Download Astrology, calendars and the dating of Christian festivals.

Chapter 1 Astrology,
calendars and the dating of Christian
festivals.
Cassini, Colbert, the Meridian and the Rose Line. The drawing together of
Astronomy and Sacred Geometry.
So why should accurate dating be vital to any religious order? Answer: Because of
criteria laid out in the main title of this chapter – Astrology calendars and in
particular the dating of Easter, Christmas, Michaelmas etc. For some reason the
events of the bible are directly associated with the movement of the stars and
planets. With an incorporeal God why should this be so?
Astrology is the oldest science known to man and for that reason alone it should
not be excluded from study. Whether the whole of its doctrine carries any validity
or not is not the issue. Usually any serious discussion on the subject is marred by
the discussion of its status as a serious scientific subject. I will not discuss whether
this subject is valid or not however I will not ignore the subject in a manner that
mainstream science has done. A valid point has been raised that large bodies
weighing trillion upon trillions of tons in constant rotation cannot fail but to
influence the makeup of our species given the millions of years of influence on our
supposed development from primitive life forms. If you think objects in rotation
cannot have an effect on us well a very simple experiment can be made. Take a
rapidly spinning bicycle wheel between both hands and then try to tilt your hands;
some effort is required to do this. However our rotation about the sun is tilting
with regard to the plane of our galaxy’s rotation and in only a few years time the
two planes will be exactly 90 degrees to each other, an event that only repeats
itself every 12900 years. The concept that trillions upon trillions of tons of matter
all in constant flux of sometimes opposing rotation and sometimes in harmony can
have absolutely no effect on our bodies, our planet and our evolution is a concept
not easy to accept.
But I am not here to discuss the validity or not of this for what is well documented
is that prominent leaders, even some modern ones including Presidents and Prime
Ministers, have consulted Astrology in order to make decisions that affect us all
and it is belief systems of man I intend to discuss here not its validity or invalidity.
Should we care? Well I constantly get atheists saying to me that their lives are not
influenced by religion at all and then I ask them what their plans are for Easter,
Christmas, Hanukah or Ramadan, which calendar are they using and why does their
year start in the middle of winter or whatever. Whether we like it or not the
movements of the Earth around our immediate piece of the cosmos influences our
daily lives and the various religions have imposed laws that take into account the
repetitive nature of this movement. That it all seems to repeat and is in some way
predictable is interpreted as the Gods influence of creating order out of apparent
chaos – ORDO AB CHAO for us mortals. Earthquakes happen and the landscape can
change, floods are a constant threat and weather is sometimes fickle but the Gods
in the form of stars in the heavens keep on being constant, is it any wonder that
they are revered?
But even the predictable nature of star events change over long periods of time
because the Earth wobbles in the same manner as a spinning child’s top. This is
due to the gyroscopic effect known as ‘precession’. The effect of this will move
the point where the earth’s equatorial plane (the plane of the earth’s axis of
rotation) crosses the ecliptic (the plane of the earth’s rotation around the sun).
This point is more or less fixed to the plane of the ecliptic and by the movement of
the earth’s spinning axis is depicted as moving out from the earth’s geocentre
through the point where the two planes cross and out into a point in space that is
still called The First Point of Aries, not only by astrologers but also by NASA in
order to fix the ‘Ephemeris’ of Earth orbiting satellites. This name has stuck even
though the point is now not in Aries but has moved into the constellation of Pisces
and due to the continued precession the point will shortly be moving from Pisces
into ‘The Age of Aquarius’ around 2050.
There is little doubt that this precession was known about and studied by the
ancients. The Temple at Denderah in Upper Egypt is, as near as makes little
difference is on the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees latitude. The unique placing
of this Temple on the Earth’s surface is no accident.
In the ceiling of this Temple dedicated to
the Goddess Hathor is the famous zodiac
and what are depicted are some
recognisable
zodiac
constellations
describing an arc that is not going
through the centre but neither is this arc
going around the edge. The centre
clearly marks the Egyptian interpretation
of the constellations at the Northern
Ecliptic pole. This motif in the ceiling
shows animal representations like a
Hyena and a Jackal and in the centre is
the leg of the Bull, which is in fact part
of Ursa Minor and the others are depicted
later by the constellation Draco, the
Dragon, which doesn’t have any large magnitude stars in it. However very close to
the Southern Ecliptic pole is the –0.62 magnitude star Canopus, the brightness of
which is second only to Sirius. A computer program running through tens of
thousands of years shows Canopus wobbling in precession around the southern
horizon when viewed from the Temple at Denderah at the beginning of each year
i.e. the winter solstice. It is clear that the short appearance of this very bright star
Canopus above the horizon viewed from Denderah at this time marked the
beginning of the year for the Egyptians of the Upper Nile. At latitudes above 23.5
degrees Canopus, the fifth brightest object in the heavens, is never seen.
