systems of numerology will no doubt disagree with each other. Where to start? How to set up a rational foundation?
Enter Emanuel Swedenborg. A great scientist of the 18th century, his vision was opened around the age of 55 to be exposed to the symbolic language of heaven, which was recorded in the Bible. He explained the spiritual significance of each and every word, verse by verse. And many verses contain numbers. I will quote from him directly:
"What the "years" and the "numbers of years" which occur in this chapter, signify in the internal sense, has hitherto been unknown. Those who abide in the literal sense suppose them to be secular years, whereas from this to the twelfth chapter there is nothing historical according to its appearance in the literal sense, but all things in general and every single thing in particular contain other matters. And this is the case not only with the names, but also with the numbers. In the Word frequent mention is made of the number three, and also of the number seven, and wheresoever they occur they signify something holy or most sacred in regard to the states which the times or other things involve or represent; and they have the same signification in the least intervals of time as in the greatest, for as the parts belong to the whole, so the least things belong to the greatest, for there must be a likeness in order that the whole may properly come forth from the parts, or the greatest from its leasts." (Arcana Coelestia, 482).
The above passage, where the smallest part is contained in the whole, is an overall principle followed by Swedenborg, where order in the smallest part of creation can reveal the order in the entire universe. In modern science, scientist are intrigued with holograms and the human brain: for the smallest part seems to be a reflection of the whole. The same is true for numbers. Numbers form the foundation of mathematics, and breakthroughs in mathematics has led to discoveries in science. Yes, numbers are the means by which the Divine reveals truth to humans.
When it comes to numerology, or the spiritual significance of numbers, most will relegate this to the realm of superstition. But sometimes, certain superstitions have a basis in fact, and are based on ancient traditions, where the meaning has been lost. Rather than write a blog on all the numbers, lets concentrate on the most unluckiest of numbers that has survived in Western superstition: the unlucky number 13.
Why is thirteen so unlucky? Superstition, most will say. As I write this, I am on the 22nd floor of a hotel on a business trip. And when I went up the elevator, floor number thirteen (13) was completely missing. I just came back from Starbucks, where I picked up a newspaper, and the front page described the killings in Fort Hood Texas, where an army soldier had killed thirteen people. And earlier, I read about a case before the Supreme court about considering whether or not life imprisonment was cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles. One case before them was a juvenile who committed a horrible crime at the age of thirteen. And earlier this year, O.J. Simpson was convicted in Nevada, thirteen years to the day after he was declared not guilty for the murder of his ex-wife. And we all know about Friday the 13th, right? And the movie? Ok, good number to start with for a generic blog introducing numerology. I dont believe in coincidences, since the number 13 has popped up a lot recently I decided to start with this number.
So, lets take a look at the number 13, is it just us, or do other cultures regard 13 as unlucky? Consider the following examples, which I randomly pulled from Wikipedia:
"The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil god Loki (making 13) who killed Baldr with an arrow/spear made out of mistletoe using Hodr, thus marking the beginning of Ragnarok."
"In Italy, 13 is also considered to be a lucky number, although in Campania the expression 'tredici' (meaning 13) is said when one considers their luck to have turned for the worse."
"In Mesoamerican divination, 13 is the number of important cycles of fortune/misfortune"
"There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows."
"Before the plot was foiled, there were thirteen plotters in the Gunpowder Plot."
"Apollo 13 was the only unsuccessful mission by the United States of America intended to land humans on the moon."
"The number 13 is associated with bad luck in some countries, and even has a specifically recognized phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911."
"In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners."
As for the origin of the superstition of Friday the 13th, its not documented as an unlucky day until the 19th century. But most believe it goes back much earlier, perhaps to Norse mythology. Some apply it to the date of the mass arrest of the Knights Templars, October 13, 1307 - Friday the 13th. Or to the decision to go into the Battle of Hastings, on October 13, 1066.
Some consider that human growth passes through stages, every seven years, which at the beginning of the article, represented a holy and sacred number. It is at the age of thirteen we all became a teenager, which is most often associated with a period of rebellion, as independence is asserted. And so we come across the first statement of the number thirteen in the Bible:
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. (Gen. 14:4)
So what did Swedenborg say when he came across this verse? It can be closely associated with the 13th year of human development:
"Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer," signifies that the evils and falsities did not appear in childhood, but that they served the apparent goods and truths; "and in the thirteenth year they rebelled," signifies the beginning of temptations in childhood. (Arcana Coelestia, 1666).
"And in the thirteenth year they rebelled. That this signified the beginning of temptations in childhood, is evident from the signification of "the thirteenth year," and from the signification of "rebelling." The thirteenth year is intermediate between the twelfth and the fourteenth. What is signified by "twelve" has been stated; and what by "fourteen" will be stated presently. The intermediate between no temptation and temptation is "thirteen." What "rebelling" signifies may be seen when it is predicated of the evils in a man, or of evil spirits, when they have been in subjection or are serving, and begin to rise up and infest." (Arcana Coelestia, 1668).
So "unlucky thirteen" seems to be grounded in some scientific fact: it is the age of our adolescent development. But why is thirteen the age of adolescent development? We as humans, are created in God's Image. And numbers are revelations of truth. And these numbers manifest themselves in infinite ways.
Swedenborg would often explore the nature of numbers by decomposing them: the nature of bigger numbers can be discovered if they are a multiple of smaller numbers, or by adding up two other numbers. In this case, the nature of the number 13 is revealed by decomposing it into 7 + 6, or by considering its sequence, after 12 but before 14: the nature of the number can change according to context. When 13 is decomposed into 10 + 3, it actually signifies something good, thus in some cultures 13 is lucky rather than unlucky - thus the number 13 has a positive significance when considered in the passage where Ishmael is circumcised in his thirteenth year.
That thirteen can have a positive significance, as a positive number of human growth, is when it is considered to be a number as part of the Fibonacci series: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21...etc, where each subsequent number contains in it the previous two numbers, in this case, thirteen is 5 + 8. In this case, it represents the next stage of human growth, bases on the symbolism of the preceding numbers, five and eight. Here is an interesting video which explores the appearance of the Fibonacci series in nature, especially in mathematical spirals (you need to stop my music playlist in the upper left of this blog):
So to take a simple number, and state that it always means one thing, is a bit too simplistic: you have to consider the context in which the number is mentioned. Numbers are just one aspect of the symbolic language of heaven: you can not study numerology in isolation, without a broader understanding of the symbolic language of heaven, which manifests itself in creation. As this has been lost, so numerology at this day is no more than a superstition. The visions of Swedenborg, however, is the first step to restoring to humanity the lost language of symbols, preserved in ancient myths and in the waking dreams of our lives.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Nicene Creed: a distorted version of the Apostle's Creed
Christianity first began with the simple idea that Jesus Christ is Lord, and all Christian faith is in Him alone. This simple faith is expressed in the Apostle's Creed. Then, due to the Arian heresy, the Apostle's Creed was modified into the Nicene Creed in the fourth century. The Nicene Creed was then expanded upon with the Athanasian Creed from the sixth century, which comes from an anonymous document of an unknown author in France. All historians agree: the original Christian faith has been modified. So what is the true Christian faith?
All religion begins with one's concept of God: it is important to know that God is One, and shares His glory with no one:
I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior (Isa. 43:17)
In the Old Testament, there is one God, Jehovah, who is known by King, Saviour, Redeemer, and so on. In the New Testament, he became incarnate in human form, thus Jesus calls himself Lord, King, Saviour and Redeemer. There is one person, one Lord, one God:
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am (John 13:13)
The Jews would always substitute the title "Lord" (Hebrew Adonai) whenever the name Jehovah appeared in scripture, in order not to profane it. The name Jesus (which means "Jah saves") commanded his disciples to call him Lord. So where did the idea of three persons come from? It was unknown to the early Church.
