The Constellations
Testify of Christ
by John P.
Pratt
The
Book of Enoch declares that an angel revealed to Enoch how to draw
the constellations and scientific research confirms that the figures
are old enough for that to be true. The purpose of this article
is to testify that the constellations bear record of the gospel
and mission of Jesus Christ (Moses 6:63) and, in fact, that "the
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his
handywork" (Psa. 19:1).
Nearly all
ancient nations, including the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, attributed
the constellations to a divine source. The Hebrews, Persians and
Arabs attributed them to the antediluvian patriarchs such as Adam,
Seth and Enoch. Modern astronomy confirms that the figures most
likely originated about 2900 B.C., which is approximately when Enoch
lived.[1] Abraham, who was born nearly a thousand
years later, tells us that he had records of the patriarchs with
knowledge of the stars, and that he had much astronomy revealed
to him personally. He adds that he was commanded to teach astronomy
to the Egyptians (Abr. 1:31; 3:1-15), who reportedly passed the
knowledge of the constellations on to the Greeks, who recorded it
for us.
The Lord told
Moses that the stars are "signs" (Gen. 1:14). The word "sign" in
English has the same multiple meanings as the Hebrew and Greek words
from which it is translated in the Bible, such as token, miracle,
or warning. All of the meanings seem to stem from the idea of a
token: something that represents or reminds one of something else.
It is important to note that the constellations are also called
"signs," and often it is not obvious to a translator that a
constellation is sometimes indicated by sacred writings. For example,
the Prophet Joseph Smith corrected "wonder" in Rev. 12:1,3 to be
"sign," which is a much better translation of the Greek word.
The Lord told
Moses that the stars are signs, but what do they signify?
This article begins to explore the evidence that the constellations
were indeed revealed to Enoch and that they tell the story of Jesus
Christ with imagery nearly identical to that used by the later prophets
of God in the scriptures.
The Prophet
Joseph Smith provided the keys to understanding the gospel story
as told in the stars. First, he explained what the gospel story
really is, clarifying many points of confusion. Second, he provided
us with the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great
Price, and the inspired translation of the Bible, which all help
to explain the imagery found in the stars. Others have noticed that
the stars preach the gospel,[2] but the meanings
of many constellations eluded them because they did not have the
keys of the restored gospel. Now let us review some references to
the constellations in a variety of sacred writings.
The Bible.
Consider the following scripture and ask yourself just what it means.
The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Without speech nor language their voice is heard.[3]
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to
the end of the world. — Psalms 19:1-4
If all we had
were the first line, we might conclude that it simply means that
a dark star-filled sky can be an awe-inspiring sight that reminds
us of the vastness of God's work. But the other lines seem to be
saying much more than that. The words "declare," "show," "uttereth
speech," "voice," and "words," apparently mean that the heavens
literally declare the glory of God, and in a way that has gone out
to all the world. But how?
This article
suggests that the scripture be taken literally: The heavens show
the constellations, which declare God's glory by telling the story
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without speech or language their
message has gone out through all the earth. The story has been misunderstood
and sometimes the stars themselves have even been worshipped, but
nearly every ancient nation believed that the constellations were
inspired.
The Bible contains
both direct and indirect references to the constellations.[4]
For example, the Lord dignifies the constellations by referring
to several of them by name:
"Canst
thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of
Orion?
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?"
— Job 38:31-32
The Pleiades,
Orion, Mazzaroth, and Arcturus all refer to constellations, which
the Lord includes among his creations. As such, he could simply
be saying that he created the stars, as in Job 9:9 and Amos 5:8,
even though they also mention specific constellations. But other
scriptures suggest that he had a hand in the formation of the figures
themselves. For example, Job says,
By
his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the
crooked serpent. — Job 26:13
A comparison
of this verse to the rest of this chapter shows that Job is using
the familiar Hebrew writing form of parallelism, in which the second
half of the sentence repeats what the first half said using different
words. The first part says that the Lord's spirit has "garnished,"
or beautified, the heavens. Then he names a constellation, "the
crooked serpent"[5] in the second half, apparently
as an example of the Lord's work. If so, it implies that it was
the Lord's Spirit which inspired the constellations.
