It’s a Wonderful Sign!

Comet 17/P Holmes

By Steve Santini

December 2007

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. (Psalm 19:1-6)

The Outburst Of Comet Holmes

During the night of October 24, 2007 a magnificent sign suddenly appeared in the heavens. As Jupiter was approaching the very end of it’s retrograde motion between the feet of Ophiuchus and after Saturn and Venus had ended their intertwined retrograde dances between Leo and Cancer during the summer and early fall, Comet Holmes brightened from stellar obscurity unto naked eye brilliance at the side of Perseus within a matter of hours. Night sky watchers world-wide continue to be fascinated with the mysteries of still bright Comet Holmes.

Comet Holmes was first discovered in 1892 in the sign of Andromeda when it was in a much shorter and less spectacular outburst. Since 1892 Comet Holmes had never again achieved naked eye brightness until this October. Harvard Smithsonian senior astronomer Brian Marsden has said, "This is by far the biggest outburst of this or any other comet." The outburst of a comet is relatively infrequent. These outbursts occur when a comet is passing around the sun closest to the sun’s emitted energy. Strangely, though, Comet Holmes uniquely went into outburst long after it had passed its closest around the sun. After the outburst of Comet Holmes, in the night October 24th, a scientifically unexplained cloud of dust or gas began to expand spherically from the bright nucleus. By late November the cloud was larger than the moon. In this current outburst, Comet Holmes was closest to the earth in its oblique elliptical orbit between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was also at its highest point in the skies of the northern hemisphere. This placed Comet Holmes nearly overhead beside Perseus in the night skies over Jerusalem as it began its outburst on the night of October 24th.

The Myth of Perseus and Andromeda

The Greek myth of Perseus is generally familiar. The mortal Danae was impregnated in a shower of gold dust sent by the god Zeus. She then brought forth Perseus. Persues was sent on a mission to decapitate Medusa. He succeeded. On his way home he saw Andromeda chained to a rock by the sea. He freed Andromeda and then married her. Their first child was named Perses. The elements of this myth have their roots in the earlier Mesopotamian cultures. In fact, the name of the ancient great nation of Persia is said to be derived from the name Perses, Perseus first son. As a symbol in the likeness of Perseus and Andromeda, a heavenly masculine and feminine united, the Persian army had within it “special forces” named the “Ten Thousand Immortals” who went into battle with their individual concubines.

Persia, Media and Magi

The expansive, yet relatively short lived, Persian Empire began when the Medes and the Persis overthrew the Babylonians. After the Medes and Persis defeated the Babylonians, the Persian and Median kings, allowed the Hebrews to return home from their Babylonian captivity and rebuild their city of Jerusalem.

The Medes were the descendants of Madai one of Noah’s sixteen grandsons. In the Old Testament scriptures the Hebrew word madai is translated into the English word Medes throughout the Old Testament. The Median nation consisted of these six tribes: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi. (Herodotus i 101). A significant tribe of the Medes was the Magi. In the Persian Empire, the Magi functioned as the teacher-priests. In addition to performing sacrificial offerings they were responsible for watching the heavens and interpreting the changing signs along with dreams so that the kingdom could be administered in preparation for things to come. It was a remnant group Magi from the former Persian Empire who traveled to Judea with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the young child Jesus Christ after observing Jupiter rise in the eastern sky just before sunrise during its retrograde motion around the bright king star Regulus in the sign of Leo.

The name for the Median tribe of Paretaceni is interesting in regards to Perseus. The name Paretaceni is quite similar to the Hebrew primary root word parats used in scripture for the sign of Perseus. This word parats is translated as breaker in Micah at the place where the prophet is writing about the entrance into the kingdom of heaven on earth.

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. (Micah 2:12,13)

The Entrance

In the New Testament, Peter, in his final letter to the church writes of this entrance into this kingdom of paradise.

For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:11)

In this verse the noun entrance is the Greek word eisodos. Eisodos is composed of the word eis, which means motion unto a point with an emphasis on the motion, and hodos, which literally means a road and figuratively means a means of progress.

The Greek verb for ministered has a unique descriptive meaning. In the Greek texts, it is the word epichoregeo. One meaning is to furnish beside. This word, epichoregeo, is a compound word composed of two Greek words. Epi the prefix, means over or down upon and choregeo, from its root, means the leadership of circling singers and dancers.

