Elsa had a link the other day to a site called Astrococktail that has a great collection of news links with astrological connections. From that site I found a link to the works of Chrichton Miller, who speculates that the Celtic Cross was an instrument for astronomical calculation, and that the ancients knew the locations of many of the constellations by using the Celtic Cross.
Miller claims that the constellation Draconis (the Dragon, or Serpent) lies above the latitude of 66.6 degrees. Astronomer David Pratt confirms this: "The north ecliptic pole lies in the constellation Draco, and has the equatorial coordinates 18h (270°) RA, +66.6° decl. " The word "Draco" is from the Greek draconis meaning "dragon," and the constellation is symbolized by a coiled serpent or dragon.
I then found this interesting page, The Stars of Revelation, from which I quote the relevant passages of Revelation regarding the Dragon:
[Rev 12:1-6] [A]nother portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth...Later, there is a war between Archangel Michael and the dragon:
[Rev 12:7-9] Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.Later, in Rev 13:11-17, another beast appears that "spoke like a dragon." This beast "works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men," and it's number is 666.
Ancient cultures throughout the world have legends of serpent-like creatures that were revered and feared, representing wisdom, knowledge and power. The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was known as the "feathered serpent," and in China, dragons are the most powerful and divine of creatures. Even the snake in the Garden of Eden was the monitor of the Tree of Wisdom.
Surely the connection between the dragon, the number 666 and the constellation Draco at the 66.6 degree declination is more than a coincidence. Nowhere could I find a more reasonable explanation of this number "666." I have no idea what this means, but it's certainly worth pondering.
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AUTHOR: Jon
DATE: 6/4/2006 11:08:00 AM
More than that, I think that it's a reference to mysteries that were part of a secret body of knowledge. Hermes Trismegistus, the great sage of ancient Egypt that some say merged into the god Thoth, spoke of a Great Dragon called Poimandres (I just read this today in a book by Manly P Hall, coincidentally [or not??].) Hermes had a vision in which a Great Dragon named Poimandres came to him and revealed his true nature, which was the Mind of the Universe, the Creative Intelligence, and the Absolute Emperor of All. The Vision becomes quite involved, but towards the end Poimandres says, "'I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided from spirit and darkness from Light. And the Word which appeared as a pillar of flame out of the darkness is the Son of God, born of the mystery of the Mind. the name of that Word is Reason. Reason is the offspring of Thought and Reason shall divide the Light from the darkness and establish truth in the midst of the waters'."
Unfortunately, most of the works of Hermes Trismegistus were lost in the fire in the library at Alexandria, but surely these stories were known to the Romans and the early Christians, and even the early Hebrews who wrote the book of Genesis and spoke of the snake and the Tree of Knowledge. Why did their god not want them to eat of the fruit of knowledge? Perhaps to keep them subjugated and ignorant of the secret mysteries.
It is an unfortunate side effect of monotheism that other viewpoints must be kept hidden, and perhaps this is what John rails against in Revelation: the danger of the folowers of Jesus becoming tempted by the dragon of truth and wisdom?
This stuff tantalizes me, it's a riddle wrapped in a mystery and enveloped in an enigma, or whatever
Do you have Dan Brown's email address? :D I heard his next is about the Masonic roots of America - just watched a very interesting set of History Channel documentaries about that. Hermes Trismegistes would make a very interesting third book - his philosophy is also a thread that runs from very very old roots all the way into the present day - and seems to be having something of a revival. One would hope so, considering the mess that militant monotheism is making of the world
There is rarely a single meaning to biblical prophecy...it is not given to be used to predict, but only to illustrate as it happens that God knw all along.
The "mark of the beast" may well be the social security number, the use of which for identification purposes is codified in section 666 of one of the titles of unites states code. I cannot believe this is coincidental either
666 is the astrological number. The Beast is the Church of Rome, and the pope bears the number. "Vicarivs filii Dei" add it up. Vatican city has the largest astrological wheel in the world. Right in their own court. They worship the devil there just as The Word of God says. The Bible says 666 is the number of a man. Thats right and the pope was arrested in 1798 just as the 1260 year reign of the beast was prophecied. Yep , the deadly wound. And it was healed in 1929. Next the US will set up an Image to the beast, and speak(legislative) and cause(law) all who do not worship this image of the beast should be killed. Next The mark of the beast. Read more on the Church of Rome and then go read about Nimrod and his wife simmeramis and her Bastard son Tammuz. That is Baal worship whip came to be the catholic church. From babylon to this day. Baal worship who would have thought.
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