THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM
There is one star above all others which periodically sheds its light
upon the world, but about which very little is known, and on the occult
significance of which little or no light has been hitherto shed. I refer
to what is popularly, and as I shall show, correctly known as the Star
of Bethlehem.
I propose to bring the facts into review with the intention of finally
establishing the place of this star in cosmical symbology, and also of
showing its connection with the central fact of the Christian
religion—the Nativity.
The Star is due to make its appearance during the present century, but
at what precise date cannot be determined, owing to lack of data. It was
seen in the year 945, again in 1264, and by Tycho in 1572, and after
becoming visible in the daytime, so great was its lustre, it gradually
faded away and disappeared. Sir J. Herschel thought from these facts,
that it would reappear in 1872, but such was not the case. The
appearance of a large luminous star in Perseus at the beginning of this
century led to the belief that it was the long-expected visitant. The
body, which was named Nova Persei, was eventually considered by
astronomers to be a centre of disruption, on account of its sudden
flaring up and disappearance. It may have been this or a collision of
two telescopic stars. Tycho tells us that the Star gradually grew in
luminosity until it outshone Sirius and even Venus, and as gradually
disappeared. This seems to suggest a star of great eccentricity and vast
orbit, whose major axis is at right angles to the sphere of visibility,
so that it appears to us “end on.” It would thus grow and gradually
disappear, without any sensible alteration of its position in the
heavens, as here depicted—
[Illustration: Figure 1.]
It is of interest to note that mythology connects the Star with
Cassiopeia, Andromeda her daughter, and Perseus the husband of
Andromeda. These three constellations are in close proximity to one
another in the heavens; together with Cepheus, the husband of Cassiopeia
and father of Andromeda.
The Star appeared above “the head of Andromeda,” according to Tycho,
which would give it about 32° of N. declination, and thus make its
appearance vertical to the latitude of Bethlehem in Judea. The sign of
the zodiac coinciding with its longitude would thus be Aries, which
according to Ptolemy rules over Judea. It is the Oriental sign and
stands in relation to the cardinal points thus—
[Illustration: Figure 2.]
This observation satisfies the requirements of that passage where the
Magi are reported to have said: “We have seen his Star in _the East_,
and have come to worship Him.” Then if a geographical quarter was
referred to by “the East,” why should they travel westward from Persia
to Judea? Obviously they referred to the quarter of the Heavens, and,
being Astrologers, would well know that Judea was signified by Aries, in
which sign the Star made its appearance. Its “standing over the house
where the child lay,” indicates its position in the zenith of Bethlehem
at the time of its southing, the latitude of Bethlehem being 31° 43´ N.
in agreement with the observed position of the Star in Tycho’s day.
Now regarding the year of the Nativity, we know that it was in the same
year as the death of Herod. This event can be fixed. Josephus, in his
_Antiquities_, lib. xvii, mentions an eclipse that took place on the
night preceding one of the fasts, and which was immediately followed by
the last illness of Herod. We know from the same source that Herod
reigned thirty-four years after the death of Antipater, and thirty-seven
from the beginning of his reign. The date is further fixed by the
statement that this latter event took place in the 184th Olympiad, and
we hence get the year of Rome 714 or 39 B.C., and the year of the
eclipse would therefore be 3 B.C. The same author says that after
mourning Herod for seven days, the feast of the Passover was
approaching, and as this was always held on the 14th of Abib or Nisan,
which is the first full Moon after the Equinox, we are able to confirm
the date as the 13th March. At this date it is found that there is a
considerable eclipse of the Moon as shown by the following calculation
(see p. 48).
The Sun being 7° 34´ from the Node, the extent of the eclipse would be
nearly five digits, and the Moon would be about two-thirds down the
western sky and in the south-west quarter of the heavens. It is of
interest also to note that the Moon was eclipsed in the sign Virgo,
which the ancients say rules Jerusalem, where Herod the Tetrarch died.
In the R.C. Festes we are told that the death of Herod took place before
the Passover and after the eclipse of 13th March, so that the date
appears to be very well established.
Eclipse of the Moon, March 13, 3 B.C. (astron.)
From Epoch New Moon March 1797
March Sun-Node Moon’s Anom. Sun’s Anom.
D. H. M. s. °. . s. °. ’. s. °. ’.
1797 16 9 12 9 9 10 2 12 39 8 26 26
½ lun. 14 18 22 0 15 20 6 12 54 0 14 33
———————— ——————— ——————— ———————
31 3 34 9 24 30 8 25 33 9 10 59
———————— ——————— ——————— ———————
1800—) 19 0 32 9 18 59 7 17 19 0 1 31
———————— ——————— ——————— ———————
Equats. 12 3 2 0 5 31 1 8 14 9 9 28
a +4 6 +2 3 1 34
——————— ———————
A+a -1 0 7 34 1 9 48
A-a +2
A¹ +6 37
————————
12 13 46
_i.e._, March 13, at 4.46 a.m. G.M.T.
