Home > Weird and Wonderful > Was Jesus A Capricorn Following Yonder Star - Was Jesus A Capricorn So was Jesus of Nazareth a Capricorn and born on December the 25th? Not likely... not likely at all... Setting The Date You see... back in the days when the ancient (4th century AD) Christian Church Fathers were looking around for an official date to celebrate the birth of historical Jesus, they were simultaneously busily engaged in the serious endeavor of winning over, proselytizing and "christianizing" ancient Rome. Saturnalia? The ancient Romans conveniently enough happened to have a very popular pagan holiday (holy day) season called "Saturnalia." Saturnalia, originally celebrated by the Romans each year on December the 17th, was a special day set apart for honoring the Roman god Saturn. This was a day for nostalgically remembering the "Golden Age" of Saturn's beneficent rule. Gifts were exchanged in remembrance of the generous bounty that Saturn had once upon a time bestowed upon the Roman people. Yep! For the ancient Romans, the holy day of Saturnalia was joyous celebration of "the good old days" when everything had "once-upon-a-time" been right in the world. Rebirth of the Sun At some mysterious point in time, the holy Roman day of Saturnalia had also been tied into being a celebration of the rebirth of the Sun - and, as such, Saturnalia was held each year at about the time of what we call the "winter solstice." What is the "winter solstice?" Each year, the winter solstice marks the beginning of winter. The winter solstice is the day each year having the longest night and the shortest amount of sunlight hours. After the winter solstice, the daylight hours slowly begin lasting longer and longer with each passing day, with this trend of increasing sunlight continuing on until the "summer solstice" in June. The summer solstice is marked as being the day with longest amount of daylight hours and is the official beginning of summer. Anyway, the winter solstice nowadays (using modern calendars) takes place each year around December the 21st to mark the rebirth of the Sun. In 4th Century AD, the Roman emperor at the time "officially" reset Saturnalia to be celebrated on December the 25th (there appear to be varying and sometimes contradictory resources regarding exactly how and why all this happened). Not surprisingly... shortly thereafter, the Christian Church Fathers likewise - in a calculated move to appeal to Roman pagans - set the official date for celebrating the birth of Jesus as being December the 25th. Frankly, I can't think of a more appropriate day that the Christian Church Fathers could have "borrowed" for annually commemorating the birth of the Son, than the already extremely popular pagan holiday (Saturnalia) set apart annually for celebrating the birth of the Sun? It's interesting to note that when looked at on a purely symbolic level, the esoteric Church placed John the Baptist's birth on the Summer Solstice (decreasing sunlight) and Christ's birth on the Winter Solstice (increasing sunlight). This was meant to symbolize the New Testament scriptural passage where John the Baptist told his followers that he (John) must decrease, while Jesus must increase. So when was Jesus born and what did his birth symbolize? Speculations on Christ's Birth Astrologers have been speculating (and arguing) about the birth of historical Jesus for almost 2000 years now. However, there was at least one small group of extremely ancient Babylonian astrologers who got it right. Remember the traditional Christmas story and the "wise men" or "magi" that were following a star? It's highly unlikely that there was any sort of supernova explosion in the sky that these "wise men" were following. According to the Gospel of Matthew, only the so-called "wise men" were aware of the "star's" presence. Everyone else, knowing something special was going on, had been clued into the fact by angels (or by another source of divine revelation). Only the most closed minded person could possibly argue that these "wise men" from the East (following a star) were anything other than ancient Babylonian astrologers. Speculation on the Date Based on a combination of biblical and independent historical sources, the birth of historical Jesus most likely took place between the years of 8 BC and 4 BC. Beyond that we're forced back into the darker, murky waters of speculation… Many astrologers (dating back at least as far as Medieval times) have typically placed the year of Jesus' birth at 7 BC. 7 BC was a landmark year when the planets, Jupiter and Saturn, were "triple conjuncting" in the sign of Pisces. This triple conjunction meant that Jupiter and Saturn repeatedly met up with each other in the sky three different times in the sign of Pisces. Such a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Pisces is extremely rare, and it has not occurred again during the past 2000 years. According to astrophysicist and astronomer Dr. Percy Seymour (The Birth of Christ; Exploding The Myth), ancient Babylonian and Jewish astrologers associated the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn with the "passing of power" from one supernatural deity to another. The Astrological Age of Pisces Begins The exceptionally unique thing about this particular triple coming together of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces was that it took place while simultaneously aligned with the precessional dawning of the age of Pisces, the fishes. Each astrological age lasts approximately 2155 years. Jesus was (and is) traditionally thought to have ushered in the astrological age of Pisces (the fishes) symbolizing "salvation through suffering." Furthermore, it is also thought by some that Jesus ushered in a new Great Year cycle. The precessional phenomenon of the Platonic "Great Year" occurs only once every approximately 26,000 years, and it signifies the beginning of a new 26,000 year cycle for humankind. According to this particular view, each Great Year cycle has its beginning in the zodiacal age of Pisces (the fishes) and then cycles its way back through the other 11 zodiacal signs. (I should point out that others believe this Great Year cycle starts in Capricorn or Cancer.) Regardless... combine the association of a rare triple Jupiter/Saturn Pisces conjunction (passing of power) with the dawning of a new astrological age in the sign of Pisces – and any ancient Babylonian astrologer will tell you that you're probably ripe for the birth of a messiah. Some of the Main Theories Obviously there are more theories, opinions, and speculations than what I've mentioned just above as to exactly what sort of astrological configuration the Christmas star might have consisted of. Examples of a few other ideas are: Jupiter conjuncting Venus - This is very popular with modern astronomers and Christmas television specials that deal with the Star of the Christ Child. While many modern astronomers like this configuration, most astrologers and certain astronomers, such as Dr. Seymour, feel this is highly unlikely. This very common configuration occurs frequently, and is no big "whoopee" astrologically and/or astronomically speaking. The "acronychal rising" of planets - Known to be commonly used by ancient Babylonian astrologers and this possibility appears to have strong merit. (Dr. Percy Seymour has combined this with the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and come up with the date of September 15, 7 BC New Style at Sunset.) A helically calculated (Sun centered) "Star of David" configuration - This is generally thought to be the wildest astrological speculation of all. The True Date? It's always great fun to endlessly speculate about the true birth date of historical Jesus. There are several proposed charts giving Jesus the Sun in Pisces. There are also charts placing his Sun in Capricorn, in Leo, in Gemini, and (even one) in Scorpio. Granted... these days I, myself, lean heavily toward Dr. Seymour's theory and proposed date. Among other things, it would give the chart of Jesus of Nazareth an Ascendant in the 23rd degree of Pisces with Jupiter and Saturn rising and would place his Sun in Virgo - symbolic of being "born of the Virgin." But, will we ever know the true birth date (and thus the true birth chart) of Jesus Christ? No way, Jose! << back to Weird and Wonderful