The Book
of Mormon. There is some symbolism from the constellations in
the Book of Mormon, but it is usually only an indirect reference
to the similar prophetic imagery. Even so, that imagery is often
much more clear in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible and often
matches the constellation imagery perfectly. For example, the Book
of Mormon repeatedly and consistently uses the symbolism of the
"bands of death" for the physical death and the "chains of hell"
for spiritual death (Mosiah 15:8-23, Alma 5:7-10, 7:12, 11:41-42,
12:11, 13:30, compare D.C. 138:16, 23). These two concepts are very
graphically represented in the constellations by the bands which
bind the Fishes (Pisces) to the Sea Monster (Cetus), and also the
chains which shackle the Chained Woman (Andromeda) to be devoured
by the same Sea Monster. One indication that the bands which bind
the fishes are the "bands" of death is that the constellation of
the Ram (Aries), a symbol of the Savior from the law of Moses (Ex.
29:16), is apparently breaking the bands with his foot. Another
is that the Book of Mormon uses the symbol of a monster to represent
both death and hell (2 Nephi 9:10,19,26), and that Satan uses flaxen
cords (2 Nephi 26:22) which is how the Greeks described the cords
of Pisces.
Doctrine
and Covenants. The same symbolism of the constellations is also
found in the Doctrine and Covenants, sometimes in a striking manner.
For example, the constellation of the Water Bearer (Aquarius) shows
a man pouring out a river of water out of a jar onto the head of
the Southern Fish (Piscis Australis). What is the meaning of such
strange symbolism? It apparently refers to Christ, who identified
himself as the man who brings the living water (John 4:10). One
meaning of the living water is illustrated in the symbolism of the
Doctrine and Covenants:
As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri
river in its decreed course, or to turn it upstream, as to hinder
the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads
of the Latter-day saints. — D.C. 121:33
 |
Water
Bearer (Christ) pours
living water (blessings) onto
head of Fish (Church).
(compare D.C. 110:10, 121:33)
|
Here, the man pouring
the water is the Almighty, it is knowledge being poured as
a huge river, and it is going "upon the heads" of the saints, even
as the river is poured onto the head of the fish in the constellations.
Pouring an entire river onto someone's head is such unusual symbolism
as to make this identification with the constellation of the Water
Bearer very likely to be correct.
There is another
witness in the Doctrine and Covenants that the Lord uses the symbolism
of pouring out living water on the heads of the saints to represents
the true teachings of the Savior. When priesthood keys were restored
in the Kirtland temple, the Lord said it would be the beginning
of "the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my
people" (D.C. 110:10, compare 3 Nephi 10:18). Here we have the same
symbolism of pouring on the head, but what does it mean? There were
three sets of keys restored at that time: of the gathering of Israel,
of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and of temple work.
All three of these could be part of the blessing to be "poured out,"
because the living water could refer both to knowledge of the Gospel
and also to temple blessings.[6]
The Book
of Moses. We learn much about Enoch, the traditional originator
of the constellations, from the Book of Moses. We learn that he
had a vision of the heavens (Moses 6:42), which might refer to the
records of the knowledge of the stars to which Abraham referred
(Abr. 1:31). Enoch declares that all things in heaven "bear record"
of Christ (Moses 6:63). That is exactly the point of this article
— that the constellations in the heavens literally testify
of Christ.
The Book
of Abraham. The Book of Abraham includes a detailed revelation
on astronomy and states that Abraham was commanded to teach the
Egyptians what he had learned (Abr. 3:15). That is very important
in this study, because, the Greeks are said to have received their
precise knowledge of the constellations from the Egyptians when
Eudoxus brought a spherical globe with a map of the heavens on it
from Egypt and published their description about 336 B.C.[7]
Although his original work has been lost, the Greeks preserved most
of that knowledge, which forms the basis of our modern constellations.
Greek Poets.
The writings accepted as inspired by the ancient Greeks took the
form of poetry rather than of canonized scripture. The oldest surviving
accurate source which precisely describes the constellations that
Eudoxus received is The Phaenomena, by the poet Aratus. He
summarizes Eudoxus' description of what the globe looked like, including
which figures were looking at others, and even what colors some
of them were. It is the very work which Paul quoted on Mars Hill
(Acts 17:28):
...We
all have need of God. For we are also his offspring;
... For himself it was who set the signs in heaven, and marked out
the constellations...
— opening paragraph of Phaenomena, by Aratus[8]
We also have
some knowledge of the constellations from other ancient people such
as the Babylonians, Arabs, and Persians, but the Greeks apparently
have the best preserved knowledge of just how to draw the figures.