Because of its brightness and unique position Canopus has become important with
regard to the three subjects we are discussing in this chapter. The name is
possibly derived from the Coptic Kahi Nub ("Golden Earth") probably due to this
star being bright but never very high above the horizon in Egypt and being subject
to prismatic effects of the earth’s atmosphere. The similarity of this name to the
word Canopy can be no accident. There is a port by that name in Lower Egypt that
was the site of the Battle of the Nile where the British Admiral Nelson defeated
Napoleon’s naval forces; however the star would never have been seen from that
position. The precise South Celestial Pole can be found easily using Canopus and
another star Achernar with a magnitude of 0.50 which can be easily seen with the
naked eye. Make an imaginary equilateral triangle and place two of the corners
over these stars the third imaginary corner is the South Celestial pole.
The star Canopus itself is what is known as a supergiant, it is about 20,000 times
brighter than the Sun and the most intrinsically bright star within 700 light years of
earth. It is much more luminous, intrinsically, than the sole star that appears
brighter than it from Earth—Sirius which is a mere 22 times more luminous than our
sun, and depends on being much closer to us to beat its rival in apparent
magnitude. In fact, for a large fraction of stars in the local stellar neighbourhood,
Canopus is the "brightest star in the sky". To anyone living in the northern
hemisphere, but far enough south to see the star, it served as a southern pole star.
This lasted only until magnetic compasses became common. In modern times,
another navigational use has been found, American deep space probes often use
Canopus, using a special camera known as a "Canopus Star Tracker", used in
combination with a "Sun Tracker", and using a triangulation between the two stars
an accurate position of the probe can be ascertained whilst in deep space. But this
star has always been special to Navigators and Nautineers and was once designated
as part of the very large constellation of Argo Navis.
Argo Navis is a symbolic archetype of a great ship, which crossed the waters of the
‘Deluge’ as in the Biblical tale of Noah's Arc. It lies entirely in the southern
hemisphere, always appearing east of Sirius, south of the Constellations of
Monoceros and Hydra and is largely in the Milky Way. It covers a great extent of
the sky and is nearly 75 degrees in length and teeming with masses of stars.
Consequently, modern astronomers have been forced to divide Argo Navis into
three smaller constellations; - Puppis, the Stern; Carina (which includes Canopus),
the Keel; and Vela, the Sail. Malus, the Mast, was a fourth constellation created
out of Argo Navis, but this has fallen into disuse. However many astronomers still
refer to Argo Navis.
The ancient Egyptians saw Argo Navis as the boat that carried Isis and Osiris over
the deluge. And this exactly the same story appears in the Hindu religion where it
is said to have performed the same function for Isi and Iswara. Here they called it
the ship Argha and one cannot but be intrigued with the remarkably similar names
to its Greek and Egyptian legends.
The Babylonian Epic of Creation, the Enuma Elish relates how the gods decided to
destroy the earth with a flood. The god Ea took pity on humanity and secretly
warned a mortal named Uto-Napishtim of the forthcoming disaster. The man set
about building a boat 120 cubits high to carry his family, possessions and sundry
animals and birds. After the flood subsided, Uto-Napishtim and his passengers were
the only survivors. Another Greek tradition according to Eratosthenes, said that
Argo Navis represented the first ship to sail the ocean that carried Danoes and his
fifty daughters from Egypt to Rhodes.
The Ship appears to have no bow, this loss of its bow is said to have occurred when
Argo passed "Through Bosporus betwixt the jostling rocks" - the Symplegades, yet it
has often been, as in The Alfonsine Tables, illustrated and described by artists and
authors, as a complete double-masted vessel with oars, and Lubienitzki, in the
Theatrurn Comelicum of 1667, as the three-masted argosy with its tier of ports
and all sails set full to the wind.
