The Heavens Declare: conclusion

The Heavens Declare: constellations as prophecy

Introduction

1. Virgo & Libra
2. Scorpio & Sagittarius

3. Capricorn & Aquarius
4. Pisces & Aries

5. Taurus & Gemini
6. Cancer & Leo

Conclusion

We’ve spent some time looking at the ancient constellations and their associated myths and meanings. The thesis of this study has been that, in their original form, these signs were composed by pre-Flood prophets of God, foretelling in graphic form the same story that the Bible tells in its verbal prophecies. Thus, non-literate cultures and individuals would not be left without a witness. Yes, this is a theory. But you have seen the evidence. The order and congruence with biblical truth seems beyond coincidence, and the harmony with orthodox theology seems too ancient to be fraud.

Briefly, the structure we’ve looked at can be out­lined like this:

I. Book One: First Coming

A. Virgo: Virgin and Child — proph­ecy of the Seed

1. Coma the Desired Child

2. Centaurus the Despised Sin-offer­ing

3. Arcturus the Coming One

B. Libra: the Altar and the Law — work ac­com­plished (in grace)

1. Crux the Cross

2. Victima the Victim

3. Corona the Crown

B. Scorpio: the Adver­sary — work ac­complished (in con­flict)

1. Serpens the Serpent

2. Serpentarius the Ser­pent-Hold­er

3. Hercules the Strong One

A. Sagittarius: the Archer — ful­fill­ment of the prophe­sied vic­tory

1. Lyra the Harp, sound of praise

2. Ara the Altar, fires of judgment

3. Draco the Dragon, cast out

II. Book Two: The Redeemed

C. Capricorn: the Sin-of­fering — prophecy of the deliverance

1. Sagitta the Arrow, pierc­ing

2. Aquila the Eagle, smit­ten

3. Delphinus the Dolphin, ris­ing

D. Aquarius: the Living Waters — re­sults of the work bestowed (in grace)

1. Pisces Australis, the Fish, receiv­ing life

2. Pegasus the Winged Horse, coming quickly

3. Cygnus the Swan, return­ing

D. Pisces: the Great Mul­titude — re­sults of the work received (in conflict)

1. the Band, of bondage

2. Andromeda the Woman Chained

3. Cepheus the Coming King

C. Aries: the Lamb of God — fulfillment of the deliver­ance

1. Cassiopeia the Woman Ruling

2. Cetus, Leviathan Bound

3. Perseus the Head-crusher

III. Book Three: Second Coming

E. Taurus: The Returning King — prophecy of the judgment

1. Orion the Coming Light

2. Eridanus the Fiery River

3. Auriga the Shepherd

F. Gemini: the Mediator — the Redeemer's reign (in grace)

1. Lepus the Serpent Destroyed

2. Canis Major, the Prince who Crushes

3. Canis Minor, the Prince who Completes

F. Cancer: the Fold — the Redeemer's pos­session (in peace)

1. Ursa Minor, the Lesser-fold, of Israel

2. Ursa Major, the Greater-fold, of the Nations

3. Argo the Return of the Redeemed

E. Leo: the Conquering Lion — fulfillment of the tri­umph

1. Hydra the Serpent Pierced

2. Crater the Cup, of wrath

3. Corvus the Raven, dis­posing

There are, of course, other obvious and natural ways to arrange these signs. For example, the Milky Way streams across the empyrean from southwest to north­east; twelve constellations rest on this heavenly path — the first six being assigned to the First Coming, and the latter six to the Second Coming. Thus, we find the lowly Cross and the se­vere Altar, the dead­ly Scorpi­on and the wounded Eagle, the Swan promising its return and finally the ruling king, Cepheus. Again, we find the Church enthroned (Cassiopeia), the mighty groom (Per­seus), the ruling Shep­herd (Auriga), the union of God with man (Gemini), the van­quisher of evil (Orion), and last, the assembly of the redeemed (Argo).