The earliest form of doctrine is known as the Apostle's Creed, its earliest form is known as the Old Roman Symbol - its first written form dates to the 2nd century A.D. and was taken from a baptism ritual:
I believe in God the Father almighty;The first error of the Christian Church came about with the Nicene Creed: it does not formulate the Trinity per se, but it adds some words to the Apostle's Creed. The additions indicates where the main error comes in. The council came together to combat Arianism, which postulated that Jesus was a created being, before all other beings, at some point before creation. So this is what they did: I will quote the Nicene Creed, which is basically the Apostle's Creed with some words added in (which I mark in RED):
and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
whence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh
(the life everlasting)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;See the modifications? They were added to condemn Arianism. But the problem with the Nicene Creed, which most Churches accept without question, is that it introduced an error. In the original, Jesus, the Son, comes into being at conception in time, by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary. This phrase gets removed in the Nicene Creed. That is why Jesus calls God his "Father" - he was born of a virgin. In other words, it was God Himself, who descended and assumed a human body in time - and it is this human body which he assumed in time which is called the "Son".
By whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; By whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost.
But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.
The Nicene Creed, however, distorts this: it postulates another being that is "begotten from eternity" yet "not made", a complete contradiction. This secondary person then assumes a human body.
In every human, there is a trinity of soul, body and spirit. And when God became incarnate, a Holy Trinity was created in time, at the time of conception. This is why in the Old Testament the Trinity is not mentioned: it did not exist until Jesus was conceived. Its not a trinity of beings, its a trinity that exists in the One God-Man who became incarnate. Thus Paul would state that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus Christ bodily. Jesus is not a second person of a trinity of three gods: he is the One Lord who became incarnate in human form. And as a human, he had to grow as one, the Father and Son became one as the soul and body become one: in Jesus man became God, and God became man. This process was completed with the bodily resurrection.
True Monotheism keeps Christianity simple, focused on the one Lord, one Savior, one Person, one God. When you pray, pray to Jesus direct, for he is the Lord of all. As Jesus grew in perfect union with God, so he wants all humanity to grow to perfect union with him: a process which will take us an eternity to reach, but one that grows in happiness as we continue to correct ourselves from the errors of sin. A trinity of three beings is a logical error that has corrupted Christian doctrines. In earlier times it eventually led the western Church to declare the original Christians in the Middle East all heretics!
During the Reformation, a similar doctrine was formulated by Michael Servetus, and he was burned at the stake by John Calvin. The simple truth was revealed in visions to Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century. And again, in the 20th century, it was revived again independently by Oneness Pentecostals. That the doctrine concerning the incarnation is true, is shown very clearly by scriptural proofs in the writings and visions of Emanuel Swedenborg - I strongly recommend anyone to read his work, True Christian Religion.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Napoleon and the Greek Myth of Perseus
Sometimes our lives follow archetypal patterns, and these archetypes are often spelled out in myths. Myths reveal hidden spiritual truths in a symbolic way. In this way, myths can in some ways be somewhat prophetic. Take for example, the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, a brilliant military leader, and the Greek myth of Perseus.
Most know Perseus as the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa, one of the Gorgons whose look could turn people into stone. She was once a woman who was punished for her vanity in her looks, especially her hair: Athena punished her by turning her hair into snakes. In a certain sense, its an archetype for one who is born beautiful becomes vain in their looks, would like others to look at them, and ignores the inner development of the soul. Perseus was able to defeat Medusa by looking at her through a mirrored shield, and using that was able to cut off her head.
So what does this have to do with Napoleon, a French leader who was born many centuries after the original myth? Napoleon setup a new dynastic empire after the fall of the French monarchy: in the French Revolution, both King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1793, giving Napoleon his opportunity to rise to power afterwards:
There are differing accounts concerning how Marie Antoinette's hair had turned white: one account states that her hair turned white when the King and his family failed to flee from France at the beginning of the revolution.
But returning to the myth of Perseus: the name Perseus most probably means "destroyer". The name Napoleon means "new destroyer", derived from the Greek word Apollyon. Perseus was cast out from the mainland and grew up on the island of Seriphos, raised by a fisherman; Napoleon did not grow up on mainland France but instead was born on the island of Corsica. Later Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba, and after that, the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic.
In order to complete his quest to kill the Gorgon, Perseus had to seek out the golden apples of Hesperides, an island far to the west. The nymphs who guarded the apples gave Perseus the location of the Gorgon Medusa. Likewise, Napoleon sold much of America to Thomas Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase, in order to have enough money to finance his wars in Europe.
Once Perseus killed Medusa, he stopped by the Phoenician kingdom in Ethiopia and Egypt, which was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. There he rescued their daughter Andromeda, who was chained to a rock at the modern city of Jaffa as she was to be sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus. Likewise Napoleon, after he invaded Italy, set out on an expedition to Egypt, and from there laid siege to the city of Jaffa in Palestine.
Both Perseus and Napoleon were sent on a quest so that a ruler could be rid of them; both returned to defeat that ruler and to setup their own new dynasty. It is quite an odd coincidence, in how Napoleon followed the myth of Perseus: both were involved with the city of Jaffa in Palestine. Once Perseus rescued Andromeda he made her his queen; once Napoleon departed from Palestine he returned to France, overthrew the Directory, and became Emperor.
This was somewhat of an odd observation, I dont know quite what to make of it. It could be entirely coincidence. However in the ancient world there were many prophecies described in a mythological manner: many myths mention a god-man born of a virgin, who would die and then rise from the dead and ascend to the stars. Apparently the Jews were not the only ones to have recorded the prophecies of their visionaries: even in pagan myths, there are gems of truth.
Most know Perseus as the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa, one of the Gorgons whose look could turn people into stone. She was once a woman who was punished for her vanity in her looks, especially her hair: Athena punished her by turning her hair into snakes. In a certain sense, its an archetype for one who is born beautiful becomes vain in their looks, would like others to look at them, and ignores the inner development of the soul. Perseus was able to defeat Medusa by looking at her through a mirrored shield, and using that was able to cut off her head.
So what does this have to do with Napoleon, a French leader who was born many centuries after the original myth? Napoleon setup a new dynastic empire after the fall of the French monarchy: in the French Revolution, both King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1793, giving Napoleon his opportunity to rise to power afterwards:
There are differing accounts concerning how Marie Antoinette's hair had turned white: one account states that her hair turned white when the King and his family failed to flee from France at the beginning of the revolution.
But returning to the myth of Perseus: the name Perseus most probably means "destroyer". The name Napoleon means "new destroyer", derived from the Greek word Apollyon. Perseus was cast out from the mainland and grew up on the island of Seriphos, raised by a fisherman; Napoleon did not grow up on mainland France but instead was born on the island of Corsica. Later Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba, and after that, the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic.
In order to complete his quest to kill the Gorgon, Perseus had to seek out the golden apples of Hesperides, an island far to the west. The nymphs who guarded the apples gave Perseus the location of the Gorgon Medusa. Likewise, Napoleon sold much of America to Thomas Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase, in order to have enough money to finance his wars in Europe.