The extreme antiquity of the constellations means that the constellations
predate Aratus by over 2000 years, about the same amount of time
that the ancient Greece predates ours.
Josephus.
The Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote in the first century A.D.,
had many records available to him which are no longer extant. He
states that Seth and his descendants
"were
the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned
with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions
might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's
prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by the
force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity
of water, they made two pillars; the one of brick, the other of
stone: they inscribed their discoveries on them both..."[9]
Here we learn
that not only had Seth and the other patriarchs invented the science
of astronomy, but also that they wanted to preserve it through world
destructions that Adam had predicted. The fact that they were willing
to expend such an effort suggests that there was something much
more than just usual astronomical discoveries, such as the length
of the year, that they were trying to preserve.
The Book
of Enoch. The Lord has stated that the vision of Adam of the
entire history of the world was written in the Book of Enoch and
prophesied that it is "to be testified of in due time" (D.C. 107:57).
Are we still awaiting that testimony about a book yet to be restored?
A book called
The Book of Enoch, which had formerly been in some versions of the
Bible, was discovered, translated from Ethiopic, and first published
in 1821 in England.[10] It was apparently unknown
to the latter-day saints until the apostle Parley P. Pratt declared
to them that "this book carries with it indisputable evidence of
being an ancient production....It seems plainly to predict the coming
forth of the Book of Mormon, and the mission of the Elders ... and
the complete triumph of the saints."[11] In spite
of this glowing endorsement, the book remained almost unknown among
the latter-day saints until a second witness appeared on the scene
a century later.
Hugh Nibley
has testified brilliantly that we now have the book of Enoch and
hence need not await a future restoration: "...we do have
at last, in newly discovered documents, a book which is the
book of Enoch if there ever was one."[12] Even
stronger than his witness is that of the Savior and his followers,
who accepted the book now called 1 Enoch as scripture and quoted
it as authentic. The fact that the Savior and his apostles accepted
it as genuine and actually written by Enoch, should be a regarded
as a strong testimony in its favor. The entire Book of Enoch is
easily found on the internet.[13]
Does the Book
of Enoch contain a prophecy of the history of the world, as mentioned
in the Doctrine and Covenants? It does. One reason the world rejects
the book as not a genuine production of the prophet Enoch is that
the prophecy about the end of the world has not yet been fulfilled.
Latter-day saints, however, with the help of the constellation imagery,
will immediately recognize, along with Elder Pratt, that the final
prophecy is another witness with our other scriptures of what will
happen in the last days. That prophecy is discussed in next month's
article.
One test of
the Book of Enoch and for the thesis of this article is that the
book claims that the constellations, or "signs," were shown to Enoch
and this article proposes that they tell the story of the gospel
throughout history. Surely then, we should find some reference to
the constellations in that volume. Here we hit the jackpot because
many of its chapters refer to the stars either directly or indirectly.
While all of the scriptures use the same imagery as the constellations,
the Book of Enoch is our "star witness" because its author uses
the symbolism explicitly, even giving the names of the stars. We
shall see in these articles that not only does Enoch testify of
the constellations, but the constellations become yet another
witness of the Book of Enoch. Even though the Book of Enoch
is not canonized scripture for latter-day saints, it will be quoted
in these articles without apology, just as it is quoted in the Bible,
as if it really had been originally written by Enoch.
On key point
is that the Book of Enoch states that an angel of God showed Enoch
where to draw the constellation figures:
For the signs, the seasons, the years, and the days, Uriel showed
me; the angel whom the Lord of glory appointed over all the luminaries.
— Enoch
74:4-7
Thus, this
scripture states that the constellations (the "signs") were not
just the work of great men, even like Enoch, but rather an angel
revealed them to Enoch. When Enoch saw the constellations signs
in the heavens revealed to him, he exclaimed:
"I
blessed the Lord of glory, who had made those great and splendid
signs, that they might display the magnificence of his works to
angels and to the souls of men; and that these might glorify all
his works and operations; might see the effect of his power; might
glorify the great labor of his hands; and bless him forever."
— Enoch
35:3 [14]
We can see
how closely this verse parallels Psalms which said the heavens declare
the glory of God. When Enoch understood the true meaning of the
constellations he blessed the Lord of glory for having made those
splendid signs.
