Time Frames and Taboo Data Blog

A Dominican scholastic philosopher, Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), who was church-blessed as a “saint” by Pope Pius XI in 1932, had this to say about ancient star wisdom: “The mysteries of the Incarnation, from conception to the Ascension into heaven, are shown to us on the face of the sky and are signified by the stars.”  A case in point: constellation Ophiuchus.

Every so often, as in the early months of 2011, some astronomer, or more likely an astrologer, announces that our understanding of constellation placements should be corrected.  Star charts, they say, should identify that there are thirteen major “signs” in the Zodiac lineup, not twelve.  And always that declaration pivots upon a group of stars known as constellation Ophiuchus, which does abruptly intrude upon constellation Scorpius (Scorpio).  Much like religious interpreters’ understanding of Creation’s scientific principles, those who advocate “correction” of a subject have not traced back sufficiently to the origin of what the prehistory representatives designated.  Always forgotten is the limited perspective which we Earthlings see of universal principles. 

Technical knowledge was essential for designating the star patterns which are seen from Earth as it completes a full orbit around the Sun.  Each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac was, from the beginning, presented in 30-degree portions of the 360-degree Zodiac circle.  Each sign, therefore, could serve as a subject heading for instruction purposes regarding causation, cosmology and life purpose.  With each sign there were also three sub-constellations, each of which added in-depth annotation to the subject matter.  These sub-constellations are commonly positioned within 10 degrees of each other or a similar distance from the principal constellation.  To present sky charts of such technical complexity required instruments and technical skills far beyond “primitive” levels that are said to have then existed. 

The figure that is outlined with the stars of constellation Ophiuchus does indeed hold an unparalleled position in the design of the Zodiac.  It is the only constellation passed through by the Sun that has never been presented as being a major Zodiac sign.  At first glance, this seems a peculiar situation since the Sun lingers only nine days in constellation Scorpius, the shortest stay in any Zodiac sign, after which the Sun passes directly into constellation Ophiuchus.  It is for this reason that there have been repeated attempts through many centuries to restructure the ancient Zodiac—the sky designations which are known to well over 10,000 years old. 

But, as mentioned, what we know today as the Zodiac was not conceived as a fortune-telling prop or as an amusement pastime.  One of its original purposes was to illustrate to the people of the world a series of detailed lessons regarding causation, cosmology and life’s purpose.  And from this ancient celestial picture book used to illustrate the principles of Creation to our primitive ancestors there evolved, after a number of planetary catastrophes, the varied written accounts that are now honored as “scriptural texts.”

For example, Scorpius is traditionally associated with sex, death, and transfiguration, and this theme had important bearing on the placement of the figure of Ophiuchus.  This star figure was a defining part of the ancient Scorpius lessons, and the up-soaring figure that is outlined with the stars present the most inspiring and promising feature in the entire Zodiac symbols and figures.  The figure of Ophiuchus is shown with one foot thrust downward as though the figure is rising out of Scorpius, which in the ancient lessons given with Scorpius taught of the animal kingdom.  It is after only a brief stay in the animal kingdom that the Sun enters Ophiuchus directly out of Scorpius.  This is the most ancient representation of the Life Principle at the stage where it is transfigured out of its primal configurations of energy-matter.

The hieroglyphic figure of Ophiuchus is shown with its southern portion immersed in a noticeably dense portion of the Milky Way, and the upper portion of the figure extends into an open expanse of northern sky.  In addition, this celestial figure is nearly equally divided by the celestial equator.  Thus, this figure’s position beautifully illustrated the ancient lesson regarding the emergence of self-aware consciousness from it limitation of this experience as matter and its consequent liberation into a higher vibratory plane where it is unencumbered.  (If this doesn’t make you think of soul ascension, which is the declared objective of any faith system, then your imagination is dead.)

Constellation Ophiuchus is notable for yet another feature: the figure is shown as holding out in front of himself another constellation, which happens to extend across the chest of the up-soaring figure.  He holds the constellation Serpens—a serpent.  He is not in battle with evil as has often been interpreted.  That idea flies in the face of ancient symbolism.  In the bulk of cultures throughout prehistory the serpent traditionally symbolized wisdom.  This is even attested to in the Hebrew word for Serpent, nahash, which was derived from the Hebrew root NHSH, which means to decipher or to make out the meaning of.  An important characteristic of serpents also adds to the message, and that is that serpents  periodically shed a series of matter skins as they progress.  Together these two constellations, Ophiuchus and Serpens, thus present a modified cross form (arising out of the animal kingdom), and cross symbols have from time out of mind been used to indicate where the matter under consideration is to be found.  Just like we mark placement on a map. 

This mini astronomy session is offered here to show that the further back we trace out roots the more we find that we are indebted to the lost—or deliberately suppressed—wisdom of our prehistory ancestors.  And remnants of that astonishing wisdom, such as the instructive reasoning behind the constellation figure arrangements, should not be discarded out of hand.  They have served as the unacknowledged background from which all the “sacred texts” of the world’s faith systems have evolved. 

• Ophiuchus information is abridged from The Celestial Scriptures: Keys to the Suppressed Wisdom of the Ancients, published 2002.

This entry was posted on March 26, 2011 at 1:57 am and is filed under agnoticism, Astronomy, Atheist, belief, faith, history, life, nature, prehistory, random, religion, science, Social, thoughts with tags ancient wisdom, astrology, Astronomy, constellations, transfiguration, Zodiac. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.