Regardless of any relative arrangement, when we analyze these constella­tions we find four broad categories: the Savior, the Redeemed, the Adver­sary, and various symbolic objects. Fitting­ly, twenty-four of the forty-eight signs — exactly half — represent the person of the Savior: Virgo the Seed of the woman, Coma the Desired Child, Centaurus the double-natured Avenger, Arcturus the Coming Guardian, the fallen Victim, Serpenta­rius the Ser­pent-Hold­er, Hercules the Strong One, Sagittarius the trium­phant Archer, Capricorn the Sin-offering, Aquila the Eagle, the rising Dolphin, Aquarius the Life-giver, Pegasus the Winged Horse, Cygnus the Swan, Cepheus the Coming King, Aries the Lamb, Perseus the Head-crusher, Taurus the returning King, Orion the Coming Light, Auriga the Shepherd, Gemini the Dual-natured God, Canis Major the Prince who Crushes, Canis Minor the Prince who Completes, and finally Leo the Lion. A sixth of the signs — that is, eight of them — deal with saved humanity: Pisces Australis the transformed saint, Pisces the re­deemed multi­tudes, Andromeda the Bride Chained, Cassiopeia the Woman Ruling, Cancer the Fold, Ursa Minor the Lesser-fold, Ursa Major the Greater-fold, and finally Argo the Returned. The Adversary is the subject of six signs, an eighth of the total: Scorpio the Enemy, Serpens the Ser­pent, Draco the Dragon, Cetus the Levia­than, Lepus the Serpent, and finally Hydra the Monster. As for the objects, there are ten signs (about a fifth of the total) of this type: Libra the Balances of atonement, the Cross of redemp­tion, the Crown of victory, the Harp of praise, the Altar of punishment, the Arrow of affliction, the Band of restraint, the Fiery River of damnation, the Cup of wrath, and finally the Raven of defeat.

Aside from the solar zo­diac, the night sky was also sometimes arranged by the ancients of Scandi­na­via, Ara­bia, Per­sia, India, the China of Emperor Yao, Burma, and even Mexico) into the lunar zodiac — the Mansions of the Moon. In this scheme, cer­tainly once as important as the solar zodiac, the fa­mil­iar circle of the night was divided into 28 sections, or mansions — one for about each day of the lunar month. The Arabic names and mean­ings of these Man­sions are summa­rized in the Ta­ble.[1] The signi­f­i­cance of these names — from a pa­tently non-Christian source — is too obvi­ous to merit explanation.

Ancient Mansions of the Moon
1	Al Awa	the Desired	Vir­go
2	Semak al Azel	Branch of the pow­er of God
3	Caphir	Atone­ment
4	Al Zubena	the Redeem­ing	Li­bra
5	Al Iclil	the Submission, or Or­na­ment
6	Al Kalb	the Wound­ing	Sc­or­pio
7	Al Shaula	the Sting
8	Al Naim	the Gracious	Sag­it­tar­ius
9	Beldah	Hasten­ing
10	Al Dibah	the Slain Sacri­fice	Cap­ri­corn
11	Sa'ad al Bula	Drinking In	Aqu­ar­i­us
12	Sa'ad al Su'ud	Outpour­ing
13	Al Achbiya	the Fountain of Pour­ing
14	Al Pherg al Muchad­dem	the Former Proge­ny	Pi­sces
15	Al Pherg al Muach­her	the Latter Proge­ny
16	Al Risha	the Band, United
17	Al Sheratan	the Wound­ed, Cut Off	Ar­ies
18	Al Botein	the Treading Un­der Foot
19	Al Thur­aiya	the Enemy Punished
20	Al Debaran	the Ruler	Tau­rus
21	Al Heka	the Driving Away
22	Al Henah	the Foot-Wounded	Gem­ini
23	Al Dirah	the Abused
24	Al Nethra	the Cher­ished	Can­cer
25	Al Terpha	the Delivered
26	Al Gieba	the Exalta­tion	Leo
27	Al Zubra	the Reckoning
28	Al Serpha	the Pyre