Salt Lake
Temple. The Big Dipper is shown on the west side of the Salt
Lake temple in such a way as to always point to the north star,
just as the constellation of the Big Dipper does in the sky. President
Harold B. Lee explained its symbolism:
On the west wall of the great Salt Lake Temple, underneath the center
spires, is a symbolic representation of the constellation of stars
known as "The Dipper" with the pointers pointing to the north star,
which was said by the architect of the temple to represent the great
truth that through the priesthood of God the lost may find their
way.[15]
This symbolism
is precisely the same as that suggested by the scriptures. John
was told that the seven stars in the hand of Christ represented
the seven angels or servants of the seven churches, which referred
to their priesthood leaders (Rev. 1:20).[16] Thus,
we see that a wide variety of sacred writings refer to the constellations
as having been inspired and having deep meaning.
The Nature
of the Evidence
The
nature of the evidence supporting the hypothesis that the constellations
are more than the whimsical fancies of shepherds is based on several
lines of reasoning. First, and most important, is the evidence from
the figures themselves: the individual figures and their interaction
can bring to mind striking parallels from the gospel. For example,
the foot of the Serpent Bearer (Ophiuchus) is on the head of the
Scorpion (Scorpius), and the Scorpion's sting is near the other
foot. Similarly, one foot of Hercules is on the head of the Dragon
(Draco), and Hercules is on one knee as if he has been wounded.
Both of these are apparently clear images of the great promise given
in the Garden of Eden, that Eve's descendent would have power to
crush the serpent's head, even though it would have the power to
bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15).
Secondly, the
star names play a role. Most of the star names we use today are
Arabic and refer to the location of the star in the figure. Those
positions had been carefully preserved by the Greeks, which we still
have in Ptolemy's star catalogue. Star names which merely reflect
an Arabic translation of Ptolemy's catalog offer no new information
and won't be used as independent evidence. Many of our star names,
however, date back to "ancient Arab" times that predate the influence
of Ptolemy. In that case, they sometimes add new light on the subject.
Sometimes the
star names directly link to the interaction between constellations.
In the above example, a star in the heel of the Serpent Bearer's
foot has been called Markhashik, "The Serpent-bitten,"[17]
which makes it clear that whoever named that star understood that
the scorpion (considered to be a serpent) has stung (or bitten)
the man.
Third is the
evidence from the myths that accompany these figures. For example,
the myth of Perseus tells a story relating eight constellations,
which really helps clarify interrelationships. The problem is that
it is difficult to determine whether any given myth was invented
after the star pictures were known to help explain them, or whether
the myth was originated by the patriarchs to whom were revealed
the constellation figures. Because the myths fall into the category
of secondary evidence, they are beyond the scope of this article.[18]
Fourth, if
two constellations share a star, that is taken to indicate a connection
between those constellations.
Finally, the
interaction of two constellations can be noted by someone who has
seen the ancient spheres simply telling us of the interaction. For
example, Aratus states that the serpent is looking at the crown,
and that Hercules has his foot on the head of the crooked dragon.
Aratus is the only extant source of such information of which this
author is aware.
Sources for
the Original Constellations
Twelve of the constellations compose the "zodiac," which all lay
on the path through which the sun appears to move during the year
as the earth revolves around the sun. The total list of all ancient
constellations is generally given as 48, but there is a slight variation
between various lists as to just which constellations are included.
We received our list and the precise descriptions of the location
of over 1,000 stars in the figures from the Greeks. The tradition
is that the Greek astronomer Eudoxus brought a celestial sphere with
the figures thereon from the Egyptian priests who trained him about
350 B.C. His works have been lost, but the poet Aratus wrote and poetic
summary of his work and preserved the description of most of the constellations.
His poem, The Phaenomena, was written about 275 B.C. and is
available today. It is very convincing that Eudoxus did indeed have
an actual set of the figures in his hands. For example, he mentions
the colors on the map of some of the constellations: the Sea Monster
(Cetus) is dark blue, and the Sea Goat (Capricornus) is azure. Combining
that with observations that one figure is looking toward another or
holding his hand out toward another is strong evidence that he really
is describing an actual map of the heavens.
The Greek astronomer
Ptolemy preserved a fine star catalog, which we still have, telling
exactly what star was a what location in each of his 48 constellations
about A.D. 150. He admitted to changing some of the star locations
to make a more proportionate picture, but overall, they seem very
well preserved. The figures in this article are based on Ptolemy's
accurate descriptions of exactly where the stars are found in the
pictures.