It has been known since classical times, the great ship of the Argonauts, built by
Glaucus for Jason, leader of the fifty Argonauts, whose number equalled that of
the oars of ship. Aided by Pallas/Athene/Minerva, who herself set in the prow a
piece from The Speaking Oak of Dodona, who spoke ‘The Language of the Birds’;
the Argo being "thus endowed with the power of warning and guiding the chieftains
who form its crew", she carried the famous expedition from Colchis in Thessaly to
Aea in Colchis (Colchia was the district along the eastern shore of the Euxine Sea,
now Mingrelia) in search of the Golden Fleece, and when the voyage was over,
Athene placed the boat in the sky. The story of how Jason, with the help of the
fifty Argonauts and the sorceress, Medea, who sailed in Argo Navis to win the
Golden Fleece, is one of the most famous of the old Greek myths.
There is an Order of the Golden Fleece, an order of chivalry that is similar to the
English Order of the Garter that was founded by Philip III of Burgundy in 1430CE.
The Order was awarded to Napoleon Bonaparte and caused much controversy with
the exiled French king Louis XVIII but was revoked by the Spanish King Ferdinand in
1813 and was awarded to the Duke of Wellington instead. Current holders of this
title are all of the current royal heads of the European kingdoms including Queen
Elizabeth II.
To the Romans the constellation was always Argo and Navis, Argolica Navia and
Argolica Puppis; Ovid called it Pagasaea Puppis, from, the Thessalian seaport;
Manilius called it the Heroes' Raft, “which now midst Stars doth sail” and also
referred to it as Nobilis Argo. The Romans also called it Navigium Praedatorium,
the Pirate Ship. The Arabians called the constellation - Al Sariuah, a Ship, and
Markab, something to ride upon. The Judeo/Christian biblical school naturally
called it, Noah's Ark, the Arca Noachi, or Archa Noae as Bayer wrote it; Jacob
Bryant, the English mythologist of the last century also linked its story to another
form of that of Noah. Indeed in the 17th century the Ark seems to have been its
popular title. It is interesting to note that the Prieure de Sion calls its members
Nautonniers.
What is the Judeo/Christian church to make of all this? The story of the Noah’s ark
is the obvious link however the part of the church where the congregation sits is
called the Nave and this appears to be from the Anglo-Saxon word for the centre of
something, the centre of a cartwheel for instance is a Nave. Although the words
Naval and Navel appear to be from different languages and they are in fact linked
because as we have seen the star Canopus in the constellation Argo Navis is in the
centre of a wheel of the ecliptic and what we find is that there are four bright
stars that appear to be placed around Canopus in the form of a cross. These stars
known as the Royal Stars are Regulus (Leo), Aldebaran (Taurus), Fomalhaut (Piscis
Austrinus) and Antares (Scorpio). These stars are all bright stars approximately six
hours apart in Right Ascension, the full rotation of these stars around Canopus of
course being 24 hours.
These four Royal stars are in fact the four creatures described first in Ezekiel
Chapter 1 where he had a vision in the sky of a wheel each of which had:
A face of a Man
Fomalhaut
A face of a Lion on the Right
Regulus
A face of an Ox on the Left
Aldebaran
A face of an Eagle
Antares
–
Aquarius
-
–
Leo
-
-
Taurus
-
-
Ophiuchus (Scorpio)
-
In the document that forms part of what has become known as the Priory
documents, called Le Serpent Rouge The verse that has the title Libra it says:
“I began my journey in shadows and completed it in light. At the window of the
ruined house I look across the trees denuded by Autumn. At the summit of the
mountain, the cross stood out from the crest of the midday sun. It was the
fourteenth and the highest of all with 35cm. Here, then, is my knight’s tower on
the circuit of the divine horsemen of the abyss.”
These four stars separated by six hour intervals around the star Canopus are the
four horsemen and they are also the four evangelists shown in the church at
Hodnet Church as indicated by the Ox, Lion, Eagle and man above each evangelist.
Christian churches are, in the main, orientated east – west and many have
suggested that their corner stones are first laid facing the Sun at Sunrise on the
Feast day of the particular Saint the Church is dedicated to.
In his book The Dawn of Astronomy Sir Norman Lockyer noted a technique called
the Cording of the Temple. This is laying it out with the use of a cord prior to the
commencement of building and was attended with ceremony in a similar manner
to the laying of a foundation stone. In an inscription found at Karnak in Egypt it
says:
“Arose the king attired in his necklace and feathered crown; and all the world
followed him, and the majesty of Amenemhat. The Ker-heb – the High Priest read
this text during the stretching of the measuring cord and the laying of the
foundation stone in the position selected for this Temple.”