This word becomes most revealing when one considers that on several occasions Jesus likened the entrance into the kingdom to an Eastern wedding feast. One of the primary elements of the elongated feast was a touchlite circuitous choral dance around the town by the groom and his male party the night prior to the consummation of the ceremony. This circuitous route represented the path of the planets and sun around the twelve primary signs of the zodiac. This dance was lead by an contigent of armed musicians. Among the musicians was a gloriously arrayed dancer who carried a large sword. Under the light of the torches, and the echoing sound of blasts from ram’s horns, the booming of drums and a chorus, hauntingly eastern, this lead dancer would perform moving forward and back acrobatically passing his swirling sword from hand to hand. This lead dancer, in regards to Comet Holmes outburst at the side of Perseus, is notable in that Perseus is the only heavenly sign depicted with a sword; and a Persian one, at that.

Comet Holmes’ Path

The continuing orbit has taken the path of the nova like comet across Mirfak, the bright alpha star of Perseus. Mirfak means he who assists. Then, on January 22nd 2008, Comet Holmes will pass close by, if not over, the bright Perseus star named Agol, in Arabic, Rosh Satan, in Hebrew or Head of Satan as translated into English. To the Greeks, this star is what identified the decapitated head of Medusa in the hand of Perseus. It may be recalled that both Comet Hyakutake and Comet Hale Bopp passed over Agol successively during their brightest phases exactly one year apart to the day on April 11 in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

After Comet Holmes leaves Perseus it will cross the sign of Auriga. Auriga is known as the shepherd. The right foot of Auriga and the tip of the right horn of Taurus share Taurus’ beta star, El Nath. El Nath means slain or wounded. In the ancient Zodiac of Dendera, Auriga is shown with a dagger.

Gemini-Mars-Sagittarius

By late spring Comet Holmes will be approaching the bow in Castor’s outstretched arm in the sign of Gemini. Joseph Seiss’ book, “The Gospel of the Stars,” states that the two figures in Gemini, according to the most ancient Zodiac of Dendra, are not identical twins but those of a man and woman walking hand in hand. He goes on to say, that the word Gemini in the original Hebrew, Arabic and Syriac does not carry so much the idea of two brought forth at the same birth as it does the idea of a long betrothal brought to its consummation in perfect marriage. The old Coptic name of this sign signifies “the completely joined.” Of the two figures in the sign of Gemini, Castor represents the spiritually masculine, or the saints, while Pollux represents the spiritually feminine, or the faithful of the church.

Since early September of 2007 the planet Mars entered its retrograde zone in Castor. From this time of year until early spring the sign of Gemini appears to move directly across the heavens from the east to west in its nightly travels as will Mars in Gemini this year in its simultaneous retrograde zone. In early December Mars came into its second conjunction of a triple conjunction with the bright star Mebusta in Castor. Shortly afterwards the reliable annual Gemini meteor shower will appear. Unlike the effulgent ancient Persid meteor shower the also notable effulgent Geminids first appeared only 150 years ago. Later in December, Mars reaches both the rare occurrence of its orbital height and its bi annual maximum brightness in the night sky as an object brighter than the brightest star Sirius. During these two phases it will also align in earthy opposition to the sun as it is visually in reverse motion in Castor on its way to a halt in a spot between the horns of Taurus. It will then resume it forward motion to attain its third conjunction with Mebsuta as it is moving to the end of its retrograde zone in early April.

Mars is the planet of war and blood. The bright Geminid star, Mebsuta, in ancient Arabic lore, was known as an outstretched lion’s paw and, as such, is linked with sign of Leo. The name Metsuba, means treading under feet. As mentioned, Castor holds a bow and arrow in its outstretched left hand. Frances Rolleston, in the book, “The Mazzaroth”, states that “the arrow-bearing figure in Sagittarius has been by the ancients identified with the arrow-bearing twin in Gemini.” In this regard it is interesting to note that both the ruling planet Jupiter and the messenger planet Mercury along with the Sun will be positioned together just above the bow of Sagittarius as Mars is in Castor on the opposite side of the heavens during December. The arrow in the bow of Sagittarius is aimed at the malevolent star Anteres in the sign of Scorpio.

Late December 2007-The Tenth Hebrew Religious Month of Tevet

The twelve lunar months of the ancient Hebrew calendar were each represented, in sequential order, by one of the twelve primary signs of the zodiac. The tenth month of Tevet, represented by Capricorn, sometimes corresponds to our late December as it does this year. It is the month in which Noah first saw the tops of the mountians of the new heaven and earth.