We noticed at the begin­ning of this chapter the cor­relation of the twelve ma­jor constel­la­tions with the tribes of Is­rael. A similar correspondence may be found between these signs and the most ancient patriarchs, from Adam to Arphaxad. Adam ("man" or "mortal") is that Seed of the virgin (Virgo), born a man so that He might conquer death; Seth ("ap­pointed") points to the sat­isfying of justice at the altar by substi­tuting righ­teous­ness for sin (Libra). The final Adam, Jesus, was appointed as the sacrifice for the Altar of the Cross. Enosh ("afflic­tion"­ — anash) re­calls the scourge of the enemy (Scor­pio), Kenan (both "sor­row" and "acqui­si­tion") sig­ni­fies the hardship and the victory of dual-na­tured Christ (Sagittari­us), and Mahalaleel ("the great or praised God") is our sin-offer­ing (Cap­ri­corn). Jared ("shall come down" — yaradh) re­minds us of the liv­ing wa­ters pour­ing down on us (Aqua­r­i­us), and Enoch ("teaching") points to that teaming throng so greatly in need of wisdom (Pisces). Methuse­lah ("his death shall bring" — muth and shalach) is the promise of vi­cari­ous and confi­dent leisure (Aries), and Lamech ("despairing" or "mighty" — cf. lament) is the harsh judg­ment and irre­sistible promise of God's justice (Taurus). Noah ("rest" — nacham) indi­cates the repose of the Church found only in the arms of the Lord (Gemi­ni), Shem ("name" or "renown") recalls the fold that answers to His voice and by doing so is honored and called by His name (Cancer), and Arphaxad ("strength") signifies the dignity and irre­sistible might of the Lord in his ultimate power (Leo).

In­teresting­ly, if we string to­gether the names of these first patri­archs, we have a perfectly clear annuncia­tion of the Gospel: To Man (Adam) is Ap­pointed (Shem) Afflic­tion (Enosh) and Sor­row (Kenan). The Great God (Mahalaleel) Shall Come Down (Jared), Teaching (Enoch). His Death Shall Bring (Methuse­lah) to the Despairing (Lamech), Rest (Noah), and his Name (Shem) shall bring Strength (Arphaxad).

Now, we may well ask why we must scrabble through the ash heap of pagan­ism — with its lascivi­ous myth and its impi­ous, fortune-telling astrolo­gy — to make an explanation of the similari­ties between the Gospel and the false religion of as­trology. Why is the corrup­tion we have explored in these pages merely de­nounced in the Bible, rather than being expli­cat­ed in detail similar to that which we have been consid­ering? Why does the Bible not record that the Gospel was taught by the stars?

Every book in the Old Testament was written specifically for Israel, with the exception of the book of Job, a gentile. Israel had the pure tradition of Noah and the sure prophets of God. Israel did not need the stars, since the Gospel was a living tradition — indeed, the very thing Israel was chosen for was to preserve the Gospel.

The relatively profound silence of the Bible regarding the zodiac is easily understood when we remember how readily Israel apostatized, chasing after the sabaistic worship of the pagans, where the stars themselves, as well as the gods behind them, were adored. “Whatever might tend to obscure or diminish the broad lines of separation between Israel and the other por­tions of the human family . . . was to be avoided by all true Israelites. In every pos­sible direction we observe the utmost precaution to keep Israel in com­plete isola­tion.”[2] The stars, more than anything else, were thus to be shunned — just as the Bible does. The Gospel is completely enunciated in the Bible, explicitly, with no appeal to the tainted traditions of the gentiles, and no dependence upon oral tradition or mnemonic devices.

At the same time, because of the divine authorship of the constellations, we find no condemnation of the images themselves — only of the corrupt, idolatrous byproduct. With this in mind, we understand that Job had natural revela­tion and whatever sanitary primeval teach­ing he had received from his ethnic source. Job had the stars. It is for this reason that in Job's book, more than any other of the Bible, we read of the Mazza­roth. Thus, it is Job who speaks of Orion, and the Bear, and the Pleiades of Taurus (cf. 9:9, 38:31,32), and also of Scorpio (9:9) and Hydra (26:13). He cites these signs because they were the primer in which he first read truth.