The cord carried by these priests had a two fold function: To fix the orientation of
the temple by a direct observation of a celestial object: and also to lay the
geometry for the Temple itself. Another inscription says:
“The living God, the magnificent son of Asti, nourished by the sublime goddess in
the Temple, the sovereign of the country, stretches the rope in joy, with his
glance towards the ‘Ak’ of the Bull’s Foreleg constellation [Ursa Minor, which
carries the Pole star: he is marking north], he establishes the temple house of the
mistress at Denderah [Hathor], as took place there before”
These Egyptian priests used geometry and direct observation of celestial objects in
order to organise the layout their temple.
The thirteen knot cord was also carried by Druid priests. The earliest records of
the name Druidae (Δρυιδης) by the Greeks is found in the writings of Sotion of
Alexandria (200BCE – 170BCE). The origin of the name Druid is subject to much
speculation and wild conjecture that amounts to nothing more than unsupported
opinion and gut feeling. Julius Caesar wrote of the Druids in his Commentarii de
Bello Gallico.
He said:
“With regard to their actual course of studies, the main object of all education is,
in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility
of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from
one tenement to another, for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death
of all its terrors, can the highest form of courage be developed. Subsidary to the
teachings of this main principle, they hold various lectures and discussions on
astronomy, on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the
different branches of natural philosophy and on many problems connected with
religion”
Many scholars have concluded from Caesar’s writings that it was the Druids who
had first influenced Pythagoras and they are generally associated with the many
stone circles, Dolmens and Menhirs throughout Europe, this is generally known as
the Cromlech.
It is thought that the Druids centre of their religion in Gaul that was observed by
Caesar was the Carnutes an area thought to be between Sequana (Seine) and Liger
(Loire) and their land corresponded to the dioceses of Chartres, Orleans and Blois.
This corresponded to the Roman view for the centre of the Gallic nations, the chief
fortified towns being Cenabum (Orleans) and Autricum (Carnutes corrupted to
Chartres). The annual Druidic assembly was thought to have taken place in one of
those towns. The instruction of the Druids was by word of mouth only and secret
ceremonies which, according to Pomponius Mela, were carried out in caves and
forests. Certain Groves were sacred and Romans and Christian cut down these
forests where the Druids apparently practiced human sacrifice, but these may have
been ritual executions. In a bog in Lindow, Cheshire, England a well preserved
body was discovered that may well have been a Druidic sacrifice.
No treatise on the Druids is complete without mentioning Stonehenge although the
connection has never been documented. However it is fairly safe to assume that
Stonehenge is directly connected with marking the solstices and the equinoxes and
we do know that ancient forms of Druid worship did involve these times of the
year. A detailed description of this hypothesis can be found in many journals and
like much of science today seems to fit the working hypothesis which appears to be
the modern standard that if it fits and it isn’t too controversial then you are likely
to get little opposition. However later we shall discuss Stonehenge in a context
which may hold a key to the past and the future of mankind.
What is talked about much less and is controversial is the physical orientation of
Christian churches and in some cases their construction on what appears to be
lines and patterns. According to Tertullian who lived around 160CE at Cartage, the
Christians of his time had their form of worship directed to votaries of the sun. The
practice of turning east to pray seems to have been a feature in many early
religions but is still practiced today by some Muslims. Tertullian says that “the
homes of our dove” are always “high and open places, facing the light” and the
Apostolic Constitutions prescribe that church edificies should be erected with their
“heads” towards the East. A detailed study has been done of 570 Romanesque
churches in Denmark has been made and shows that the churches deviate as much
as 15º and always clockwise from the normal east-west orientation found in most
Christian churches and seems to indicate that rather than use the sun itself they
used the magnetic compass in order to orientate the church east-west, the church
masons being unaware of the concept of magnetic deviation. It was thought that
churches are orientated to the position of the sunrise on the particular saint’s day
associated with the church in question. However during the period between 1940
and 1950 researchers C.J.P Cave and the Rev Hugh Benson between them
measured the orientation of nearly 1000 churches in England with regard to the
feast day of their saints and concluded that only a minority have this alignment
and these could have been a coincidence. The one exception appears to be the
feast day on 29th September – Michaelmas or to give it the correct title The Feast
of Ss Michael, Gabriel and Raphael or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, a date
which falls very close to the Autumnal Equinox. You are reminded that 29th
September is the day that Saunière wrote in his diary the word SECRET after seeing
various priests in the area. He said:
Considering Curé of Névian, saw Géllis, saw Carrière, considering Cros and
SECRET
In England it is custom to eat goose on Michaelmas Day, a tradition which will take
on some significance later.