Ah yes the 23rd of September 2017, the rarest planetary alignment/convergence of the rare, allegedly only once in 7000 years and the fulfilment of a sign in The Book of Revelation, the much esteemed Apocalypse of John. Revelation, the central pillar of Christian eschatology; that part of theology concerned with death, judgement, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.
On this date, the sun will be in the constellation Virgo (the virgin), along with the moon near Virgo’s feet. Additionally, Jupiter will be in Virgo, while the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury will be above and to the right of Virgo in the constellation Leo.
Revelation 12: 1-2 ‘And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.’
So the pragmatist astronomers, of which I am not one I hasten to add although I know one or two who are equally eccentric, would say: ‘Here we have a woman (Virgo) in the sky (heaven), along with the sun, and the moon at her feet. Surely a tick in the box! What about the 12 stars? Most online sources hailing this prophetic sign state that there are nine stars in Leo, but add the three planets (which appear as bright or ‘wandering stars’), then there are 12 stars. Since Leo is to the upper right of Virgo’s head, this might well be viewed as a crown of 12 stars, but twelve stars far above Virgo’s head.’
They then start
tut-tutting at perceived technical inaccuracies, but they are scientists not evangelists after all.
This year Jupiter will be near what is supposed to be the womb of Virgo, thus to Revelation devotees it represents the child that the woman is about to give birth to.
Tutting increase: But Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to orbit the sun, therefore this is the period with which Jupiter moves through the zodiacal constellations, spending about a year in each one. In essence this means that this juxtaposition occurs within a day or two, every 12 years.
And
tut-tut, as for the crown of stars, I think you’ll find that Leo has more than nine stars, not just the ones connected by lines of which there are indeed nine. But what about the connecting line to Omicron Leonis, the star that forms the front paws of Leo and the other stars dotted about in the vicinity?
And exactly how rare an occurrence, is it to have these additional three planets in Leo at the same time that Jupiter is in Virgo?
Less tutting, well it’s not that common, but has certainly has happened many times over the past 6,000 years, so not so rare after all.
And the whole kit and caboodle will be faint in parts and indeed not all of the parts of such a combination will be visible at the same time, so what kind of a sign is that you may ask? True Venus is very bright, so it will be relatively easy to spot; however, Mars and Mercury will be much, much fainter, and they won’t rise until morning twilight time. Only a thin crescent moon will be visible in the evening sky.
Well for me it is only human nature to want something to look forward to and leave myself in the hands of the great spirit-guide gently pulling my strings towards a foregone conclusion good or bad. After all it is a singular creator that sets the lights in the ‘firmament of heaven’, to provide the signs, not some celestially oriented computer programme. Yet perhaps rather than setting dates, many are indeed expecting the arrival of a new Messiah, we should just be 'ready' and not bound by timelines. For given the world is in such a parlous state - are we at the bottom of the abyss, might we be by September? - any assistance would be welcome no matter what the date is.
William Blake