The Death and Resurrection of Christ

Science encourages us to ask questions.
Religion encourages us to accept answers.
- Stephen Strager

When the curious ask, why do Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter on the same dates as pagans? The standard answer is: The Christian Fathers used the same dates so it would be easier to assimilate pagans into Christianity. Like everything else about Christianity, that answer started out as a lie that after decades of repetition became accepted as truth.

There have been several competent books that catalog the parallels between other resurrected saviors and Jesus Christ, but they have been too easily dismissed by apologists as innuendo. Christianity is the one exception, they say. And what do they offer as evidence? Nothing but stale lies and flat denials! 

This report strengthens the argument against them by providing positive evidence that the gospels tell the story of death and resurrection through the changing patterns of the sun and the stars in the zodiac. The early Christians worshipped the sun personified through the character of Jesus Christ. He died on the first of winter's darkest days. His spirit was called the Son of man, personified by the constellation Orion. On the third day, Orion ascended in the guise of the Holy Spirit. Early Christianity was as pagan as its pagan competitors.

But there is more to this story than the seasonal changes of the sun. The gospels tell the story of three great astrological ages spanning 2160 years each. They tell of the end of the Age of Aries, the beginning of the Age of Pisces and of an Age to come, the Age of Aquarius. Revelation 16 prophesizes an Aquarian six day creation culminating in a place called Armageddon.

Anthropological origins of religion

In The Golden Bough: The Roots of Religion and Folklore, James Frazer explains the significance of dying and resurrected gods. I've done some paraphrasing:

While the great invisible gods are not supposed to die, primitive peoples sometimes believe that their safety and even that of the world is bound up with the life of one of these god-men or human incarnations of the divinity. They take utmost care of his life out of regard for their own. But no amount of care and precaution will prevent the man-god from growing old and feeble and at last dying. The danger they saw is that catastrophes might befall them if his powers diminish and die.

The solution, they saw, is that the man-god must be killed as soon as his powers begin to fail. If the man-god dies a natural death, it means that his soul has departed from his body and won't return. If they wait until his body is in a weakened state, it would infect his soul.

Thus the soul of the man-god is lost to his worshippers; and with it their prosperity and very existence is endangered. By killing him before he has lost his vigor, his worshippers would be assured of catching his soul as it escaped and transferring it to a vigorous successor. A violent death was preferred while his soul was strong and vigorous.

It goes without saying, that this man-god was either a divine king or priest. These rituals sometimes extended to the first born of royal blood. 2 Kings 3:27 tells of the king of Moab who when under attack, sacrificed his oldest son as a ransom offering to the avenging demons.

Primitive peoples not only associated their fate with their divine kings, they saw the same issue of life and death in the yearly seasonal changes. Their solution was to invent gods that personified light, vegetation, animals, or whatever they were obsessed about. This gave them a sense of safety via sympathy and ritual.

Ezekiel 8:14 tells of women who were weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was a god of vegetation in which the annual withering of vegetation was symbolized by his death and captivity in the underworld. And his resurrection was symbolized in the spring when vegetation grew anew.

The Persian god Mithra was closely associated with the sun. Shrines still extant show him slaying the bull (Taurus) which was believed to represent an act of renewal.

To the Egyptians, Orion was Osiris, God of Light. His evil brother Set the God of Darkness killed him. Osiris' wife Isis found his coffin. When she went to get help, Set cut him up into fourteen pieces and scattered them in all directions. She put him back together and breathed into him to protect him from decay. And so Orion rose to the sky.

So not to get too far off topic, there is an abundance of literature on the anthropological origins of religion and the pagan religions we know call myths. All one has to do is one take the interest to look. For one, I recommend Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled by Acharya S.

The Death and Burial of Jesus

Jesus died in the evening hour and yielded up his spirit on the first day of the winter solstice December 22nd.

⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
⁵⁰And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Matt. 27:45-46, 50)

I reported in Gospel Zodiac that the gospels follow the seasonal changes of the sun from Capricorn in January to Sagittarius in December. This still holds. Once Jesus dies, the gospels segue into Pisces. In biblespeak, three months symbolize the three days Christ was in his tomb - the three winter months are the dark months. This was done to inaugurate the Age of Pisces. See When was Jesus Born.

The Son of man is symbolized by Orion. Astronomically, Orion disappears from the sky in December and actually does ascend above the horizon on December 25th (discussed below).

²²As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men,
²³and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed. (Matt. 17:22-23)

Figure 1: Evening darkness on the winter solstice, December 22, 0001

Our cast of characters can be seen in Figure 1 above. The gospels don't stick strictly to the Greek characterizations and they don't always conform to each other. There are three selected as women: Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Andromeda was the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus. Two are two men: Auriga and Perseus. Auriga the Charioteers looked after the chariots and horses of their rulers or masters. Perseus was a warrior hero.

