But when receding Capricornus showsThe star that in his tail’s bright summit glows,Then shall the native dare the angry seas,A hardy sailor live, spurning inglorious ease.
But when receding Capricornus showsThe star that in his tail’s bright summit glows,Then shall the native dare the angry seas,A hardy sailor live, spurning inglorious ease.
But when receding Capricornus showsThe star that in his tail’s bright summit glows,Then shall the native dare the angry seas,A hardy sailor live, spurning inglorious ease.
But when receding Capricornus shows
The star that in his tail’s bright summit glows,
Then shall the native dare the angry seas,
A hardy sailor live, spurning inglorious ease.
Rev. Mr. King writes of a cast from a gem engraved with a “double-headed Capricorn with an owl’s body standing upon and holding in his forefoot a rudder: in allusion to the doctrine laid down by Manilius that the star in the sign’s tail is the proper horoscope of mariners and pilots. Or it may typify the usually fickle temper of one born under the sign. This sign likewise presided over all the space within tide-mark, the alternate domain of sea and land; a dominion expressed by the half terrestrial, half marine composition of the figure. The region peculiarly under him” (that is, the region astrologically ruled by Capricorn) “was the West of Europe.” (This is speaking very generally.) “The owl’s body is given him perhaps as the attribute of Pallas, the designer of that prototype of navigation, the Argo.”
Godfrey Higgins writes of the “whimsical sign called Capricorn which in the Indian Zodiac is an entire goat and an entire fish: in the Greek and the Egyptian the two are united and form one animal.”
The place of dazzling brilliancy, called by the Greeks “The Milky Way” is the path of the souls, and is referred to by Macrobius, Cicero and other writers. The author of the “Anacalypsis” writes:"The Milky Way is placed immediately under that degree of North Latitude which is called the Tropic of Cancer, and the two tropics of Cancer and Capricorn have been called by the astrologers “The Gates of Heaven or the Sun,” at each of which the Sun arrives in his annual progress. The Southern Gate is called the Tropic of Capricorn, an amphibious animal, half goat, half fish in our present zodiacs, but in the most ancient zodiacs of India it is described as two entire beings—a goat and a fish. Here, in this goat-fish sign Capricorn, are the mermen and mermaids, and the half-animal, half-fish beings of the sea. Of the tribe of Asher it is said: “Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties,” (Gen. 49. 20), a statement very much in agreement with the sign Capricorn. Again in Deuteronomy (33. 24) we have, according to the Authorized Version, “Let Asher be blessed with children: let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil”; this passage, however, may be closer translated as follows: “More than all the children be Asher blessed: he shall be the most favoured of his brethren and bathe his feet in oil.”
The tenth Mansion of the Zodiac, the natural “Home” of Capricorn, is the House of fame, honour, reputation, credit, authority and dignity.
His mother called him Asher because she said, “the daughters will call me blessed,” Asher being the Hebrew word for “blessed.” A close translation of verse 17, Chapter 5 Judges, would read: “Asher remained on the seashore and abode near his bays.”
In all these Biblical allusions to the tribe of Asherthere is nothing out of harmony with the sign Capricorn; in fact, in every line the connection is clearly marked.
The tenth stone in the Breastplate is the Serpentine and on it was engraved the tribe Naphtali.