Once Perseus killed Medusa, he stopped by the Phoenician kingdom in Ethiopia and Egypt, which was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. There he rescued their daughter Andromeda, who was chained to a rock at the modern city of Jaffa as she was to be sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus. Likewise Napoleon, after he invaded Italy, set out on an expedition to Egypt, and from there laid siege to the city of Jaffa in Palestine.
Both Perseus and Napoleon were sent on a quest so that a ruler could be rid of them; both returned to defeat that ruler and to setup their own new dynasty. It is quite an odd coincidence, in how Napoleon followed the myth of Perseus: both were involved with the city of Jaffa in Palestine. Once Perseus rescued Andromeda he made her his queen; once Napoleon departed from Palestine he returned to France, overthrew the Directory, and became Emperor.
This was somewhat of an odd observation, I dont know quite what to make of it. It could be entirely coincidence. However in the ancient world there were many prophecies described in a mythological manner: many myths mention a god-man born of a virgin, who would die and then rise from the dead and ascend to the stars. Apparently the Jews were not the only ones to have recorded the prophecies of their visionaries: even in pagan myths, there are gems of truth.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Matrix Prophecy of the World Trade Center Attack
The Matrix is one of my favorite movies: a sci-fi action movie with symbolic references to Christianity. Neo is the Saviour, who must be born into the Matrix to save humanity from slavery. As the Matrix is a computer generated illusion, so many are deceived by the senses to become devoted to this material world. Our souls have an inner reality: freedom of choice, thought and emotion have an inner spiritual source: the heavenly kingdom, in which one can choose to dwell if one follows the Path of Love. Emanuel Swedenborg, a visionary of the 18th century, saw that when our bodies die we become aware of the spiritual body, and the spiritual world that generated this material one.
I always thought the writers were somewhat inspired with this movie, as a child I wrote a short story about robots that live inside a computer world, given choice, they begin to deviate from the path and the entire computer world is destined to become deleted. In desperation, the software developer decides to enter that world as an incarnate robot to show them the true way: but the other robots are so hostile to that incarnate robot they "kill" him, and are mystified when that has no effect: the software program spreads and begins to influence the other robots, and they begin to wonder about the world they live in. This was written long before the internet become popular, and before virtual 3D gaming worlds were created - which are so common now. As a software developer I am familiar with what is needed to create a working program, and I am always amazed about the intricate order of the universe we live in: Someone has a purpose for us, and we are part of some Plan.
But back to the movie, The Matrix, which was released in 1999. Somebody was clever enough to take a digital image of Neo's passport, flip it over: and guess what? Neo's passport expires on September 11, 2001. Here is a digital image of it:
Now this movie takes on a wierd turn. Coincidence? Well lets take the final scene of the movie, where Neo and Trinity need to rescue Morpheus from a tall tower. Morpheus is called by the Agents a notorious "terrorist". Observe: there are two twin towers (just like the World Trade Center), and one of the towers has MMI written on it. "MMI" is the Roman numeral for the number 2001:
The helicopter crashes and explodes into one of the towers in a fiery explosion, and Trinity nearly crashes through the window of the other tower. Just as two planes crashed into each of the two towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Here is a clip from The Matrix which includes the entire rescue - you may need to pause it to see the tower with "MMI" on it:
In the above scene, Morpheus asks: "Do you believe it now, Trinity? ...There is a difference between knowing the Path, and walking the Path". Walk the Path of Love, and you will come to know that Neo is the One.
I always thought the writers were somewhat inspired with this movie, as a child I wrote a short story about robots that live inside a computer world, given choice, they begin to deviate from the path and the entire computer world is destined to become deleted. In desperation, the software developer decides to enter that world as an incarnate robot to show them the true way: but the other robots are so hostile to that incarnate robot they "kill" him, and are mystified when that has no effect: the software program spreads and begins to influence the other robots, and they begin to wonder about the world they live in. This was written long before the internet become popular, and before virtual 3D gaming worlds were created - which are so common now. As a software developer I am familiar with what is needed to create a working program, and I am always amazed about the intricate order of the universe we live in: Someone has a purpose for us, and we are part of some Plan.
But back to the movie, The Matrix, which was released in 1999. Somebody was clever enough to take a digital image of Neo's passport, flip it over: and guess what? Neo's passport expires on September 11, 2001. Here is a digital image of it:
Now this movie takes on a wierd turn. Coincidence? Well lets take the final scene of the movie, where Neo and Trinity need to rescue Morpheus from a tall tower. Morpheus is called by the Agents a notorious "terrorist". Observe: there are two twin towers (just like the World Trade Center), and one of the towers has MMI written on it. "MMI" is the Roman numeral for the number 2001:
The helicopter crashes and explodes into one of the towers in a fiery explosion, and Trinity nearly crashes through the window of the other tower. Just as two planes crashed into each of the two towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Here is a clip from The Matrix which includes the entire rescue - you may need to pause it to see the tower with "MMI" on it:
In the above scene, Morpheus asks: "Do you believe it now, Trinity? ...There is a difference between knowing the Path, and walking the Path". Walk the Path of Love, and you will come to know that Neo is the One.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sacred Christian Geometry - the Seed of Life
It is well known that the Age of Pisces - the Age of the Fish - began with the dawn of Christianity, where Jesus told his disciples to become "fishers of men". Thus since the first century the fish (Greek: ichthus or ichthys, meaning "fish") became the symbol of Christianity, which was composed of two intersecting arcs:
The Greek word for Ichthus became an acrostic, with each letter standing for another word, which in Greek was "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour". In the gospel of John, there is a curious story where the disciples are unable to find any fish, until Jesus appears and tells them to cast their net on the right side of the ship. They do so, and draw a huge catch of fish. What is odd, is that the gospel of John declares the exact number of fish caught: 153 (John 21:11). Why one hundred and fifty three? Why would someone take the time to count one hundred and fifty three fish? Well there is good reason, and it has to do with sacred geometry.
The ichthus symbol is composed of two intersecting circles, that intersect each other at each other's center (fig. 1):
The intersection between two circles is known as "Vesica Pisces". It was known since ancient times: Euclid used two intersecting circles to divide a line exactly in half using a compass. Thus it has the connotation of growth from division: as soon as the male seed achieves union with the female egg, cells start to divide, each time forming a Vesica Pisces. Jesus himself is the Seed, the Word of God, who became incarnate in human flesh.
As it so happens, the Vesica Pisces contains exactly two equilateral triangles:
The line shared by the two equilateral triangles was the starting point for Euclid: this line can be divided exactly in half by the 2 intersecting circles. If the side of the triangles were assumed to be one, then the length of the Vesica Pisces is the square root of 3. As it so happens, the square root of 3 was closely approximated by the ancients as a fraction: 265 divided by 153!. See fig. 3:
The two triangles form a cross: to approximate the ratio of the square root of three the width of each triangle could be set to 153, while the length across the Vesica Pisces would be 265. The Christian cross is sometimes set in the middle of the Vesica Pisces:
Assume each triangle has a side of a length of 153. Expand the number of triangles to form a perfect hexagon inside one of the circles. What would the circumference be? It could be approximated as 961 or 962 units (see fig. 4):
So, does the number 961 or 962 pop up in the Bible? Yes it does, in a very odd place, which readers of the previous blog entry may recognize:
Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. (Gen. 5:18-20).
