Abraham and Sons

The Devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.
-George Herbert

Abraham occupies the reputation as the Patriarch of Jews. His story starts at Genesis 11:27 and ends at Genesis 25:11. His political importance lies in the fact that the current war between Jews and Palestinians in Israel is based on Jewish belief in God's promise to make Abraham the father of a great nation.

Actually, if Abraham was a real person it rests on Abraham's belief that God told him he would make him the father of a great nation. More so, I am not aware of any historical source that perceived Israel as a great nation. Certainly its neighbors don't.

² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Gen. 12:2)

Jesus believed in his existence.

³⁹They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, (John 8:39)

Paul, in his magisterial quest to discredit Jewish hostility towards his views, used Abraham's name to argue that one not need be a Jew to be a descendant of Abraham.

⁶Thus Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
⁷So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
⁸And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."
⁹So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith. (Gal. 3:6-9)

And Muslims trace their origins to Abraham's illegitimate son Ishmael.

¹²These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham.
¹³These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the first-born of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. (Gen. 25:12-16)

What could be more insane than the three religions fighting each other for the past twenty centuries, all claiming Abraham's legacy? Aside from the question of God's existence, this report will show that Abraham didn't exist either. The proof can be found by tracing the life of Abraham through the zodiac.

The Bible writers had a habit of giving their characters names that fit their role. According to Strong's Dictionary of Bible Words, Abraham's original name was Abram which is a contraction for abiyram, translated as father of height, or high father. Ab means father. Ram comes from ayil meaning anything strong, specifically chief (politically), and by analogy, ram. The name also has an etymological link to Aries the Ram.

Abraham is also said to have come from Chaldea which was a part of ancient Babylon whose priests where renown for their knowledge of astronomy and astrology. A background like that suggests that he would have been a pagan astrologer priest.

1. Terah took his son Abram, grandson Lot and daughter-in-law Sarai from Ur of Chaldea and settled in Haran.

³¹Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. (Gen. 11:31)

2. After Terah died in Haran, Abram got the call from Yahweh to migrate to Canaan. Yahweh promised to bless him and make him the famous patriarch of a great nation.

³²The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
¹Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
²And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves."  (Gen. 11:32-12:3)

3. When Abram, Lot and Sarah arrived in Canaan it was already occupied by the Canaanites. Yahweh told Abram that this land will belong to his offspring.

⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
⁷Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Gen. 12:6-7)

4. There was a famine in the land that forced Abram to go to Egypt.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Gen. 12:10)

The Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11 ended the Age of Taurus. (See From Eden to Babel) By the timetable in Bible Dates, his entry into Egypt marks the time when the sun enters the spring equinox in the Age of Aries, 2160 BCE. The chart below will serve as our guide and the Zodiac Map gives a picture of what the constellations look like in life form. 

This report is limited to the story of Abraham as it relates to the zodiac. It starts in Aries and ends in Sagittarius. Perhaps as an indication of significance, the only characters that get the full twelve house treatment are Moses and Jesus. Mythologies are not rigid. Sometimes there are parallel astronomical myths. Or at minimum a constellation may symbolize a persona that fits the character it represents.

 

Aries

1. Abraham in Egypt-Gen. 12

As Abraham approached Egypt, he feared the Egyptians would kill him because his wife Sarah was beautiful. So Sarah agreed to pose as his sister. When Pharaoh's officials saw her beauty, they took her into his house. As a show of gratitude, Pharaoh gave Abraham many gifts, making him wealthy. Shortly thereafter Yahweh inflicted Pharaoh and his house with a great plague because of Sarah. Pharaoh called Abraham back and asked why he was not told that Sarah was his wife. With that, Pharaoh returned Sarah and sent them away. (Gen. 12:11-20)

¹⁷But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
¹⁸So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone."
²⁰And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had. (Gen. 12:17-20)

The constellation Cepheus the King represents Pharaoh, and Cassiopeia the Queen represents Sarah. Cepheus of often portrayed with his arms upheld as if beseeching the gods to spare the life of his daughter, but in this case it shows his dismay with Abraham.

2. Abraham rescues Lot-Gen. 13 & 14

The land could not support Abram and Lot and their herds, and quarreling broke out between their herdsmen. To avoid quarreling they decided to part company. Lot went towards the plain of Jordan near Sodom and Abram went to Hebron in Canaan. At this time there was a rebellion among the kingdoms in the area and Sodom and Gomorrah were on the losing side. When Abram heard that Lot was taken prisoner he came to Lot's defense with 318 of his trained men. (Note: 3+1+8=12) Lot was freed along with his wealth and his people. (Gen. 13:5-14:24)

Perseus the Hero rescued Princess Andromeda from the monster Cetus. To rescue his mother Danae, he had to get the head of Medussa who could turn gazers into stone. By using a helmet that made him invisible and by using his shield as a mirror, he managed to get close enough to cut off her head. When he exposed the head to his mother's captor, he turned to stone and Perseus managed to free his mother.