Consider the strength of the case I have made. We cannot have empirical proof. We can have only circumstantial proof, only histori­cal proof. But even with this nec­essarily indirect and subjective evidence, I am bold enough to say that the premise of this chapter is overwhelmingly confirmed. No matter what other interpretation may be given to the evidence, this interpre­tation is absolute­ly in harmony with the biblical teaching regarding the grace and atonement of the Messiah. If a skeptic thought here or there that I have stretched an interpretation, or read too much into some given data, yet even that skeptic must agree that, overall, I have been reasonable. It is clear that in the names of the stars and constellations as we have studied them, there is nothing lacking and nothing to be added, to reproduce the Gospel contained in the Bible. Given a pure stream of doctrine, the ancients could have perfectly known the way of the salvation of grace.

The intuitions of Aristotle, and of Nean­der too, were cor­rect — their zodiac was a caricature and a grotesque perver­sion of an origi­nal design. Mankind was not left without a wit­ness. The startling stars, so brilliant in the new heavens which ap­peared after the Flood, were made by some true prophet of God to tell the story of the Seed of the woman, Who would crush the head of the serpent. The message was clear, and known to all the first genera­­tions. Unfortu­nately, mankind “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Cre­ator, Who is blessed forever” (Rom 1:25). And even if God did not speak of his salva­tion through the constellations, He did reveal all necessary truth from the earliest days (Lk 1:68‑70): “He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up a Horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David; as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began.”

I have summarized these ideas be­cause they shed such clear light on the prostitution at Babel, which we will look at in the next chapter. As for the zodiac today, after having written this chapter I cannot help but know something of the signs, but I find little worth in knowing their names. Mount Rushmore is great, but I would rather meet Wash­ington, and Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt in person. Just so, we no longer need the mne­monic device of the Mazzaroth (zodiac): we have the ex­plicit words of God, in the Bible. And we shall, some of us, know Him face to face. In the mean time, the perversion has become so powerful that the only truth left in the zodiac is historic truth.

---

[1].From Seiss, pp. 141-142.

[2].Seiss, p. 176.

6. Cancer & Leo

The Heavens Declare: constellations as prophecy

Introduction

1. Virgo & Libra
2. Scorpio & Sagittarius

3. Capricorn & Aquarius
4. Pisces & Aries

5. Taurus & Gemini
6. Cancer & Leo

Conclusion

Issachar / Cancer (Gen 49:14-15)

The third "chapter" of the Book of the Second Coming was called by the Egyptians Klaria, "cattle-fold". In Arabic it is called Al Sartan ("who holds" — the same meaning as the Syriac name). The Akkadian name was shared with its month, called Su-kul-na ("the seizer" or "pos­sessor of seed"). Again, in Greek the name was Karkinos ("encircling" or "hold­ing"), which is also the meaning of its Latin name, Cancer (Khan-Ker is "inn-encir­cled" or "rest-secured" in Arabic); from this ‘circle’ derives its ancient and modern image, the Crab. A crab, in its chang­ing of smaller shells for larger — weaker bodies for bet­ter — is a not inept portrait of the saints of the resurrection, who lay off "the body of this death" to be "clothed upon with our house which is from heav­en". A similar meta­phor was used in Egypt and India, of a (dung) bee­tle (Scara­bæus), shown hold­ing the ball in which it has deposited its eggs. So, the grub which spent its past living in literal dung, meta­morphosized into an iridescent creature of flight — soiled only in its care of its own young. Another, more ancient Egyp­tian image of this sign was of Herma­nu­bis, Hermes with the head of an ibis or hawk. My­tholo­gy identifies this Crab as that sea-creature which bit the foot of Hercu­les as he battled Hydra, the Lernæan monster; in typol­ogy, Jesus con­quers the body of death; for all the pains which creation caused Him — and we all put Him on the Cross — Jesus still brings that creation to rest.

