The Times They’re Ah-Changin’: Astrology, Old Religions and the Mayan Calendar
By Riet Okken
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. -Matthew 28.20
At the end of this so famous Maya- year 2012, I looked at the many apocalyptic fantasies that are going around now and also in earlier times. Where are these fantasies or fears coming from? At certain times in history the madness pops up. There are traditional religious people, but at the moment especially Newagers who think that they will ascend to the 5th dimension physically- whatever it may mean. Sure, only those who deserve it, those who have their spiritual business in order… ahum whatever it may mean. Sounds in any case very Calvinistic!
If we inform ourselves thoroughly in this matter, we can liberate ourselves forever from these fears and ideas. That’ s what it did to me in any case!
There is an interesting connection between astrology and the old religions and that consists of the notion of the ages, the so-called aeons. In many old scriptures we find this word aeon and especially that of the end of the aeon. We find it in the Hebrew Testament, which Christians have come to name so derogatory the Old Testament, in the New Testament and also in the Dead Sea Scriptures.
In Old Babylon and old Egypt people were aware of the so-called precession of the equinoxes. This means that about every 2150 years, the sun during the spring equinox rises in another sign.
Our mother earth makes three movements. Two everybody knows: The earth turns around her own axis and around the sun. The third movement is less known and is called the precession. Is has something to do with the influence of gravity of sun and moon. Because of that the earth has a wobble in her rotation around her own axis. Hipparchus knew about this precession about 129 years before the common era and knowledge of this precession is thus very old. Even in the Egyptian pyramids we can find clues to this knowledge of the precession.
The vernal equinox moves once every 26000 years through the whole zodiac and this is caused by the wobbling of the earth and the fact that every 26000th year the earth completes a circle at the heavens with her North pole. The backward movement of the vernal equinox through the zodiac is called the Precession of the Equinox.
The name precession means that the constellations or the signs are going backward instead of forward. When the precession has moved through all the twelve signs of the zodiac, 26000 years have passed, which is named a great year. This 26000 year-cycle we also find in the Maya calendar.
Every 2150 years that the precession goes through one sign and is called an age or an aeon.
From 4300-2150 BCE was the era of the Taurus and from 2150- 0 we had the era of the Aries and from zero till 2150 we live in the age of Pisces. Now we are in the end phase of it and the Age of Aquarius is coming! From the years 1960 it is fermenting and rising! Who does not know the musical Hair with its song ‘It’s the age of Aquarius’!
In the Hebrew Testament, the Tenach, we find a story in which Moses, the Lawgiver, is disturbed and angry that his people are worshiping a golden calf. Traditionally it is explained as the worshiping of idols. Moses is angry because the old religions of the goddesses Astarte and Isis has to be passed by and finished. In reality it concerns here the end of the age of the bull, Taurus. We see the same symbolism at the Persian god Mithras. He also kills the bull. Moses represents the new age of the ram, in the zodiac, Aries. Therefore the Jews blow the rams horn at the new year. So is the case with traditions. Somewhere one gets stuck!
Jesus symbolises the age of the Pisces and we see in the gospel stories a lot of fish symbolism. His disciples are fisherman who throw their nets in the lake of Galilee. Jesus calls them fisher of men and Jesus himself multiplies bread and fish. Essentially and in reality it means that the Kingdom of the Sun (the son!) moves through the astrological sign of Pisces. It seems clear that the Jesusmyth is especially made for the Age of Pisces!
To enter the age of Pisces the ram has to be killed. The ram/Aries symbolizes the courageous fighter. In my new book, Jesus unveiled, (not yet published in English) I describe that the gospel writers in one way or the other wanted the old war history of the rebellion of the Jews against the Roman occupiers had to be finished and forgotten and that the old hatchet had to be buried. They wanted a new Joshua (is in Hebrew the same as Jeshua!), no Aries-fighter any more, but a soft and meek Jesus ( Jessous is the Septuagint translation –which was already in place about 200 – 100 BCE- of Joshua!), the Fisher king, who as a real Pisces type melts and fuses with everyone.
So there were in the cosmos and so in the spirit of the age other energies emerging! We were going from Aries to Pisces! The times were a-changin! Therefore is the New Testament so full of apocalyptic fears and ideas, but also full of new ideas and new energies, as we see also in our times, now we are in the transition of Pisces to Aquarius.
In this light we can see the words of John the Baptizer where he says: ‘ The Kingdom of God is coming.’
These transitions are pointing to cyclical crises, in which ignorance makes that many people are thinking that the end of the world is near.
In Luke 22 is a story in which Jesus points to a next age, that of Aquarius, the waterbearer. ‘And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?’
When the sun, the son, leaves the sign of Pisces, he goes to the house of Aquarius, the water bearer! If one does not know that in the Christian tradition one has, as it were, the son draped over the sun, one thinks that they talk in this story about a normal house instead of an astrological house. With astrology religion becomes clear as crystal!
We know all the different stories about the end of the world. At certain moments craziness or anxiety pops up at some people that time is running out. We see it in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelations. In fact it all comes down to the misunderstanding of these kind of astrological texts and hints. In the last sentence in the gospel of Matthew for example, Jesus says to his disciples: ‘I will be with you to the end of the world’. Most bible translations in English, Dutch, German or French give this ‘end of the world’ of ‘the completion of the world’. It is a wrong translation from the Greek. In Greek it is: tes sunteleias tou aioonos en that means till the completion of the aeon, the age!
Jesus shall as the Pisces Sun (Son! Only one letter!) be with us until the end of the age of Pisces. Every year the Sun moves 30 degrees through the sigh of Pisces and Jesus began his work at the age of 30! Which is not by chance!
Through this sort of bad translations and indoctrinations not to forget, fear comes into the world.
The astrological message is: After every age comes another age. The apocalyptical end of times is only the end of one age and the beginning of another age with another sort of energy and other life themes. Therefore they translated the word aeon also as power of spirit. After Jesus and Christianity there will come another time and another spirit. We can see that by this sort of information we lay some bombs under the churches of Jesus!
The sign of Aquarius has to do with new insights, with change, innovation and new insights and innovations in science and informatics. Aquarius has to do with brother-and sisterhood instead of the more hierarchical systems of the Pisces church. We will become more rational than in the spiritual Pisces age. The sign Pisces has in his lower octaves to do with confusion and credulity, with vagueness and spiritual varnishing. At the higher octaves it stands for humanity and compassion. All these aspects we know from Christianity.
We are at the beginning of a new age. Therefore the old age crumbles down and we see the signs in our economical and financial breakdown. In such a time of transition we will find more confusion and fear. Not though if we know that we are in the pains of childbirth of a new age!
Yes, the times are a changin’, also with regard to religion. We will not let us tell fibs anymore and will be doing more rational research. We will use our common sense in regard to religion. Its about time!
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Riet Okken, psychologist of religion and astrologer. Learn more about Riet by visiting: www.rietokken.eu