Taurus

1. Abraham's covenant with God-Gen. 15 and 17

When it was dark and a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, God promised Abraham to give Canaan to his descendants.

¹⁷When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, (Gen. 15:17-18)

²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." (Gen. 17:2)

When the sun crosses the Milky Way marks the sign of the covenant. Genesis 17:17 calls it a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. The verse below calls it a bow in the cloud because the sun moves in an arc.  See Pillar of Cloud

¹³I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Gen. 9:13)

2. Hagar and Ishmael-Gen. 16

Sarah could not have any children by Abraham, so she sent him her Egyptian slave girl, Hagar, who bore him a child they named Ishmael. Ishmael was not the rightful heir in God's eyes because he was not the son of Sarah.

Auriga the Charioteer symbolizes Ishmael. Though Auriga is called a charioteer, he has a goat in his arms which suggests an agrarian persona.

3. The three visitors-Gen. 18

¹And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. (Gen. 18:1-2)

Orion has three stars at its belt which in gospels were the three wise men that came to visit the Christ child.

Gemini

Two angels visit Sodom-Gen. 19:1-22

¹The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, (Gen. 19:1)

The two angels are represented by the Gemini Twins. Orion is visible at this time, symbolizing Abraham.

For the full report see Sodom and Gomorrah

Cancer

Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed-Gen. 19:23-29

God rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from out of heaven.

²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
²⁴Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
²⁵and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (Gen. 19:23-25)

Hydra was the Snake which Hercules had to combat. The snake first had nine heads. Every time Hercules cut one head, two more reappeared. Eventually Hercules burned the stump of each decapitated head and so prevented more from appearing.

When the sun rises in Cancer, the head of Hydra also comes up, meaning that Hercules has managed to cut off the first head, because the stars begin to fade in the morning light. This same fading symbolizes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Brimstone and fire" is a metaphor for the sun's rays.

The incident took place in Sodom and the Bible doesn't explain how Gomorrah got implicated. This could be explained by the fact that the head of Hydra is above the equator and the body stretches below. Gomorrah represents the body. According to Strong's Dictionary of Bible Words, Gomorrah means ruined heap. Sodom means volcanic or bituminous. With names like that they had to be fictional cities.

Leo

Abraham and Abimelech-Gen. 20

When Abraham entered the kingdom of Abimelech he played the same trick on the king as he did to Pharaoh; he told him that Sarah was his sister. Before Abimelech had a chance to sleep with Sarah, God threatened to kill him for taking a married woman. Abimelech pleaded for his life on the grounds that he was deceived. In exchange for his life, Abimelech returned Sarah along with a large sum of wealth.

Leo is the constellation of kings.

Virgo

1. The birth of Isaac-Gen. 21: 1-7

The Lord visited Sarah as he had promised and she gave birth to Isaac.

¹The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.
²And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
³Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. (Gen. 21:1-3)

2. Hagar and Ishmaei sent away-Gen. 21:8-20

After Isaac was born, Sarah told Abraham to get rid of the slave women and her son.

¹⁰So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." (Gen. 21:14)

So Abraham gave Hagar some water and sent her away with her son Ishmael.

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. (Gen. 21:14)

The two above involve a mother and child. In Egypt, the temple of Hathor at Dendorah>, dating to the first century BCE, has a round zodiac on the ceiling that shows the sky as it was understood by Egyptian culture. In particular, Virgo shows a woman sitting on a throne with a child. Some think that it represents the goddess Isis with the infant Horus. Another possibility is that the infant is represented by a small nearby constellation called Coma Berences, The Hair of Berenice.

Libra

1. Abraham tested-Gen. 22

God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering.

¹After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
²He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (Gen. 22:1-3)

The scales of Libra symbolize a time for settling debts, or in this case weighing Abraham's loyalty. For the full report see Abraham and Isaac. 

2. Death of Sarah-Gen. 23

¹Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
²And Sarah died at Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. (Gen. 23:1-2)

The sun has passed through Virgo. Symbolically her time has passed.

Scorpio

Isaac marries Rebekah-Gen. 24

Abraham sent his chief servant to go and find a suitable wife for Isaac. When he came back with Rebekah, everybody was pleased and she married Isaac.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. (Gen. 24:66-67)

Ara is the celestial altar. The Olympians needed an altar upon which to swear their allegiance to Jupiter and perform other mutual vows.

Sagittarius

Abraham dies-Gen. 25

⁷These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. (Gen. 25:7)

When the sun enters the winter solstice, is the time when the sun is said to die.

End