Cancer's brightest star is in what is now the tail, called Tegmine ("hold­ing"). In the larger, lower "claw" is Acubene ("hiding place"). Another of its stars is called in Arabic Ma'alaph ("as­sembled thou­sands") and Al Hima­rein ("the lambs"). Con­tained within the ‘fold’ is a bright nebula now called "the Beehive", whose ancient name was Præsepe, "a multitude" or "off­spring". The Romans saw it as a manger within a camp, recalling back to the iden­tification of Cancer as a Cattle-fold. Above and below this nebula are the stars Asellus Bareas and Asellus Australis, "the northern and the south­ern ass" — it is this which tells us that Cancer is linked to the tribe of Issa­char ("recom­pense"). In Gen 49:14 we read: “Issachar is a strong don­key, lying down between two burdens [or sheep­folds — Jdg 5:16]”; the link is furthered in Deut 33:18‑19, when we consid­er the tents and wealth of cara­van­ing mer­chants. Of its 83 stars, a mere 8 could be seen by the pre-Flood patriarchs.

As in the decans of Gemini, all the con­stel­la­tions of the "Can­cer" group have had their original im­ages distorted. Just as "the Cat­tle-Fold" was cor­rupted into "the Crab", so the first decan was original­ly "the Lesser Fold" — known to us as "the Little Dip­per", or Ursa Minor ("the Little Bear"). An­oth­er Latin name was Septen­triones, the "seven which re­volve" — from which the Romans arrived at their word for ‘north’; the Arabs noted its rotation in the name Ogilah, "going round". Other names were Kochab ("the star" or "waiting the com­ing"), Al Pherkadain ("the calves" or "the re­deemed"), Al Gedi ("the kid"), and Al Kaid ("the assembled"). Obviously, the original meaning had nothing to do with bears. We might better find in these Seven Stars the Seven Church­es of John's Revelation, gathered around the Throne. The confu­sion with a Bear arose from the sim­ilarity between the Hebrew words for "fold" (dohver) and "bear" (dohv) — a simi­larity re­tained in both Arabic and Persian. Thus the Greeks replaced the fold with the bear — an obvi­ous cor­ruption, as one glance at the smaller Bear's freak­ishly long tail proves, ridic­u­lously extend­ed to end at the Pole Star.

In­deed, the Pole Star is the brightest of the constel­lation's stars, called Al Ruccaba ("turned" or "ridden on"); it is Cyno­sure in Greek, after which the entire constel­la­tion was called (the Greeks took the name from Mes­opotamia, An-nas-sur-ra, meaning something like "on high"[1]). As we saw, the pivot of heaven, the pole, was once possessed by the Dragon, but now resides within the haven of the Righteous, who “possesses the gate of his enemies.” Next in bright­ness is Kochab ("await­ing Him who cometh"). Another star is Arctos ("the strong­hold of the saved"), from which derives ‘arctic’. There are now 24 stars in this sign, of which 7 are original.

Beneath the Lesser Flock we find "the Greater Fold" (cf. Lk 12:32). We call the sign "the Big Dipper", and more formally as Ursa Major, "The Great Bear". The seven bright­est stars were called by the rabbis Ash, which in the Bible (cf. Job 9:9) is trans­lated as "the Bear and her train", or sometimes rendered "Arcturus and his sons" (as in the third decan of Virgo, ‘Arctu­rus’ means "He cometh"). It is also called Al Naish (A. "the assembled togeth­er"). The Egyp­tian image was of a swine-headed woman holding a plow, and named Fent-Har, "The Serpent-horrifier"; when we recall how violently a pig tears up the earth, and how dan­ge­rous it is to snakes, then both the plow and the name become understandable. The Greeks said the nymph Callisto was transformed into this bear by Juno, but this is an etymological confusion, since Caulae is a semitic root meaning, once again, "sheep­fold".