The Eleventh Stone of the Breastplate
For reasons stated the Sapir is placed in the eleventh division of the Breastplate instead of the SHOHAM, and we thus have complete harmony between the eleventh sign of the zodiac, Aquarius, the eleventh division of the Breastplate and the Sapir stone which is translated as Sapphire in the Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, the Vulgate; as Lapis Lazuli or Sapphire by Mr. Wodiska; and as Lapis Lazuli by Dr. Hirsch, Rev. J. R. Dummelow, and others. The Targums indicate a stone of blue colour, and that this is the Lapis Lazuli there is no reason to doubt. In ancient times the Lapis Lazuli was termed SAPPHIRUS; Pliny describes it accurately as “opaque, sprinkled with specks of gold,” and many antique intagli in this stone have been found. The Lapis Lazuli was a very highly esteemed stone amongst the old world peoples, who called it “The Stone of Heaven,” “The Gem of the Stars,” and the Zemech Stone connected with all things heavenly. Traditionally it is the stone on which was engraved the law of Moses. In a quabalistic “Piut” is written: “O, how dreadful is the place of the heavenly abode; for there the light dwelleth with him: and above the firmament is a precious stone, as the appearance ofthe Sapphire stone which forms the glorious throne, and thereon He who is clothed with light is seated.” A close translation of Ezekiel 1. 26, reads: “And above, the vault that was over their head was like the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne: and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above it.” Chapter X. 1, similarly treated, reads: “Then I saw and behold, on the vault that was above the head of the Cherubim, there appeared over them something like a sapphire stone, something similar in appearance to the likeness of a throne.”
The connection of a blue stone with the blue heavens is consistent with ancient philosophy, and authorities agree in connecting this colour with the sign of the mighty heavens—Aquarius. According to tradition Moses, the law-giver, was born under this sign. Akers in his “Introduction to Biblical Chronology” gives the date of this event as A. M. 3319, Adar third, year of the Julian period 2987, which answers to Thursday, February 13th, 1727 B. C. At that time the sun would be in the Celestial Aquarius. Aquarius is the water-bearer, and the incident of the striking of the rock from which water gushed forth is mystically associated with it. In the Mythologies this waterbearer is Ganymedes, son of Tros, King of Troy, whom the gods, impressed by his beauty, carried away whilst he was tending the flocks on Mount Ida, in order that the Lord of Olympus might have a lovely cup-bearer.
In astrological deductions Aquarius is the sign of friendship—“Naphtali bringeth pleasant words.”It is also the sign of hopes and desires: Of Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of the Lord, take thou possession of the West and the South.” (Deut. 33. 23). Then again, in the Septuagint Naphtali is referred to as “a spreading tree yielding leafy branches” and the tree raising branches heavenwards is an Aquarian symbol.
The law of Moses is spoken of as the “tree of Life” which contains the secret of actual and absolute immortality.
Now we are, according to periodic astrological deductions, at the Gate of the age of Aquarius, all the world is undergoing the process of change, and finally all the humanitarianism of Aquarius will replace the accumulation of evil thoughts that lay by the Gateway. Then will Naphtali prevail, his captivity will be over, and the slaves will hang up their chains amongst the sacred cypresses, for the Comforter will come.
The Lapis Lazuli then, is the stone of the eleventh division of the Breastplate and on it was engraved the name Joseph.
The Twelfth Stone of the Breastplate
Regarding the classification which places Jashpeh in the twelfth division of the Breastplate much controversy has arisen, and the consensus of opinion is against it.
Dr. Emil Hirsch holds the opinion that Jahalom should replace JASHPEH, and in this surmise he is by no means alone. Astrologically Jashpeh hasnothing in common with the last sign of the Zodiac—Pisces—the colour of which is given as “glistening white” by the Midrash Bemidbah. It has been more minutely described as “a white glistening colour like a fish just taken out of the water” by William Lilly and Dr. Simmonite. There is little doubt that the stone was of a white glistening colour. YAHALOM is rendered as Diamond by the translations of the Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, by Mr. Cattelle, Dr. Ginzberg and others; but although the Diamond is mentioned by Pliny, it could not have found a place among the stones of the Breastplate as they were large stones all engraved with tribal names. To this treatment the diamond is not adapted. The YAHALOM is without doubt white crystal which is of a glistening colour and traditionally associated with the twelfth sign of the Zodiac.
