2. Scorpio & Sagittarius

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

Dan / Scorpio (Gen 49:17)

The third "chapter" is Scorpio, poised to strike the Serpent Holder; it is called Akrab (Hebrew and Arabic: "scorpion" and also "wounding" or "the conflict", the root found in Ps 144:1). Job (9:9) calls this sign "the Chambers of the South", referring to its opposi­tion to Taurus and the Pleiades, directly across the sky. The Greek name of Scorpio was Chelai ("the Claws"), the Coptic name was Isidis ("op­pres­sion", cf. Ps 17:9), and an­other Egyp­tian name was Zugon ("the yoke"). The Akka­dian name was Gir-tab, "the Seizer and Sting­er" — reach­ing out to take hold of the Altar of Libra. The Greeks identi­fied Scor­pio with Typhon (Python), hundred-headed father of the multi-headed dog of hell, the Hydra, and the three-head­ed, fire-breathing Chimera. The brightest star is red — located at the heart — named in Arabic Antares ("tear­ing"). The star of the tail is Lesath (H. "the per­verse"). The ancients considered a scorpion sting to be the most excruciating of all pain. The tribe of Dan ("judge") is linked to Scorpio by being “a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels”. Alto­geth­er, this con­stel­la­tion has 44 stars, but it had 21 when it was designed.

Stretching to­ward "the Crown" is the first decan of Scor­pio, Serpens (the Serpent) or Khu (Egyptian for "ruled" or "ene­my"). This Serpent is re­strained by a powerful man, and bludgeoned by heroic Hercules. Its major star, in the neck, is Unuk ("encoil­ing"), also called Alyah (H. "the ac­cur­sed") and Al Hay (A. "the rep­tile"). Next in bright­ness, in the jaw, is Chelbalrai (A. "the ser­pent enfold­ing").

The serpent is trapped and twist­ing in the grip of the second decan, Ophiu­chus (Gr: "the serpent holder") — called in Lat­in Ser­pen­tarius, and in Arabic, Cheleb Afei (with same meaning). The tableau is of Scor­pio grasping at the Altar, but crushed while sting­ing the foot of this Man who strangles the Ser­pent; compare Lk 10:19, “I give you power to tread on ser­pents and scorpi­ons, and over all the power of the enemy.” The Greeks called this man Æscu­la­pius, that divine figure so closely linked with the serpent. The most important aspect of Æsculapius was his healing power, symbol­ized by his being the father of seven children (at­trib­utes): Healer, Physician, Desired One, Health-giver, Beautifier, Cure-bring­er, and All-remedy. Æscu­la­pius was said to have raised the dead with blood from the side of Jus­tice, mixed with that of the slain monster, Gorgon; he himself died from a blow of heaven — yet after suffering this curse he rose again, glorified. The Egyptian image is Api-bau ("the com­ing king") — a man with the head of a hawk (enemy of ser­pents), seated on a throne. The bright­est star of this Hold­er, in the head, is Ras al Hagus (A. "the head of the hold­er"). Un­identi­fied stars in these two decans have Hebrew names meaning "treading under foot", "bruised" (located in the man's foot), "the wounding", and "con­tending". Together, these two decans contain 134 visi­ble stars, but the patri­archs could have seen only 29.

Finally, the third decan is Hercules, or Al Giscale (A. "the strong one"), and in Egypt, Bau (as with Boötes, "the coming one"). Cloaked in the skin of a lion, he is down on one knee, right heel raised as if wound­ed, left foot on the head of Draco the dragon; his right hand holds a bludgeon, and his left grasps the three-headed mon­ster, Cerberus, and sometimes also the Golden Apples which he has recovered from the Dragon. The chief star, in his head, is Ras al Gethi ("head of the bruis­er"). In the right shoul­der, the star next in brightness is Korne­phorus ("the branch, kneel­ing"). The right elbow is Marsic ("the wound­ing"), in the upper left arm is Ma'asyn ("the sin-offer­ing"), and in the lower right arm is Caiaim ("pun­ish­ing", or in Arabic, "tread­ing under foot"). I will discuss the labors of Hercules in Chapter 5. Of its 113 stars, only 24 are original.

Consider Ps 91:13: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder. The young lion and the dragon[1] (ser­pent) shalt Thou tram­ple un­der foot”. Consider Rev 12:4, where the Drag­on sweeps the sky with its tail. Consid­er Rev 9:3, where demons wreak de­struc­tion as with the tails of scor­pions. Thus, in Scor­pio, we have the Coming One's oppres­sive, perverse woun­der (Ser­pens), trod­den upon by the Coming King (Ophiu­chus), the lion slayer, who breaks with his hands the coiling ad­versary; thus we find, shattering the three-heads of a mon­ster, the Mighty One who comes even though wounded for the sins of others (Hercules).