In late December, in the middle of Tevet, around the solstice, Mars, the full Moon, Earth, the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter will be moving uniquely into a near perfect alignment, in the respective order given, across the span of our solar system. Mars and the full moon will be in Gemini while the sun, Mercury and Jupiter will be across the sky in Sagittairus. Venus will be moving from its conjunction in early December with the star Spica in the sign of Virgo to the center of Libra at the end of December. One of the ancient depictions of Libra is that of a woman giving a drink of water to a lion. Also, in December, Saturn, the planet of the sabbath day’s rest, will be moving from this summer’s retrograde motion conjunctions with the bright star Regulus in the front of Leo to the hind feet of Leo. Then on December 20^th, Saturn will again turn in retrograde motion towards the bright star Regulus. Next, on December 23^rd, one hour after sunset facing east the brilliant full moon and rouge gold Mars in Gemini will rise and stay beside each other all night long climbing the sky until they reach their very highest point around midnight after which they will slowly descend toward the west and will set as the sun rises in the east with Jupiter and Mercury unseen beyond its brilliance. More specifically, during this time, the high riding full moon will be passing over high riding Mars, visually from earth, along an arcing line that begins in the eastern sky, at sunset, in what was ancient Persia.

Why would all these occurrences in surrounding the winter solistice make these most revealing celestial signs even more worthy of attention? Most accomplished students of scripture realize that Jesus Christ was born in the fall of the year rather than in the month of December; mainly, because Eastern shepherds of that time were only in the fields with there sheep at night during the end of the growing season. This, they did to fatten the sheep for the winter months when sheep were not grazed. Some biblical chronologies have placed the date of Jesus Christ’s birth on September 11, 3 BC based on celestial events, historical events and cultural factors. In 3 BC, September 11 fell on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri. This day was a revered feast day on the Hebrew calendar. It was the first day of the royal new year when kings would be crowned and trumpets resounded throughout the promised land. If this birthday is so, then according to the human gestation period, feminine Holy Spirit and the Power of the Highest came together and produced impregnation in the virgin Mary during late December of 4 BC.(Luke 1:35)

Later, this January, astoundingly, within the current heavenly context and the scope of proximate celestial events, Comet Holmes will pass, as Comet Hyakutake and Comet Hale Bopp did previously, over the decapitated head of Medusa, represented by the bright star Agol in Perseus. At this time, Jupiter, the Lord of righteousness, will be “in the east in the rising” in Sagittarius along with Venus, the glorious bride.(Postscript: It was on the day that nebulous Comet Holmes passed over the bright star Agol in Perseus that stock markets worldwide tumbled. This prompted the US Federal Reserve, in an emergency meeting, to lower interest rates and the US President Bush to call for a cash rebate to US taxpayers in an attempt to avoid worldwide financail calamity.)

Then on February 21st, in the middle of the 12th Hebrew month of Adar, the full moon, riding next to Regulus with Saturn approaching, will be eclipsed at sunrise as it sets in the west as seen from a relatively small area of the earth that includes the heart of ancient Persia. In the eastern rising in this area on this day-break, will be Jupiter in Sagittarius and close by in Capricorn will be Venus and Mercury. This eclipse occurs in striking coincidence on the Hebrew joyous feast day of Purim.(Ester 9:24) This being the historic day that, in an ironic twist of fate, the Hebrews held capitive in Persia were spared annihilation by the king's command while those who planned their annihilation were destroyed. It was on this annual feast day of Purim, centuries later, that, after ordaination by the Holy Spirit at the river Jordan, Jesus first entered Jerusalem.(John 5:1) Then, in the following year, in these days including Purim, Jesus sent out the seventy saints to go before him to Jerusalem in his final entry during the Passover season.

It seems almost certain that these accumulated signs of the times would have held the rapt attention of the Magi of Persia. Without the historical impartation of their depth of knowledge and understanding, we can only wonder at what their interpretation might have been. We do know however, from scripture, that the ancients searched for the time between the sufferings of Jesus Christ’s first coming and the glories of his second coming. Could these signs represent the coming of the ten thousand transformed saints, prior to the Lord, to judge unbelief as written in the pre deluge prophesey by Enoch?(Jude 14) And, in correspondence, could these signs represent the fullness of times for the commencement of the period of his glorious second coming to resurrect the all the dead and then rule those invited into paradise?

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