Diodorus writes that an artist named Satyreius cut on a small crystal a most exquisite and lifelike portrait of Queen Arsinoe, the beauty of the work amply excusing the miniature stone on which it was engraved. It is related that Nero, his star falling, in his rage against the world and mankind, smashed to pieces two costly crystal cyphi or bowls on which Homeric subjects were wonderfully engraved. Articles in crystal still exist to demonstrate its extensive use by ancient nations. Fauno, in his 1553 edition of “Roman Antiquities,” mentions that during the building of a chapel of the King of France in St. Peter’s, the marble coffin of Maria, wife of the Emperor Honorius, was discovered. Little remainedof the body, but the jewels of the Empress were there, and amongst them were a talismanic plate of gold engraved with the names of the Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel), in Greek letters, about thirty vases and other articles in crystal, and an exquisite Nautilus shell lamp of pure crystal mounted on gold—no doubt the special charm of the Empress. The sign Pisces, the sign of “the fish with the glittering tails,” is symbolically represented by two fishes, which ancient story tells us were Venus and Cupid thus metamorphosed to escape the giant Typhon in his fury. In Babylonian story it is told that the fish-god Oannes—the Dagon of the Book of Samuel—came out of the Erythraean Sea “which borders upon Babylonia” to teach men how to live, to make laws, to worship, to soften their manners and to humanize their lives. Thus, the fish-god was the teacher of the hidden mysteries, and the sign Pisces has always been associated with occult science and hidden things. Mummified fish have been found in the Egyptian tombs, and Clermont Ganneau describes a pair of fish-gods keeping watch over a mummy. Isis as the Great Mother is symbolized with a fish on her head. The old Egyptian town of Esna, nearly 500 miles from Cairo, was called by the Greeks Latopolis on account of the worship of the Latus fish by the inhabitants, and an interesting old Zodiac can still be seen there amongst the famous ruins. The Babylonians accepted the fish as the symbol of the Resurrection, and the ninth chapter of the Book of Luke describes how 5000 people were fed by 5 loaves of bread (symbolical of Virgo) andtwo small fishes (symbolical of Pisces), a connection clear enough to the student of the mysteries. The fish was the symbol of the Messiah, and was adopted by the early Christians as the sign of Christ. The Roman Catholic church today has its fish days, and the Piscina is the basin that holds the Holy Water.
The tribe of Joseph is the tribe of the twelfth division of the Breastplate and the twelfth zodiacal sign, Pisces. Joseph in the Book of Genesis is the inspired prophet who reads the meaning of the famous symbolic dreams of The Butler, The Baker and The Pharaoh; who has his divining cup, and who was named by the Pharaoh, ZAPHENATH-PA’NEACH, which has been translated as “Saviour of the World” by one writer, but more nearly as “God, the Living One has spoken” by Dr. Dummelow, and as “God spake and he came into Life,” by Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge.
hieroglyphs
According to Talmudic story it was this Pharaoh who said that he saw the colours of rulership about Joseph. Joseph and his brethren are symbolical of the complete Zodiac. JOSHUA is the Son of the Fish (NUN the Hebrew word for “fish” is probably connected with the Egyptian NAR), and Jesus has his fishermen, “fishers of men.” The sign Pisces is the sign of hidden secrets and is mystically symbolized by a key. On the external plane it is the sign of increase, in which is concealed the mandate “Increase and multiply.”
The connection of the sign Pisces with the twelfth division of the Breastplate is, as in the previous cases, beyond argument. The stone is the glistening crystal on which was engraved the name of the tribe of Benjamin.
In reference to Joseph’s Dream of the Sun, Moon and Eleven Stars which made obeisance to him, Philo Judaeus says:
“The students of sublime wisdom now say that the Zodiac, the greatest of all the circles in Heaven, is studded with twelve animals from which it has derived its name. And that the Sun and the Moon are always revolving around it and go through each of the animals, not indeed with equal rapidity, but in unequal numbers and periods, the one doing so in 30 days and the other in as near as may be a twelfth part of that time. Therefore he who saw this Heaven-sent vision thought that he was being worshipped by eleven stars, ranking himself among them as the twelfth so as to complete the whole circle of the Zodiac.”