So what, a coincidence? I doubt it: Jared was the SIXTH generation from Adam. It takes SIX triangles to form a hexagon, and if each side of the triangle was 153, the circumference would be close to 962! In the previous blog, The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible, I showed how the Patriarch Jared represents the planet Mars (the sixth planet - see the previous blog entry), and his total age represents a multiple of synodic conjunctions between Mars and Venus - a conjunction between the male and female. Jared means "descent" and in ancient Jewish traditions it was during his days that the angels of God descended from heaven to mate with women. Thus the two intersecting circles means the birth of a child from the union of the male with the female. In the case of Jesus, it means in Jesus Christ we have the union of the Divine with the human.
As two triangles are formed with each Vesica Pisces, lets continue by making an intersecting circle for every two triangles, see fig. 5:
Lets clean up the image a bit, and we now have an image which is now known as the "Seed of Life":
All in all, we have 6 intersecting circles with 1 central circle. The Seed of Life is thus a sacred symbol of Christianity, as not only does it contain the Ichthus symbol, but seven circles which represent the seven days of creation. And Jesus Christ represents God's perfect human, God's perfect creation, where humanity was perfected and made Divine.
The Seed of Life pattern can be extended to form a more complicated symbol called the "Flower of Life", which was found engraved in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, probably during the Christian era:
Some are so intrigued with this symbol that there is an actual organization called "Flower of Life". Its a beautiful symbol, a mandala that allows us to contemplate the Divine interacting within the human. Oddly enough, variants of the Seed of Life has popped up in a couple of crop circles:
Here is the second one:
The Greek word for Ichthus became an acrostic, with each letter standing for another word, which in Greek was "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour". In the gospel of John, there is a curious story where the disciples are unable to find any fish, until Jesus appears and tells them to cast their net on the right side of the ship. They do so, and draw a huge catch of fish. What is odd, is that the gospel of John declares the exact number of fish caught: 153 (John 21:11). Why one hundred and fifty three? Why would someone take the time to count one hundred and fifty three fish? Well there is good reason, and it has to do with sacred geometry.
The ichthus symbol is composed of two intersecting circles, that intersect each other at each other's center (fig. 1):
The intersection between two circles is known as "Vesica Pisces". It was known since ancient times: Euclid used two intersecting circles to divide a line exactly in half using a compass. Thus it has the connotation of growth from division: as soon as the male seed achieves union with the female egg, cells start to divide, each time forming a Vesica Pisces. Jesus himself is the Seed, the Word of God, who became incarnate in human flesh.
As it so happens, the Vesica Pisces contains exactly two equilateral triangles:
The line shared by the two equilateral triangles was the starting point for Euclid: this line can be divided exactly in half by the 2 intersecting circles. If the side of the triangles were assumed to be one, then the length of the Vesica Pisces is the square root of 3. As it so happens, the square root of 3 was closely approximated by the ancients as a fraction: 265 divided by 153!. See fig. 3:
The two triangles form a cross: to approximate the ratio of the square root of three the width of each triangle could be set to 153, while the length across the Vesica Pisces would be 265. The Christian cross is sometimes set in the middle of the Vesica Pisces:
Assume each triangle has a side of a length of 153. Expand the number of triangles to form a perfect hexagon inside one of the circles. What would the circumference be? It could be approximated as 961 or 962 units (see fig. 4):
So, does the number 961 or 962 pop up in the Bible? Yes it does, in a very odd place, which readers of the previous blog entry may recognize:
Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. (Gen. 5:18-20).
So what, a coincidence? I doubt it: Jared was the SIXTH generation from Adam. It takes SIX triangles to form a hexagon, and if each side of the triangle was 153, the circumference would be close to 962! In the previous blog, The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible, I showed how the Patriarch Jared represents the planet Mars (the sixth planet - see the previous blog entry), and his total age represents a multiple of synodic conjunctions between Mars and Venus - a conjunction between the male and female. Jared means "descent" and in ancient Jewish traditions it was during his days that the angels of God descended from heaven to mate with women. Thus the two intersecting circles means the birth of a child from the union of the male with the female. In the case of Jesus, it means in Jesus Christ we have the union of the Divine with the human.
As two triangles are formed with each Vesica Pisces, lets continue by making an intersecting circle for every two triangles, see fig. 5:
Lets clean up the image a bit, and we now have an image which is now known as the "Seed of Life":
All in all, we have 6 intersecting circles with 1 central circle. The Seed of Life is thus a sacred symbol of Christianity, as not only does it contain the Ichthus symbol, but seven circles which represent the seven days of creation. And Jesus Christ represents God's perfect human, God's perfect creation, where humanity was perfected and made Divine.
The Seed of Life pattern can be extended to form a more complicated symbol called the "Flower of Life", which was found engraved in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, probably during the Christian era:
Some are so intrigued with this symbol that there is an actual organization called "Flower of Life". Its a beautiful symbol, a mandala that allows us to contemplate the Divine interacting within the human. Oddly enough, variants of the Seed of Life has popped up in a couple of crop circles:
Here is the second one:
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible
The Bible records that the patriarchs before the Flood lived for many centuries. Although Biblical literalists would like to think that these refer to individual people, in fact the first 11 chapters of Genesis are written in a mythical symbolic manner, and the time periods of the patriarchs record cycles of time describing how a Most Ancient Church – one older and wiser than the Jewish or Christian Church – degenerated until the world was renewed through the Flood. The patriarchs that lived before the Flood are symbolic – and so are the numbers used in their geneaology, which is related to the chronology of the dates of their lives. In an earlier blog, I discussed the fact that the book of Jasher records that the birth of Abraham occurred in 1953 B.C., at the time of a grand conjunction of planets. This was when the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were in close proximity, and it was noticed by ancient Chinese astronomers who then used that date as the beginning of their calendar. A similar alignment had also occurred around 6 B.C., which many regard as the star that the Magi saw which signified the birth of the Messiah in Israel. If we work backwards from the date of 1953 B.C. from the birth of Abraham, we have the following dates for the 10 patriarchs who lived before the Flood:
Of particular note is Enoch, who lives for 365 years and then ascends into heaven. This is an obvious reference to the 365 days of the year. If this is true, then the numbers for the other patriarchs must also signify astronomical periods of time. Josephus records some interesting information concerning the sons of Seth in his work Antiquities of the Jews, which may also concern the Great Pyramid of Egypt (the land of Siriad, or the star Sirius):
The modern convention is to number planets closest to the Sun outward; the ancient convention was to number planets from the farthest inward. I leave Adam blank for now: we will return to him later. Note that Venus is #8 – the ancient symbol of Venus was an eight pointed star or an eight pointed rosette.
To demonstrate that the author of Genesis had detailed astronomical knowledge of our solar system, we will examine the other patriarchs individually, beginning with planets closest to the Sun. Noah will be assessed last, as he is related to the famous Biblical Flood.
| Name | Date | Total Age |
| Adam | 3901 - 2971 B.C. | 930 |
| Seth | 3771 - 2859 B.C. | 912 |
| Enosh | 3666 - 2761 B.C. | 905 |
| Cainan | 3576 - 2666 B.C. | 910 |
| Mahalalel | 3506 - 2611 B.C. | 895 |
| Jared | 3441 - 2479 B.C. | 962 |
| Enoch | 3279 - 2914 B.C. | 365 |
| Methuselah | 3214 - 2245 B.C. | 969 |
| Lamech | 3027 - 2250 B.C. | 777 |
| Noah | 2845 - 1895 B.C. | 950 |
“They also were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars, the one of brick, the other of stone: they inscribed their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain, and exhibit those discoveries to mankind; and also inform them that there was another pillar of brick erected by them. Now this remains in the land of Siriad to this day.”