Besides the
Greek tradition, we also have Arab traditions. Most of the Arab
astronomy of the period A.D. 800 - 1200 was based on their translation
of Ptolemy's great work, The Almagest, but they also had
some of their own very ancient traditions and access to Persian
sources.
Another source
is the Planisphere of Denderah, a map of the constellations on the
wall of the Egyptian temple at Denderah, showing them as they appeared
about 700 B.C., even though the temple was apparent built in the
first century B.C. It's worth is principally in the few constellations
which it shows differently from the usual set.
Modern astronomers
have added another 40 constellations to fill in the gaps, but these
are of no interest for the purposes of this article. They do, however,
illustrated the striking contrast between the original forty-eight
inspired constellations and the unimaginative modern supplements
such as the air pump, the chisel and the microscope.
Next month's
article will focus on the four most important constellations: The
Lion (Leo), the Bull (Taurus), the Water Bearer (Aquarius) and the
Scorpion (Scorpius). They are the four cornerstones of the twelve
in the zodiac. Each testifies of a different aspect of the Savior
and his mission. The witnesses of other constellations will be presented
in future articles. As we shall see, when the entire set of constellations
is taken as a whole, they provide a strong witness that the ancients
understood the entire story of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
References
[1]. Three independent lines of reasoning all lead
to the date of 2900 B.C. for the origin of the constellations: 1)
that was the time when the part of the sky they occupy was all visible,
2) that was when their boundaries would have been parallel or perpendicular
to the celestial equator, and 3) that was when their times of rising
and setting corresponded to tradition. See Pratt, J.P. "Dating
the Constellations."
[2].Frances
Rolleston, Mazzaroth; or The Constellations (London: Rivingtons,
1862) laid a vast foundation. Her work was popularized by Joseph
A. Seiss, The Gospel in the Stars (Philadelphia: Claxton,
1882) and Ethelbert W. Bullinger The Witness of the Stars
(London: 1893). She had the insight to recognize the gospel story,
and did excellent research into ancient sources, but her star name
translations are not to be trusted at all. Unless otherwise noted,
all translations used in this article are from Paul Kunitzsch and
Tim Smart, Short Guide to Modern Star Names and Their Derivations
(Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1986).
[3].This
line is taken from the literal translation found in the margin of
the King James Bible.
[4].An
excellent book by a top-notch astronomer is The Astronomy of
the Bible, by E.W. Maunder (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909).
[5].
This verse would have been better translated "fleeing serpent,"
which would most likely indicate the constellation of the Water
Serpent (Hydra) which is fleeing from being trampled by the forefeet
of Leo, the Lion. Isaiah also mention the fleeing serpent (translated
"piercing serpent") in Isa. 27:1, and there identifies him with
the crooked serpent, probably referring to the constellation of
the Dragon (Draco, see also footnote 8).
[6].
For the importance of that day in history, see "The
Restoration of Priesthood Keys on 3 April 1836" by J.P.Pratt,
Ensign, June/July 1985.
[7].Allen,
Richard H., Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning (New York:
Dover, 1963) p. 18, reprinted from 1899 edition published by G.E.Stechert.
[8].
Aratus, The Phenomena, trans. G.R.Mair, (Cambridge: Harvard
U. Press, 1960), p. 207. Aratus refers to Draco the Dragon as the
"crooked serpent" (p. 213).
[9].
Antiquities of the Jews I.ii.3.
[10].
See Pratt, J.P., "Enoch
Calendar Testifies of Christ," Meridian Magazine, (Sep. 11,
2001) for a summary of the history of the Book of Enoch.
[11].
Parley P. Pratt, "The Apocryphal Book of Enoch," Millennial Star
1 (July 1840):61, quoted in Hugh Nibley, Enoch The Prophet,
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986), p.111.
[12].
Nibley, Hugh. "A Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book
of Enoch," Ensign, reprinted in Hugh Nibley, Enoch the
Prophet, (Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 1986), p. 94.
[13].
The entire Book of Enoch can be found on my website.
[14].
Laurence translation. Charlesworth did not understand that "sign"
referred to constellations and lost the entire meaning. He numbers
the verse 36:4.
[15].
Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, p. 251
[16].That
priesthood leaders are implied is clarified by the next chapter
where John is told to write a special message to the angel of each
church. See also JST which changes "angels" to "servants."
[17].
R.H. Allen, Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning, p. 303.
[18].
An excellent source on Greek star myths is Ian Ridpath, Star
Tales (New York: Universe Books, 1988).
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