1. A Roman centurion kept watch over Jesus.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matt. 27:54)

The centurion is probably Perseus.

2. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee looked from afar.

⁵⁵There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him;
⁵⁶among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. (Matt. 27:55-56)

Three women would be Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Notice how Perseus stands close to Orion with the women farther away.

3. With permission from Pilate to take Jesus, a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, wrapped Jesus' body in a clean linen shroud.

⁵⁷When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
⁵⁸He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
⁵⁹And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud,
⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre. (Matt. 27:57-61)

Auriga stands closest to Orion. Not shown because it is high to the north, Draco the Serpent has the evil characteristics of Pilate.

4. John adds that Joseph was accompanied by Nicodemus. Nicodemus is described as a member of the Jewish ruling council who showed respect for Jesus (John 3:1-2).

³⁸After this Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body.
³⁹Nicodemus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight.
⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19:38-40)

For John, two Joseph and Nicodemus are Auriga and Perseus.

December 25

The sun enters its nadir on the winter solstice and because of its position on the ecliptic, doesn't appear to rise until the 25th, three days later when daytime hours start to increase. The birth and resurrection of Christ occur on the same date.

³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise." (Mark 9:31)

Resurrection

Figure 2: Orion's yearly trajectory

The astronomical ascension of Orion begins on December 25th and ends May 22nd. There are 62 days from the vernal equinox on March 21st, to May 22nd. That dovetails with the traditional Easter holidays in the new Age of Pisces.

Let's decipher Jesus' prophecy. Refer to Figure 3 below.

⁶⁴Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26:64)

Matthew describes the Milky Way as the clouds of heaven. The Milky Way doesn't show here, but it can be seen faintly in an artist's depiction. It passes between Gemini and Orion and runs through Cassiopeia. Orion, the Son of man, was the esoteric name for the sun's Holy Spirit. In the Age of Pisces, when the sun passes through Taurus into Gemini it crosses the summer solstice. Thus, the Son of man is said to be on the right hand of power. Gemini resembles a bishop's hat and the constellation below Orion, Lepus symbolizes his seat.

That the writers have a menu to choose from, explains the various interpretations. The gospel sequence follows the sun. The sun's exit from Pisces symbolizes the open tomb. The branch of Pisces which crosses the ecliptic and celestial equator suggests a wall with an opening. This junction is where we get words like cross as in crossover and Passover. The phrase "Paschal lamb" gets its name from when the sun passes over the equator into Aries

Figure 3: The sky on March 24, 0001 at 10:00 AM in the morning

Pisces - the women

There are two female constellations in the house of Pisces: Andromeda and Cassiopeia. Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. The third would be Cepheus, though it is described as a king in myth.

1. According to Matthew, it was toward dawn when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher.

¹Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. (Matt. 28:1)

The women are aligned in Pisces with the sun. So when the sun rises, the women go with it.

2. Mark says three women came when the sun had risen.

¹And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
²And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. (Mark 16:1-2)

3. Luke names three women.

¹But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared.
²And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
³but when they went in they did not find the body.
¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles; (Luke 24:1-3, 10)

4. John says Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early.

¹Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. (John 20:1)

5. In 20:3-10, John adds that Peter and another disciple went in the tomb. When they saw he was missing they believed he rose from the dead. The twelve zodiac constellations represent the disciples. Figuratively, Peter is in the tomb. I suspect Aquarius represents Peter.

Aries - Christ has left the tomb

When the gospels use descriptive terms like lightening, white and dazzling apparel, they are describing stars. There are two constellations in the house of Aries of interest to us: Triangulum and Perseus. There is some guessing as to which character they represent.

1. Mathew says an angel descended from heaven and rolled back the stone. His appearance was like lightening and his raiment white as snow. The angel told the women that He has risen.

²And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
³His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.
⁴And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
⁵But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
⁶He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you." (Matt. 28:2-7)

In biblespeak, angel means angle. The constellation Triangulum the Triangle symbolizes the angel.

2. Mark says there was one young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe.

⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed.
⁶And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:5-6)

Perseus stands next to the tomb.

3. Luke says there were two men standing by in dazzling apparel.

⁴While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel;
⁵and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? (Luke 24:4-5)

They would be Triangulum and Perseus.

4. John says there were two angels in white.

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb;
¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
¹³They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." (John 20:12-13)

They would be Triangulum and Perseus.

5. When Jesus told Peter he will build his church on "this" rock, the reference is to the crossing point between the sun's ecliptic and the celestial equator at Pisces. In biblespeak, the arc that the sun travels across the sky is supported on two foundations at the two equinoxes. This is what the prefix co in the word covenant implies.

¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18)

Taurus

Bulls or oxen were used as pulling animals. The bulls are Christ's disciples.

1. Matthew says some of the eleven disciples were doubters.

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
¹⁷And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matt. 28:16)

The arc of the sun's travel across the horizon forms the profile of a mountain. The summit is at the summer solstice.

2. Mark says the eleven did not believe Christ had risen.

¹²After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.
¹³And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
¹⁴Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. (Mark 16:12-14)

3. Luke says the eleven did not believe the women.

⁹and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.
¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles;
¹¹but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24:9-11)

4. John says of the twelve disciples, only Thomas doubted (discussed below).

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
²⁴Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. (John 20:18)

5. While John says there were twelve disciples, the other three say there were eleven. Why are there eleven? Because the others say Judas killed himself (Mat. 27:5; Acts 1:19).

Gemini

In the Age of Pisces, the sun enters Gemini on the summer solstice. So at its zenith, the sun has authority over heaven and the world and the Son of man is sitting on his throne judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This is where the gospels end.

²⁸Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matt. 19:28)

1. When Jesus said "I am with you always to the close of the age," it was meant the close of the Age of Pisces.

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt. 28:18)

2. Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁵And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
¹⁶He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16: 15:16)

3. Jesus said, it is written that Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

⁴⁶and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.
⁴⁹And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:46-49)

4. Doubting Thomas is called the Twin. That would be either Castor or Pollux in Gemini.

²⁴Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
²⁵So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." (John 20:24)

Three zodiac Ages

The gospels tell the story of three Ages. The first came to an end with Christ's death. The second begins with Christ's resurrection. And the third is in the distant future, Armageddon.

The past Age of Aries

Jesus came to die for man's sins in the Age of Aries.

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

The new Age of Pisces

The ressurected Jesus represents the Piscean sun.

There will be no sign except the sign of Jonah. -The fish that ate Jonah is in Pisces.

⁴An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah." (Matt. 16:4; Luke 11:29)

John 21:1-14 tells a little story when Jesus appeared to his disciples while they were fishing. They hadn't caught any fish. When he told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, they caught a net full of fish without the net breaking.

As to the past, three times Jesus told his disciples to feed his sheep. Meaning, the sun has left Aries.

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."
¹⁶A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."
¹⁷He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

The future Age of Aquarius

When Jesus said no one knows the day and hour. As were the days of Noah before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. The Son of man will come with a great flood. He meant, those days will come when the sun enters the Age of Aquarius.

³⁶"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
³⁷As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
³⁹and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. (Matt. 24:36-39)

Peter asks, what about this man? Jesus answers, he is to remain until I come; this disciple was not to die. Who is that man? He is Aquarius, probably to be personified as Peter.  

²¹When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?"
²²Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"
²³The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:21-23)

Armageddon - Revelation 16

¹⁶And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon. (Rev. 16:16)

The sun enters the Age of Aquarius about 2160, but we'll set our picture for the vernal equinox in the year 3000. This is Armageddon.

I suspect Paul was waiting for the new creation to begin at the dawn of the Age of Pisces.

¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; (Rom. 8:19)

Regardless, the new creation according to John of Revelation was to begin in the Age of Aquarius. There is a direct parallel to the days of creation in Genesis 1.

In the picture of Aquarius there is a fish at the bottom of the water stream called Pisces Astrinus, the Southern Fish. In ancient mythology the fish is a symbol of salvation in deluge stories, where the fish saves the world by drinking the waters of the flood. The Southern Fish has a very bright star at its mouth (18th brightest) called Formalhaut, meaning "the fish's mouth." Formalhaut is Jonah whom the fish ate. It's the sign of Jonah (Mat. 16:4).

Two thousand years ago Aquarius coincided with the month of February, which from its derivation from februare, means "to cleanse." Similarly, John the Baptist was an Aquarian. And so was Noah.

The first angel poured his bowl on the earth. - The sun rises above earth's horizon into Aquarius at the vernal equinox.

²So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. (Rev. 16:2)

The second angel poured his bowl into the sea. - Aquarius is surrounded by watery constellation in an area ancients called the Sea.

³The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea. (Rev. 16:3)

The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water. - Eridanus the River lies below Aquarius.

⁴The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. (Rev. 16:4)

The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun. -The sun is at its zenith on the fourth angle.

⁸The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; (Rev. 16:8)

The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast. - The beast is Cetus the Sea Monster.

¹⁰The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish (Rev. 16:10)

The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates. - The Milky Way is the great river of Eden in Genesis 2:10.

¹²The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east (Rev. 16:12)

The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air. - The bowl is empty. On the seventh angle the sun went below the vernal equinox. The astrological element for Aquarius is air.

¹⁷The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" (Rev. 16:17)

End