The following diagram shows how the Great Pyramid was built according to certain star alignments:
The Hebrews followed a soli-lunar calendar, and one of the most significant cycles of the Moon is the Metonic cycle of 19 years: every 19 years an eclipse of the Moon will occur at the exact same time in a similar location of the sky. It is notable that three of the patriarchs ages turn out to be multiples of 19, which would indicate a Metonic cycle for an eclipse in the year of birth:
Seth = 912 years = 48 x 19 years (48 Metonic cycles of the Moon)
Methuselah = 969 years = 51 x 19 years (51 Metonic cycles of the Moon)
Noah = 950 = 50 x 19 (50 Metonic cycles of the Moon)
We have 48, 50 and 51 Metonic cycles of the Moon. If Adam lived 931 years instead of 930, his life would represent 49 Metonic cycles. This has been noted by other researchers. One researcher, Michel Barnoin, proposed that the 777 years of Lamech represented the cumulative synodic cycles of Jupiter and Saturn, and that the 962 years of Jared represented the cumulative synodic cycles of Venus and Saturn. A synodic period of a planet represents the amount of time it takes to return to the same location in the sky; the synodic period of two planets represents the time it takes for a conjunction between the two to reoccur.
Despite these interesting “coincidences”, there has been no comprehensive astronomical explanation for the lives of all the patriarchs. However I have discovered that these numbers are not coincidence: there is a comprehensive solution. This solution has evaded most researchers as they do not have an accurate chronology for the lives of the 10 patriarchs. Whoever composed the genealogy of the patriarchs had very detailed astronomical knowledge, who then encoded it in sacred scripture.
THE PATRIARCH METHUSELAH = VENUS
The book of Jasher, a book excluded from the Bible, contains a curious chronological reference: Adam died in the 243rd year of the life of Methuselah, which was the 243rd year of the reign of Enoch:
And it was in the year of Adam's death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Enoch, in that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to secret himself as at first in order to serve the Lord. (Jasher 3:17)
This chronology agrees with the Masoretic text of Genesis. A period of 243 years is something that is significant to modern astronomers: every 243 years the planet Venus makes a direct transit across the Sun. While conjunctions are common, transits of Venus across the face of the Sun are not. Two transits will occur 8 years apart, which will repeat itself exactly 243 years later. The last transit of Venus was in 2004 A.D., the next transit will be in 2012 A.D., which is the year in which a world age would come to an end according to the ancient Mayan calendar.
The fact that a time period of 243 years mentioned in Jasher corresponding with the transits of Venus may just be a coincidence. However I decided to compare this astronomical information with the chronology I had composed many years earlier. To my surprise, the birth date of Methuselah, and the death of Adam 243 years later, correspond to the years in which Venus made a transit across the face of the Sun:
November 17, 3214 B.C. = transit of Venus across Sun (birth of Methuselah)The above dates are Julian, and both of these took place in the constellation Sagittarius. Not only was this a confirmation of my chronology, but it led me to believe that detailed astronomical information was encoded in the book of Genesis. Methuselah was the longest living patriarch, and died in 2245 B.C., the year of the Flood. It was in the year 2246 B.C. in which the Sun occulted Venus – a phenomenon that repeats every 8 years, as 8 revolutions of the earth is equal to 5 revolutions of Venus. The year 2246 B.C. is the midpoint between another 2 transits of Venus: one in 2250 B.C., and another in 2242 B.C. Again this occurred in the constellation of Sagittarius, the archer. Not only was the year 2250 B.C. the year of the death of Lamech, but it was also the year in which Noah began to build the ark:
November 17, 2971 B.C. = transit of Venus across Sun (death of Adam)
In his five hundred and ninety-fifth year Noah commenced to make the ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded. (Jasher 5:34)
The building of the ark thus commenced with the first transit of Venus in 2250 B.C. As mentioned above, the transits of Venus occurred in the constellation of Sagittarius, the archer. This detail could in fact explain the meaning of God’s covenant with Noah after the Flood:
And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (Gen. 9:11-17)
The bow is a rainbow, which the ancients conceived as God’s bow. However there is a double meaning here: the bow also refers to the constellation of Sagittarius. The bow of Sagittarius points to the galactic center of the Milky Way Galaxy – the edge of the galaxy appears as a cloud in the nighttime heavens. In other words, no longer should mankind look at a transit of Venus in the constellation of Sagittarius as a bad omen. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, this set of Venus transits now occur in the constellation of Scorpio.
Methuselah is a symbolic representation of Venus. As mentioned above Enoch lived 365 years before he ascended into heaven: thus he has been associated with ancient solar deities. Whoever composed the geneaology possibly knew of the planets that exist beyond Saturn. Each “patriarch” is a symbolic representation of a planet. Thus we have the following correspondence between each patriach and astronomical body:
| Patriarch | Number | Planet | Orbital Period |
| Adam | 1 | ? | ? |
| Seth | 2 | Neptune | 164.79 yrs |
| Enosh | 3 | Uranus | 84.3233 yrs |
| Cainan | 4 | Saturn | 29.6573 yrs |
| Mahalalel | 5 | Jupiter | 11.8592 yrs |
| Jared | 6 | Mars | 686.971 days |
| Enoch | 7 | Earth | 365.2564 days |
| Methuselah | 8 | Venus | 224.7007 days |
| Lamech | 9 | Mercury | 87.9691 days |
| Noah | 10 | Moon | 29.5306 days |
To demonstrate that the author of Genesis had detailed astronomical knowledge of our solar system, we will examine the other patriarchs individually, beginning with planets closest to the Sun. Noah will be assessed last, as he is related to the famous Biblical Flood.
THE PATRIARCH LAMECH = MERCURY
According to the above theory, Lamech should represent the planet Mercury. Lamech lived 777 years, but the orbital period of Mercury is a mere 88 days. A longer synodic period was thus probably used. This one puzzled me for a while, until I found an astronomical site (http://transit.savage-garden.org/MercuryCatalog.html) which gave details of the periodic cycles of transits of Mercury across the face of the Sun:
“…consecutive transits of Mercury appear to be separated by either 3.5, 7, 9.5, 10 or 13 years. The pattern is rather complex because of Mercury's elliptical orbit. The shorter periods are a consequence of several longer harmonics between the orbital periods of Mercury and Earth. The 13 year period is of particular note because it corresponds to nearly 54 orbits of Mercury around the Sun (it falls short of a perfect fit by just 2.01 days). A longer period of 33 years (10 + 10 + 13) produces an even better fit which corresponds to 137 orbits of Mercury minus 1.67 days. If one combines the 13 year and 33 year periods together, the 46 year total equals 191 orbits of Mercury plus only 0.34 days.”
The longest and most accurate synodic period for Mercury is thus 46 years. According to my Biblical chronology, Lamech lived from 3027 – 2250 B.C. I plugged in some parameters into my astronomical program, Dance of the Planets, and obtained the following period for a series of transits of Mercury separated by 46 years, from Oct 1, 3032 B.C. to Oct. 14, 2250 B.C. This series contains 17 transits, separated by 46 years, lasting a total of 782 years. We are off by 5 years for the life of Lamech, who lived 777 years. This is an odd discrepancy, until I took a closer look at the passage in Genesis regarding Lamech:
And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son (Gen. 5:25-28).
Oddly enough, the cycle of 782 years pops up out of the woodwork: not in the life of Lamech, but in the number of years that his father lived after Lamech was born. His father Methuselah lived until 2245 B.C. – which was five years longer than Lamech, and corresponds to the five years it took Noah to build the ark. Note that Methuselah was 187 years old when Lamech was born, and Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born. If the numbers 187 and 182 were swapped, then the 5 year discrepancy would disappear: Lamech would have lived 782 years beginning in 3032 B.C. – not 777 years beginning in 3027 B.C.