Asher/Sagittarius (Gen 49:20 Deut 33:24‑25)

The final chapter in the Book of the First Coming is Sagit­tarius, the Archer — called Toxotes in Greek, and in Hebrew, Kesith ("the archer" — cf. Gen 21:20); in Arabic it is Al Kaus ("the arrow"), in Egyptian, Pimaere ("graciousness" or "the beauty of com­ing forth"), and in the Akkadian of ancient Baby­lonia, Nun-ki ("Prince of the Earth"). The constella­tion de­picts a centaur (also identi­fied as Cheiron), and a hieroglyph beneath the rear foot reads Knem ("He con­quers"). His arrow is aimed at the heart of Scorpio. Sag­ittarius is supposed to be relatively re­cent, but Berosus states that its image was in the Tem­ple of Babylon from prime­val times. In­deed, Centau­rus is iden­tified as Kronos him­self[2] — whom we will learn to be Nimrod. The promi­nent stars are Naim (H. "the gra­cious one" — cf. Ps 45:2), Nehushta (H. "going or send­ing forth"), Al Shaula (A. "the dart"), and Ruchba er rami (A. "the riding of the bow­man"); oth­ers have names denoting delight, grace, and speed. We find these images in Ps 45:4-5: “in Your maj­esty ride pros­perously because of truth, humility, and righteous­ness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's ene­mies . . .” Again, in Ps 64:7‑8, we read of those who have set a snare, “God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly they shall be wound­ed. So He will make them stum­ble over their own tongue…” It once had only 14 stars, but now 69.

The first decan of the Ar­cher is Gnasor in Hebrew, known to us as Lyra, the Harp — the instrument of praise. The Harp is sometimes held by an eagle, and its Egyptian image, in fact, was of a hawk, and called Fent-kar ("the serpent is ruled"). The most bril­liant star in this harp is the ra­diant Vega ("exalt­ed", from which root our word "victory" derives). Its next two bright­est stars are Shelyuk (H. "an eagle") and Sulaphat ("ascen­d­ing"). We have the praises of the exalted Con­quer­or, rising up on the wings of an eagle. It origi­nally had only about 5 stars.

The second decan is Ara (L., "the Altar" — in Greek, "cursing"), and it is the lowest of the constella­tions, its fires pointing into the abyss of the outer dark­ness, pouring, as it were, into the Lake of Fire. Ara has the sense of "prayer", but even more, it “connects directly with the Hebrew mara and aram, which mean a curse, utter destruc­tion.”[3] In Arab­ic it is called Al Mugamra ("the culmi­na­tion", cf. Ps 138:8, “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me”), and from Egypt, the Dendera zodiac shows it as Bau (again, "the Com­ing One"), a throned man holding a scourge over that night-creature, the unclean jackal. Com­pare Ps 21:8,9: “. . .Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them.” In Rev 14:11, we are told that “the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever . . .” Seven of its 9 stars are original.

Like all the final decans of the Book of the First Coming, the third decan of Sagittar­ius marks the victory of God. The Egyp­tian image is Her-fent ("the serpent accur­sed"), and the modern sign, beneath the feet of Her­cules, is the Dragon (Draco, re H. dahrach, "to tread") as he is cast out of heaven. We might think of the Dragon as the "Tyrannosaurus Rex", not just for its kingly name, but because of its unparalleled reputation for fierceness; where the Serpent is cunning and deceitful, the Dragon is a symbol of earthly empire, violent and defiant. This is the dragon which hoarded the Golden Apples, and lost them and its life to Hercules. The various aspects of this evil being are integrated of course, as by the chief star, Thuban (H. "the sub­tle") — said to have been the Pole Star. Thus, the commo­tion, the casting down, is symbol­ized by the chang­ing of the pole star: the hea­vens have been shaken, and the Dra­gon has lost his place. See Rev 12:9, “The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiv­eth the whole world: he was cast out and his angels with him.” In its fall, it swept away a third of the stars. The next brightest star, in the head, is Rastaban (H. "head of the sub­tle"), Al Waid (A. "who is to be de­stroyed"), or Al Dib ("the reptile"); the third bright­est star is Etanin (H. "the long serpent"). Uniden­tified stars have names in Hebrew mean­ing "the subtle" and "the punished enemy"; Arabic names mean "the fraud­ful" and "the bowed down". Of the 80 stars now visible in Draco, 21 are original.

The final chap­ter, then, tells of the beau­tiful, moun­ted Archer coming in victo­ry (Sag­ittari­us), his praises rising high (Lyra), his enemies scourged and eternally in fire (Al­tar), his enemy re­vealed, hum­bled and thrown down (Draco). The link to Asher ("the blessed going forth") is in the general presen­tation of the exalted con­queror enjoying the prosperity of victory (Gen 49:20), anointed even on his feet, shod in pro­ven bronze and mighty iron (Deut 33:24‑25). So ends the Book of the First Coming, the book of the virgin birth (Virgo), the price paid (Li­bra), the enemy de­feat­ed (Scor­pio), and the victory won (Sagittarius).

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[1].The word here for "dragon" is used 15 times in the Bi­ble, as in Is 27:1 ("He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea"), or Eze 29:3 ("Behold, I am against you, O Pha­raoh king of Egypt, O great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers").

[2].Scholiast, Lycophron, v. 120; in His­lop, p. 42.

[3].Seiss, p. 56; italics his.