E. long. 2.22 Jerusalem.
————
4. 8 a.m.
Luke also gives confirmatory evidence, and the account is very
circumstantial. The Evangelist mentions Tiberius Cæsar by name, and also
the Governors of the Provinces, as well as many dates. From him we learn
that the Mother had good reason to be in or near Bethlehem at that time,
because there was a registration or census under Augustus which was
fixed for the First of Tishri, when the Jewish civil year commenced. In
the same month was the feast of Tabernacles, an additional reason for
the journey. Bethlehem was their objective, “because they were of the
house and lineage of David,” who was born at Bethlehem. Now the 1st
Tishri would fall in that year on 19th September. At this time there
would be “shepherds abiding in the fields by night,” that being the hot
season. The 25th December is, of course, an impossible date.
I now take my cue from the Apocalypse: “A woman clothed with the Sun and
the Moon under her feet. And she brought forth the Man-child who should
rule the nations with a rod of iron.”
The Sun in the middle of the sign Virgo is the woman clothed with the
Sun. To be “clothed” with the solar rays the luminary must be in the
middle of the sign and neither just entering it nor just leaving it. The
“Moon under its feet” signifies a full Moon, when the lunar orb was in
the opposite point of the zodiac, namely, the middle of Pisces. “A rod
of iron” indicates that the Man-child was born under the planet Mars,
_i. e._ under the rising of the sign ascribed to the government of that
planet. We have to construct a horoscope which, while in actual accord
with astronomical facts, exhibits these features.
We have already seen that the full Moon of March fell on the 13th, and
if to this we add the values for six lunations, we shall have the full
Moon of September in the year 4 B.C., thus—
D. H. M. s. °. . s. °. ’. s. °. ’.
March 12 3 2 0 5 31 1 8 14 9 9 28
6 luns. 177 4 24 6 4 1 5 4 54 5 24 38
———————— ——————— —————— ———————
189 7 26 6 9 32 6 13 8 3 4 6
2 4 -1 35 Sun’s
Anomaly.
——————— ———————
A+a -1 6 11 36 6 11 33
A-A +2 Sun from Moon’s
A’ -1 50 Node. Anomaly.
————————
189 5 37
or Sept. 5, at 5.37 p.m. G.M.T.
This is equal to 7.58 p.m. at Jerusalem, and the position of the Sun
informs us that there was an eclipse of the Moon of about 4½ digits. The
Sun would be in the middle of Virgo, and hence the woman would be
literally “clothed with the Sun.”
Virgo, being the birth-sign, or that which the Sun occupied, it comes to
be associated symbolically with Bethlehem, or Beit-lachm, _i. e._ the
House of Bread, for Virgo is none other than Ceres, the goddess of the
harvest of cereals, and is associated with Isis by the Egyptians, as Leo
with Osiris and Aries with Horus.
This Horus is the Man-child, ruled by Mars or Vulcan, the Roman god of
fire and iron, the husband of Venus or Aphrodite.
Astrologically Mars is associated with the sign Aries, and under the
rising of this sign the Nativity would take place, and with Aries rising
the Sun would be below the western horizon and in opposition to the
eclipsed Moon, the latter being conjoined with Uranus in Pisces, and the
sign Aries with the constellation Andromeda, and the Star of Bethlehem
in the orient. Saturn and Jupiter were then in close conjunction in the
beginning of the sign Taurus, Mars just entered, into Leo, Mercury
towards the end of that sign, Venus setting as an “evening star” in
Libra 22°, and Neptune in the sign Scorpio.
Here we find Mars, the ruling planet in the sign Leo, ruling Judah,
hence Jesus is referred to as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The
prophecy of Jacob was that Judah should be as a lion crouching down. “A
sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a law-giver (Cepheus) from
between his feet, until Shuleh come.” This Shuleh is the name of the
star Cor Scorpio on whose rising Leo declines from the position of
meridian power. It is in accord with the universal symbology that here
in the sign Scorpio we find the planet Neptune in the 8th division of
the heavens, signifying “betrayal unto death.” The Moon, ruler of the
4th House, conjoined with Uranus in the 12th House, in opposition to the
Sun is an additional indication of an untimely end, and that on account
of secret enmity. The sign Scorpio is associated with the principle of
evil and is called the accursed sign. The tribe of Dan, to whose lot
this division fell, substituted the symbol of its antiscion, Aquila, the
eagle, on that account. Among the disciples it was connected with Judas
Iscariot.