Besides the series of transits from Oct. 1, 3032 B.C. to Oct. 14, 2250 B.C., there is another series of Mercury transits lasting from Apr. 6, 3022 B.C. to Apr. 8 2246 B.C. – and this is a period of exactly 776 years, one year short of the total age of Lamech. An additional year would take us to the year of the Flood, giving a total of 777 years. One series of Mercury transits begins in 3032 B.C., another begins in 3022 B.C. The year in which Lamech was born – 3027 B.C. – is the exact midpoint between the two series of Mercury transits. Another reason why 3027 B.C. could have been chosen for the birth of Lamech is that on Aug. 12, 3026 B.C. Mercury nearly occulted Jupiter.
In Roman and Greek mythology, Mercury is the god of travelers, and the god that invented the lyre. Coincidentally, Lamech (from the line of Cain) became the father of those who dwell in tents (thus merchants and wanderers) and the father of those who invented the harp:
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Gen. 4:19-21)
The English words “market” and “merchant” come from the Latin word mercari, meaning to trade – which Latin word is also the origin of the name Mercury. This Latin word in turn originates from the Hebrew word makar (#4376) meaning to sell merchandise, and mekker (#4377) meaning merchandise (see http://israelite.ca/Onlinestudies_files/hebetymology.html). The name Lamech has an uncertain origin – however its semitic root is LMK, and the semitic root for makar is MKR. In Hebrew the letter lamed (L) is used as a prefix meaning to, for, towards, according to – so its possible that the Hebrew name Lamech is directly related to our word for the planet Mercury.
THE PATRIARCH ENOCH = THE EARTH
Enoch lives for 365 years, and then ascends into heaven. This is an obvious reference to the year of 365 days. According to ancient authors, the Egyptians had a calendar of 365 days instead of 365.25 days, and observed a Sothic cycle which would last 1460 years (4 x 365). After 1460 years the civil year would be back in alignment with the actual solar year. Its possible that the ascension of Enoch represents an end to a Sothic cycle. As Enoch lived from 3279 to 2914 B.C., the following Sothic cycle would last from 2914 – 1454 B.C. This is significant as the year 1453 B.C. was the year of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The book of Jasher records an interesting incident at the time of the Exodus – during the crossing of the Red Sea, although Pharoah’s army drowned in the waters, the Pharoah of Egypt himself was caught up into heaven by God and became ruler of Assyria. This is calling attention to the fact that the Exodus came 1460 years after the ascension of Enoch.
Although there is a possible association of the life of Enoch with the Egyptian calendar, and a possible ancient prophecy concerning the Exodus of the Jews, the period of 365 years has yet to be explained in terms of a synodic astronomical cycle. One possibility are periodic conjunctions between Saturn and Uranus, which on average take about 45 years. Two conjunctions take place over 90 years, four conjunctions over 180 years, and eight conjunctions over a period of 360 years. It just so happens there are two Saturn-Uranus conjunctions near the beginning and end of the life of Enoch:
2/1/3275 B.C. Saturn-Uranus conjunction (Enoch born in 3279 B.C.)
7/28/2914 B.C. Saturn-Uranus conjunction (Ascension of Enoch in 2914 B.C.)
This would lead to a period of about 360 years, not 365 years. We are 5 years off – but many ancient calendars regarded a year of 360 days as the perfect year, and then 5 extra days were appended to the end of the year.
A more likely possibility is that the life of Enoch represents is a multiple of the Saros eclipse cycle of 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours – the time for an eclipse to repeat itself in a nearly identical manner. Thus 20 Saros cycles of 18 years each is 360.3 years. It just so happens that there was a total solar eclipse on July 6, 3275 B.C. which occulted the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo. It should be noted that solar eclipses that occult the star Regulus repeat every 19 or 65 years – and it was in the 65th year that Enoch gave birth to Methuselah.
The eclipse of 3275 B.C. was near the heliacal rise of the star Sirius which was used by the Egyptians to start their year. The Great Sphinx of Giza – which has the body of a lion and the head of the Pharoah and faces due east – was probably built to commemorate this astronomical event. There was an eclipse on Aug. 15, 2915 B.C. which was part of the Saros cycle of the eclipse that occulted Regulus in 3275 B.C. This is a period of 360 years.
The father of Enoch is Jared, who represents Mars. Its possible that the birth of Enoch is represented by an astronomical configuration involving Mars. On July 5, 3279 B.C. there was a close (4 arcminutes) Mars-Jupiter conjunction.
The ascension of Enoch into heaven should represent an astronomical concept. The book of Jasher states that Enoch was to ascend into heaven so that he could reign over the sons of God in heaven, just as he reigned over the sons of men on earth. In other words, Enoch represents a star or constellation that would rule over all other stars. As Enoch is closely connected with the Egyptian calendar, this star could be the star Sirius – the heliacal rising of this star marked the beginning of the Egyptian year. Sirius is thus the heavenly counterpart to the Sun which rules over the earth. An alternative to Sirius would be the constellation of Orion, which was known as Osiris to the Egyptians.
THE PATRIARCH JARED = MARS
The patriarch Jared, as father of Enoch, should represent Mars. Conjunctions between Venus and Mars tend to repeat every 32 years:
“In 32 years, 15 to 17 different conjunctions occur with nearly each one repeating in turn. Some series last >1200 years (up to 40 events). Others are considerably shorter. At the beginning and end of these series, the interval can be one week longer than 32 years. The reason why this happens is because for nearly every 20 times Venus returns to its similar position in the sky, Mars completes almost 15 returns.” (from http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/curtis/astro2.html).
Jared, the sixth from Adam, lived 962 years, which is about 30 x 32 = 6 x 5 x 32. His total age is thus a multiple of the Venus-Mars synodic conjunction cycle. Jared lived from 3441 to 2479 B.C. If we check the series of conjunctions between Venus and Mars, there is one series which lasted from July 9, 3438 B.C. to July 9, 2479 B.C. In this series there was a Venus-Mars conjunction on July 17, 3278 B.C. – which is close to the birth of Enoch in 3279 B.C.
Like Enoch, we are off for the year of birth – the series of Venus-Mars conjunctions began in 3438 B.C. instead of 3441 B.C. However on June 29, 3441 B.C. there was an occultation of Jupiter by Venus – a relatively rare occurrence. Mahalalel, the father of Jared, is a representation of Jupiter.
As Venus has a nine month orbital period, the ancient world regarded it as a symbol of the female. Mars later came to represent the male counterpart to Venus. A conjunction between Venus and Mars thus represents a sexual union between male and female. This is described in Greek myth in the union between Ares and Aphrodite, and in Roman myth in the union between Mars and Venus. Jared means “descent”, and it just so happens that according to ancient Jewish traditions Jared was so named because in the year he was born the sons of God began to descend to earth to mate with the daughters of men. The same word is used to describe the descent of angels upon the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:5,7) and the descent of angels upon a stairway from heaven (Gen. 28:12). The story of the sons of God descending to mate with women in Genesis and the book of Enoch may be a parable describing the conjunctions between Mars and Venus, represented by Jared.