The brightest star is on the ‘lip’ of the Dipper, called Dubheh in Hebrew, meaning "a herd of cattle" (akin to "security" and to the Akkadian word for "wealth"); its Ara­bic name is Dubhe (A. "flock" — anoth­er name for the entire constel­lation). Next, directly below, is Merach (H. "the flock", and A. "pur­chased"). Directly to the left is Phaeda ("guarded" or "num­bered"), and the star above, completing the square, was probably called El Kaphrah (A. "protected", H. "ran­somed"). Just to the left along the ‘handle’ of the Dipper is Alioth ("she-goat", as that held by the Shepherd, third decan of Tau­rus); half-way down the handle is star Mizar ("separate"), immedi­ately next is Al Cor ("lamb"), and at the tip is Benet Naish (A. "daughters of the assem­bly"). Other, unidenti­fied stars had names meaning "the latter flock", "the ap­pointed sheep-fold", "multitude", "assembled", "sepa­rated", and "band of travellers". Of the 87 stars currently visible in this sign, only 18 are original.

The final decan of Cancer is called Argo (another word meaning "band of travellers"). It shares its name with the ship of Jason, who reco­vered the lost treasure from the coveting ser­pent; this myth was imposed upon the origi­nal sign which told a similar story, of Him who defeated the dragon, dried the seas and made a way of crossing for the redeemed (Is 51:9‑11). The Ship is shown as having two galley decks, each with a ram's-head prow; the stern ends in the tail of a fish. The Egyptian image preserved from Dendera is called Shes-en-Fent ("re­joi­cing upon the serpent"): a mighty corralled ox, wearing around its neck the Egyptian cross of life. The Persian image shows three virgins, stroll­ing in safety. At the keel, the most prominent star is the helmsman Canopus ("the posses­sion of Him who cometh" — symbolized else­where as a bountiful urn). Other stars have names meaning "the branch", "the de­sired", "abun­dance", "pos­session", and "the released who trav­el". Of the Ship's 64 stars, 25 were in the original design.

In Isaiah (60:4‑5,9) we have the same pic­tures:

“Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gath­er together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abun­­dance of the sea shall be turned to you, [and] the wealth of the Gen­tiles shall come to you. . . . Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; and the ships of Tar­shish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their sil­ver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, be­cause He has glori­fied you.”

And again (Is 35:10): “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

And so, in Cancer, the true picture is of the safety of the Shepherd's Fold which hides the multitude of lambs. We have the Lesser Fold, the assembly of the redeemed, harboring those who partook in the heavenly call­ing, who awaited a heavenly city ("Ursa Minor"); it circles round the heavens' center, which is no longer the hold of the Dragon but now the strong­hold of the little flock. Again, we find the Seven Stars (cf. Rev 1:16,20), the appointed sheepfold of the latter flock, purchased, sep­arat­ed out, num­bered and guarded ("Ursa Major"). Finally, we find the two folds again represented in the two decks of that Ark which plows the seas, filled with riches and freemen (Argo). It seems reason­able to iden­tify the Little Flock with redeemed Israel (cf. Lk 12:32), and the Greater Fold with the Church and its redeemed gentiles (cf. Jn 10:16).

Judah / Leo (Gen 49:8-12)

Finally, the last of all the signs, and the last "chapter" the Book of the Second Com­ing, deals with Leo, or in Hebrew Arieh, the hunting Lion. In Syriac the name is Aryo ("the rend­ing lion") and in Arabic Al Asad ("the lion leaping"). This Lion is treading upon the con­stel­lation of the fleeing serpent, Hydra. John (Rev 5:5) has recorded this truth: “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed . . .” Again, in Hosea (13:7,8) we find that God “will be unto them as a lion. I will rend the caul of their heart. I will devour them like a lion.” The Egyptian image is of a lion crush­ing a serpent (Hydra) which has a bird (Cor­vus) perched and feeding on its body; below, a fe­male figure holds out two cups (Crat­er); knem, the word for "con­quered", is written under­neath. The Egyp­tian name of this con­stel­lation is Pi-mentekeon, meaning "the pouring out", as of wrath. At the heart of the lion is the bright­est star, Regulus ("treading under foot"). Next, at the end of the tail, is Denebola ("the hasten­ing judge"). In the mane is Al Giebha ("the exalta­tion"), and on the back is Zosma ("shining forth"). Other stars have names mean­ing "the judge cometh who seizes", "the pun­ishing from the li­on", and "the enemy put down". A fi­nal star is Sarcam, meaning "joining" or ‘the joint’, indi­cating the bound­ary be­tween the begin­ning and end of the con­stel­la­tions. Of the Lion's 95 visible stars, only 22 were seen in the original design. The link between Judah and the Lion is too obvious to need to expand upon.