The Pascal full Moon of A.D. 33 fell on 3rd April at 2° 55´ G.M.T., the
Sun being about 6½° from the Node. The time at Jerusalem was 5.16
p.m.—“about the sixth hour.” The Sun was then close to the Star in
Aries, known as Alnatha, _i.e._ “the slain lamb.”
The universality of this incarnation has been frequently commented upon.
The cosmical Man has employed the symbolism of the whole of the solar
system as known to the ancients. Thus we have him referred to as—
Saturn—“A man of sorrows.”
Jupiter—“The Sun of Righteousness,” and a “priest after the order of
Melchizedek,” _i. e._ the King of Righteousness.
Mars—The sword bearer, “I came not to bring peace but a sword.”
Sun—“The Day-star from on high.”
Venus—“The Prince of Peace.”
Mercury—“The Word,” “The Messenger.”
Earth—“Son of Man,” _i. e._ Adam—Earth.
Jesus the Prophet and Master of Wisdom is of the order of those “whose
goings forth are from of old.” Some have seen in Him the reincarnation
of the Buddha, whose ethical doctrine is strongly akin to the teachings
of the holy Nazarene.
But there are strong reasons in the astrological scheme here presented,
to warrant all Occultists in accepting the Incarnation in a sense other
than symbolical or mythological. The prophecies and the record agree
with the astronomical facts. Jesus is called especially “the Lamb of
God,” and is born under the rising of the sign Aries. He is called also
the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah,” and Mars, the ruler of the horoscope,
is found in Leo. He is called “the Virgin-born,” and we find the Sun at
the Nativity in the sign of the Virgin. These positions are not
accidental, but are in agreement with the particular state of the
visible heavens at the epoch to which we are impelled by reference to
the facts of the case in conformity with the historical record.
We have, I think, specific evidence of the Incarnation—of what? Of the
Christ, the Logos, the Word. Jesus the man, whose horoscope we have been
tracing, is not to be confounded with the Christ principle investing
that Personality, nor yet with the Spirit of God animating the Christ.
The relationship of these are apparently as Spirit, Soul and Body to one
another, that is—
Spirit = God.
Soul = Christ.
Body = Jesus.
This order seems to be supported by the earliest statements of the
Christian faith. The Master-Soul speaking through the person of Jesus
said: “These things I do not of myself but of the Spirit of God which
dwelleth in me,” and again, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God
and the Spirit of God dwelleth in _you_?” Further, the Master in bidding
farewell to His disciples said, “I go unto my Father and your Father,
unto my God and your God.” It is clear, therefore, in what relations the
incarnate Christ stood to humanity and to God. Other masters have
appeared at various times as manifestations of the Spirit of Truth,
Bodhisattvas as they are called in India, and are seen to be the
founders of schools of religious thought in all parts of the world. They
all answer to the universal paradigm, and consequently we find the same
myths and legends centring in them. Occasionally we get specific record
of the birth of these Great Souls. Thus we know that Confucius
(Kong-fu-tze) was born 550 B.C. on the 27th day of the 10th month, and
died on the 18th day of the 2nd month in the year 477 B.C., at the age
of seventy-three years. The birth of Gautama Sakyamuni is vaguely
indicated as having taken place at the full Moon of Jyestha. So far no
records have been discovered to throw light upon the year of birth, so
that we cannot determine the cosmic relations of this great luminary.
The birth of Sri S’ankarāchārya, however, is specifically indicated in a
stanza of Yidyāranya, where it is said that the Sun, Saturn, Jupiter and
Mars were all in their exaltation signs, that is to say, in Aries,
Libra, Cancer and Capricorn respectively; and in _Kendra_, _i. e._ in
signs that were upon the angles of the horoscope. This is the ideal
horoscope of the successful reformer, and this Confucius of India, who
began his crusade at twenty years of age, has left his mark for all time
upon Indian thought and literature.
Wherever we can obtain the time of the incarnation of these Great Souls,
it is seen that either there are some special celestial portents
attending them or the planetary positions are such as to stamp the
horoscope at once as that of an epoch-making birth. The portents
attending the birth of Romulus, as recited by Dionysius, are no less
striking than those which signalized his death. Something of this sort
was obviously the belief in Shakespeare’s time concerning the death of
great men—
When beggars die there are no comets seen,
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of Princes.
From this we may conclude that the gods are not democratic, but favour
individualism of the most pronounced type; and if, as would seem to be
the case, the whole trend of evolution is the specialization of faculty,
the elaboration of the unit from the mass, we can readily understand why
specially selected cosmical conditions attend the incarnation of
highly-evolved souls.