THE PATRIARCH MAHALALEL = JUPITER
Mahalalel should represent Jupiter, which in many pagan pantheons was head of the gods. Mahalalel means “praise of God”. The name is significant when the celestial heavens are described in the book of Psalms:
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. (Psa. 148:1-6)
The name Mahalalel is composed of halal, meaning praise, and el, meaning God. The word halal is the root of the word hawlal, translated as “Lucifer” or “morning star” in Isa. 14:12 – as the word has the meaning of brightness. This is thought to represent Venus. Mahalalel could thus be translated as “light of El”. In the Semitic pantheon El was Cronus or Saturn, and his son was Baal or Jupiter. The name Mahalalel can thus be directly associated with Jupiter.
Mahalalel is the fifth from Adam, he lives 895 years which is 5 x 179. As it turns out, there is a synodic period of conjunctions between Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune that lasts about 178.73 years. Mahalalel lived from 3506 - 2611 B.C. – an there was a Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune cycle that lasted from 3501 – 2608 B.C. The end date of 2611 B.C. was probably chosen as on Aug. 5, 2611 B.C. Jupiter was occulted by Mercury – a rare occurrence. A near occultation of Jupiter by Mercury occurred in 3026 B.C., which was already mentioned for the birth of Lamech. Note, however, that there is a 5 year error for the birth of Mahalalel. A similar 5 year error popped up for chronology for Enoch and Lamech.
Mahalalel gives birth at 65 years of age, after which he lives 830 years. 76 synodic cycles of Jupiter is equal to exactly 83 years – every 83 years Jupiter returns to 0.1 degrees declination and +1 minute R.A. position in the sky (see http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/Curtis/astro2.html).
THE PATRIARCH CAINAN = SATURN
As Cainan is the father of Mahalalel, he should represent Saturn. Cainan lives a total of 910 years. 910 = 26 x 35 = 2 x 13 x 35. As it turns out, Saturn and Neptune have a synodic cycle that last from 35 years 3 months to 36 years 4 months. Cainan lived from 3576 – 2666 B.C. There was a series of Saturn-Neptune conjunctions from 3571 – 2676 B.C. – in this case the birth of Cainan is 5 years off and his death is 10 years off. Although the geneaology is not exact in dates, it seems that it was more important for the genealogy to express multiples of synodic cycles rather than exact dates. However it seems the author did know that the dates of the geneaology was off from the astronomical cycles.
Cainan gave birth to Mahalalel at age 70, and 70 is two cycles of Saturn-Neptune conjunctions (70 = 2 x 35). If Cainan was born in 3571 B.C. instead of 3576 B.C., then the birth of Mahalalel would have been in 3501 B.C. – which would fit the synodic cycle that is represented by Mahalalel. This works as Cainan represents the synodic cycle of Saturn and Neptune (35 years), and Mahalalel represents the longer synodic cycle of Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune (179 years). That Cainan was essentially a smaller synodic cycle of the larger Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune cycle seems to have been known to the authors of Genesis and Jasher:
And in the one hundred and seventy ninth year of the life of Noah, Cainan the son of Enosh died, and all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. (Jasher 5:1).
Thus although the life of Cainan is off by 10 years from the actual Saturn-Neptune cycle, the date of the death of Cainan was chosen for 2 reasons: first his total age is a multiple of 35, and second the date of his death in the life of Noah expresses the longer synodic cycle of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
As Cainan was born in 3576 B.C., the first complete Saturn-Neptune cycle during his life would come at age 40 instead of age 35. This was known to the author of the book of Jasher:
And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise man and had understanding in all wisdom (Jasher 2:11).
THE PATRIARCH ENOSH = URANUS
As Enosh is the father of Cainan, he should represent the planet Uranus. The orbital period of Uranus – 84 years – is encoded in the book of Jasher:
And it was in the eighty-fourth year of the life of Noah, that Enosh the son of Seth died, he was nine hundred and five years old at his death. (Jasher 5:1)
Enosh lived from 3666 – 2761 B.C., and seems to represent the synodic period of Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions. We have the following dates for Jupiter-Neptune conjunctions:
Aug. 22, 3668 B.C. = birth of Enosh (2 years off from 3666 B.C.)
Oct. 7, 3571 B.C. = birth of Cainan (5 years off).
Apr. 17, 2756 B.C. = death of Enosh (5 years off from 2761 B.C.)
The dates for the birth of Cainan and the death of Enosh are 5 years off – note that there was a 5 year error that showed up for Cainan, Mahalalel, Enoch and Lamech. In the year 3571 B.C. there was a conjunction for Jupiter and Uranus (for Enosh), and in the same year there was a conjunction for Saturn and Neptune (for Cainan).
THE PATRIARCH SETH = NEPTUNE
As Seth is the father of Enosh, he should represent the planet Neptune. As Seth lived from 3771 – 2859 B.C., the periodic conjunctions between Jupiter and Neptune is the most likely candidate:
12/24/3770 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= birth of Seth, 3771 B.C.)
6/11/3667 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= birth of Enosh, 3666 B.C.)
6/13/2862 B.C. Jupiter-Neptune conjunction (= death of Seth, 2859 B.C.)
The above is a length of 907.5 years – again, about 5 years off from a total of 912. As stated earlier, a period of 912 years is exactly 48 Metonic lunar cycles, which was chosen over 907 or 907 years to represent the life of Seth.
Its possible that an eclipse signified by the birth of Seth was regarded as important. As it turns out, there was a lunar eclipse on Feb. 6, 3770 B.C. that passed directly over Upper Egypt (southern Egypt). This is significant, as the Egyptian god Set/Seth – who may be the Egyptian counterpart to Seth son of Adam – was the god of Upper Egypt. According to one story, Geb divided Egypt into two halves, and gave Lower Egypt to Horus and gave Upper Egypt to Seth. In the conflict between Horus and Set, Set tore out one of his eyes, and this later became the Moon – thus the myth is probably describing a particular eclipse in the history of Egypt. From the 1st Dynasty onwards, Horus and Set are shown crowning the pharoahs – representing the fact that they ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt.
THE PATRIARCH ADAM = THE SUN
The father of Seth is Adam, who lives for 930 years. At this point what planet Adam may represent is unclear. Beyond Neptune is Pluto, which was once regarded as a planet – but is now regarded as a dwarf planet. Recently several dwarf planets have been discovered beyond Neptune. Some are too far away to presently confirm whether or not they should be classified as a dwarf planet. What is interesting is that the dwarf planet Makemake has an orbital period of 310 years. Adam lived 930 years, and 930 = 3 x 310. Although it is tempting to associate the orbital period of Makemake with Adam, this does not explain why the death of Adam is associated with a transit of Venus across the Sun in 2971 B.C. More likely, Adam corresponds to the Sun.
As there is a correspondence between Seth, son of Adam, and the god Seth of ancient Egypt, so there is a correspondence between Adam and the Egyptian god Atum. That Atum is equivalent to the Hebrew Adam was shown by Massey and by the French Egyptologist M. Lefebure, where the entire story of the Garden of Eden is described in an Egyptian myth (see Ancient Egypt, the light of the world, by Gerard Massey, p. 459). If the name Adam was rendered into the Egyptian alphabet, it would become Atam/Atum (The Ancient Egyptian Roots of Christianity, by Moustafa Gadalla, p. 132). Atum gave birth to several gods by impregnating himself, just as Adam gave birth from his own rib – his wife Eve.