Beneath the Lion, and the Cattle-Fold which is Cancer, the leviathan Hydra twists toward the Prince Who Crushes (Canis Minor). Hydra mean­s "he is abhor­red", and just as the levia­than Cetus is the lar­gest of the con­stella­tions, so Hydra, "Levia­than, the crooked ser­pent", is the lon­gest, spanning almost a third of the equator of the heavens; it seems likely that this is the dragon which swept away a third of the stars from heav­en. The Lion attacks this monster, mirroring Psalm 74: “God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth, breaking the heads of the dragons in the waters . . .” The Hydra of myth had a hun­dred regener­ating heads, and was slain only with the use of fire. Its major star is at the heart of the mon­ster, called Al Phard (A. "put away"); an­other star, probably in its head, is Minchar al Sugia ("the tearing of the deceiv­er"), and yet another is called Al Drian ("the abhor­red"). Sixteen of the 60 visible stars were seen in the sky of the pre-Flood night.

The second decan of the Lion is known as Crater, the Cup. This is the “cup of His indignation” (Rev 14:10), and as to its dregs, “all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them” — Ps 75:8 (cf. Rev 16:19). Of its 13 stars, only three were orig­i­nally seen, two at its base. In the Egyptian zodi­ac, the woman holding the two cups was called Her-ua, mean­ing "great enemy"; these cups would be the same two bright stars which go to make the base of the single cup, which is shown as wide and deep, embedded in the very body of the serpent. This is a mirror of the image of Rev 17:4, where the Great Harlot sits en­throned on the back of the scarlet beast, drinking from the cup of abominations.

Last of all the images is Corvus, or Oreb, the "Raven", shown feasting on the monstrous Hydra. The Egyptian name for this bird was Her-na, "the enemy-failing". The biblical image is well-formed of unclean birds feasting on the wicked: David (1S 17:46) promises to Goliath that “I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air . . .”; Proverbs (30:17) tells us that the “eye that mocketh at his father . . . the ravens of the valley shall pick it out . . .”; from The Revelation (19:18) we have the picture of an angel in the sun, “call­ing with a great voice to all the fowls and birds of prey to come and feast themselves on the flesh of the enemy.” The primary star is in the eye, called Al Chibar (rendered either "the curse inflicted" or "joining together" — related to H. "accursed", Num 23:8). In the right wing is Al Goreb ("the raven"), and another star was called Minchar al Gorab ("the raven tearing to pieces"). Perhaps 6 of its 9 stars were seen in the first edition of the zodiac.

The story which the constellations of Leo tells, then, is of the actual van­quishing of the enemies of God. We find the rending Lion (Leo), the pierced deceiver (Hydra), the cup of wrath (Crater) and the dis­posing of the corpse (Corvus).

The final book — the Second Com­ing — deals with the com­ing Judge (Tau­rus), His dou­ble nature (Gemini), the taking of His inheri­tance (Cancer), and his final His tri­umph (Leo).

The first "book" deals with the First Coming (birth and death, adver­sity and vic­tory), the second with redemp­tion it­self (the bless­ings procured, ensured, await­ed, and real­ized,) and the third with the Sec­ond Coming (the judgment, reign, kingdom, and final vic­to­ry). In each book, the first chap­ter deals with the Person, the last with the victory, and the middle two with the grace and the conflict of the Savior. Again, the last decan of the first book — of the First Coming — shows the Dragon, cast down; the second-from-last decan of the second book — of the Redeemed — shows Levia­than, bound; the third-from-last decan of the third book — of the Sec­ond Com­ing — shows Hy­dra, the old Ser­pent, de­stroy­ed. Many such paral­lels may be found.

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[1].Bullinger, p. 152.