In the Egyptian myth, Atum is explicitly a solar deity, or an aspect of the solar deity. Early myths associate him with a primeval mound that arose from the waters of Nu, later myths associate him with the Sun – specifically, with the setting Sun. If Adam was a representation of the Sun, then the four rivers of the Garden of Eden makes perfect sense: they are the four quarters of the world, defined by the rising and setting of the Sun. Astronomically, this would be the four quarters of the year defined by the equinoxes and solstices of the Sun. The Sun represents Divine Love, and the Most Ancient Church represented by Adam were closest to heaven.
Adam’s total age of 930 years can be broken down as 30 x 31, or as stated above, 3 x 310. There happens to be a 310 year cycle related to the 19 year Metonic cycle of the Moon. Ancient calendars based on the Metonic cycle would introduce 7 leap months of 30 days for every Metonic cycle of 19 years to bring the lunar months back in line with the solar calendar. Due to a slight error in the Metonic cycle, calculating the date of a new moon would be off by 1 day every 310 years. Coincidentally, it just so happens that a dwarf planet beyond Neptune – Makemake – also has a orbital period of 310 years. A period of 930 years was probably chosen as it is one year short of 49 Metonic cycles – just as a calendar based on the Metonic cycle is one off every 310 years for calculating a new Moon.
THE PATRIARCH NOAH = THE MOON
We now come to Noah – who represents the Moon. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the gods were shown riding through the waters of the heavenly sky in a boat – and this boat is represented by the crescent Moon. Thus Noah’s ark is not a literal boat – it’s the crescent Moon. Noah lives 950 years, which is 50 Metonic cycles of the Moon. Among the solar eclipses around the birth of Noah in 2845 B.C., the solar eclipse of 11/29/2846 B.C. passed directly over Lower Egypt. As stated above, the 912 years of the life of Seth represents 48 Metonic cycles beginning with a lunar eclipse over Upper Egypt in 3770 B.C. Whereas Seth represent a cycle of lunar eclipses that began over Upper Egypt, Noah seems to represent a cycle of solar eclipses that began over Lower Egypt.
In ancient Egypt, there was an Ennead of nine gods: Atum (Adam), Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris (Enoch), Isis, Set (Seth), and Nephthys. This may correspond with Adam and the eight generations after him up to Noah. In the myth Osiris and Isis give birth to a son – Horus – who engaged in a battle with Set. The Sun and Moon are described as the two eyes of Horus, and the Moon represents the eye that was torn out by Set. This battle continued until Egypt was divided between Horus and Set. Horus was given Lower Egypt, while Set was given Upper Egypt. As the solar eclipse in 2846 B.C. (Noah’s birth) was visible in Lower Egypt, it implies that Noah corresponds to Horus in the ancient Egyptian myth.
Horus came to represent the living Pharoah of Egypt. Horus means “falcon”, and was said to fly across the sky at the time the Sun and Moon traversed it, as the Sun and Moon were considered the two eyes of Horus. From the myth some have incorrectly described Horus as a god of the sky – the goddess Nut was the Egyptian god of the sky. More likely, Horus is the god of solar eclipses. Thus Noah represents a Metonic cycle of solar eclipses, beginning with a solar eclipse in Lower Egypt, which was ruled by Horus.
The ark of Noah, which is described as many as a boat, was actually an elongated wooden box – and as such, it is a symbolic representation of a coffin. In the Christian Church, the flood of Noah is often compared to the rite of baptism, in which one dies and is reborn again. Four males and four females entered the ark of Noah. In Egyptian mythology, Horus has four sons: Hapi, Imsety, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef – which are the four canopic jars in which various organs of a mummy are preserved. A female deity preside over each of the four canopic jars: thus when a Pharoah dies, 4 males and 4 females preside over the mummy placed in a coffin. Osirus, the father of Horus, was placed in a box and drowned in the Nile, until Isis recovered his body and posthumously gave birth to Horus. As the ark is a representation of a coffin, Noah is a symbolic representation of an ancient Church that replaced the more ancient Church of Adam.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
As shown above, the 10 patriarchs that lived before the Flood are symbolic of period of time in which the ancient Church of Adam degenerated, until it was replaced and reborn with the ancient Church of Noah. The geneaology of the patriarchs are closely related to various synodic periods of the planets of the solar system. The ancient myth of Genesis is related to aspects of Egyptian mythology, which helps confirm the astronomical relationship. The findings are partially summed up in the following table:
| Patriarch | Body | Synodic Pair | Synodic Cycle |
| Adam | MakeMake | 3 x 310 yrs | |
| Seth | Neptune | Jupiter | 48 x 19 yrs |
| Enosh | Uranus | Jupiter | |
| Cainan | Saturn | Neptune | 26 x 35 yrs |
| Mahalalel | Jupiter | Saturn,Neptune | 5 x 179 yrs |
| Jared | Mars | Venus | 6 x 5 x 32 yrs |
| Enoch | Earth | Saturn,Uranus | 365 yrs |
| Methuselah | Venus | Sun | 51 x 19 yrs |
| Lamech | Mercury | Sun | 17 x 46 yrs |
| Noah | Moon | Sun | 50 x 19 yrs |
All the patriarchs have a synodic pair – except for Adam. A synodic pair, which forms a conjunction, may represent the union of male and female. Adam basically produced children from himself – his own rib, Eve. In reality Adam represents the Sun, but a period of time was chosen that matches the orbital period of Makemake. The ages of all the patriarchs are a multiple of a synodic cycle, except for Enosh. Some of the patriarchs represent more than one cycle: Seth is a Jupiter-Neptune cycle, but also is a Metonic cycle of lunar eclipses. The myth of the war between Horus and Set could represent alternating cycles of solar and lunar eclipses. Methuselah embodies the 243 year transits of Venus across the Sun, a 782 year cycle of Mercury transits across the Sun, and 51 Metonic cycles of the Moon. The ages of the patriarchs tend to be multiples of synodic periods, even so, the dates of the synodic conjunctions closely match the dates of the Biblical chronology.
Oddly, orbital periods and synodic conjunctions of Neptune, Uranus, and Makemake appear in the time periods of the geneaology. Some have pointed out that Uranus is actually a visible body, and as the ancient world observed the sky with such detail, it is surprising to some that it was not actually discovered earlier. Ancient records are sparse, but one researcher has pointed out that there is a Babylonian tablet that may mark a conjunction that was seen with Uranus in 310 B.C. (see http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb2c.html). Even so, Neptune is definitely not visible, and Makemake is all but impossible to find – it was only discovered in 2005.
Josephus records in his Antiquities of the Jews that the sons of Seth made strong efforts to preserve their astronomical knowledge for posterity – and it seems that the scripture of the geneaology of the patriarchs before the Flood was also intended to fulfill this purpose. Why so? If we look at the geneaology before the Flood, its obvious there is a progression from outside our solar system, inwards towards our Sun. The name Adam means “man” or “earth” and was associated with the Sun in ancient Egypt. The patriarch Enoch was enough to represent our earth and Sun, but with Adam, it seems that the ancients wanted to represent another earth and Sun from outside our solar system. We are forced to toil on earth, exiled from the Garden of Eden. Genesis does explicitly records that the sons of God descended out of heaven in order to mate with the women of our earth, which is described in more detail in the book of Enoch. The book The Sirius Mystery, by Robert Temple, gives strong evidence of ancient extraterrestrial contact from
the star system of Sirius. According to the ancient myths, civilization was given to man by the gods. Perhaps an extraterrestrial visitation could explain the ancient knowledge Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Makemake.
the star system of Sirius. According to the ancient myths, civilization was given to man by the gods. Perhaps an extraterrestrial visitation could explain the ancient knowledge Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Makemake.
Blog contents Copyright(c) 2009 by Doug Webber