What - and WHEN - was The Star of Bethlehem? Was it the Comet of 32 B.C. - the "Sparkling Star" ? : Was Jesus born ca. 33 B.C. viz. 32 B.C. ?

The book review New Book on the Star of Bethlehem and Birth Chart of Jesus » The Horoscopic Astrology Blog is by Chris Brennan who writes:

"A book just came out in which the author proposes a new theory about the Star of Bethlehem and the birth chart of Jesus.

The book is aptly titled The Star of Bethlehem. It was written by a Swiss astrologer named Dieter Koch, who is primarily known for his work with the company Astrodienst, as a co-author of the widely used Swiss Ephemeris....

He rightly emphasizes the importance that was ascribed to planets making a helical rising in ancient astrology, and then later adds another dimension to the argument when he takes the statement that the star “stopped” over the place of Jesus’ birth as an indication that the relevant star stationed around the time the Magi arrived in Bethlehem. (pg. 57)

Eventually he unveils the crux of his argument, which is essentially that:

“Jesus was born at a heliacal rising of Venus!” (pg. 59)"

In our opinion, that theory of Koch is without substance.

As Nigel Henbest writes in What was the Star of Bethlehem?

"Was Venus the Star of Bethlehem? Almost certainly not - Venus makes such regular appearances as the "Morning Star" and the "Evening Star" that people observing the heavens even thousands of years ago would have been familiar with it. The Christmas Star must have been a celestial event that was truly out-of-the-ordinary....

Chinese astronomers were logging their own observations of the sky at the time, and reported no brilliant supervovae. They did, however, record two bright comets. The first was Halley's Comet, which swings close by the Sun roughly every 76 years.... But the ancient Chinese saw Halley swinging by in 12 BC - too early for the birth of Jesus.

The Chinese reported another celestial visitor early in 5 BC - a"broom star" on the borders of the constellations Aquarius and Capricornus. Though some astronomers think this was a nova - an explosion on a dwarf star - Colin Humphreys, a scientist at Cambridge University, argues that it was a comet. And Humphreys is convinced that this tailed wonder was the Star of Bethlehem. The Chinese records show that the celestial visitor was visible for 70 days - long enough to guide the Magi to Bethlehem. In this case, Jesus was born in the spring of 5 BC. "

Postings by others on the topic of the Star of Bethlehem discuss yet other theories:

The Star of Bethlehem, again at Bad Astronomy discusses a theory that theh Star of Bethlehem was the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus - we do not buy that at all.

Colin Humphreys, The Star of Bethlehem, Science and Christian Belief , Vol 5, (October 1995): 83-101, suggests that the Star of Bethlehem was a comet - and that is the theory which we regard to be correct - but which comet and when?

All previous efforts to identify a comet around the era currently assigned to Christ are for naught, because there is a ca. 28-year error in current chronology - see the links below - so that what we regard as the "birth" of Christ was actually his death:

The Era of Jesus: Questions in Modern Calendration
Law, Evidence and Archaeology: Errors in Biblical Chronology
Law, Evidence and Archaeology: Errors in Biblical Chronology II

The result is then that we are looking for a comet around ca. 30 B.C. rather than 0 B.C. and there is indeed such a comet which fits the Biblical account perfectly, having appeared in February in 32 BC and appearing in the heaven's at Ying Shih, which extends into Capricorn, the traditional area of Christ's birth. See John Williams, Observations of comets, from B. C. 611 to A. D. 1640 (1871), where he writes about the Chinese observation of a comet that appears 50th in his list and was observed in February 32 B.C.:

50 B.C. 32. February.

In the reign of Ching Te, the ist year of the epoch Keen Che, the ist moon, there
was a comet in Ying Shih : its colour was a bluish white. It was from 60 to 70 cubits in length, and about i cubit in width. [emphasis added]

As written in a review of Williams work, Ying Shih is described as follows:

"Ying Shih, or as it is more usually denominated Shih, is one of the 28 stellar divisions
determined by [alpha], [beta] and ther stars in Pegasus, extending north and south
from Cygnus to Piscis Australis, and east and west 17 degrees, and comprising parts
of our signs Capricornus and Aquarius."

David Seargent in The greatest comets in history: broom stars and celestial scimitars, Volume 725, writes:

"There seems ... to have been a comet with an exceptionally long tail in the year 32 BC., but it is mentioned - and then only briefly - in just one Chinese record. Moreover, despite noting a tail of at least 70 degrees in length, the object is described as a sparkling star, a designation more normally reserved for comets with no conspicuous tail. Maybe the tail was faint....
[emphasis added]

In our view, that "sparkling star" was the Star of Bethlehem.

Aristeo Canlas Fernando writes in his REVELATION AND PROOFS - based on the Bible, accounts of the respected Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, eclipse table prepared by Fred Espanek, Jewish calendars, Jewish festivals and fasts, calendar converter of Timothy James Forsythe, moon phases by Stellafane, Pasiong Mahal (Holy Passion), and the Aristean Cycle -
that JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN ON MAY 23, 33 B.C.

We agree that the birth of Jesus occurred in this era ca. 33-32 B.C. and that the Star of Bethlehem was the Comet of 32 B.C.

It may or may not be coincidence, by the way, but the oldest surviving date for the Maya Long Count also falls "in 32 BC at Chiapa de Corzo, between the Olmec and Maya zones," Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, p.13.

Kepler College Cancels Current Term, School Closing » The Horoscopic Astrology Blog

Kepler College Cancels Current Term, School Closing » The Horoscopic Astrology Blog

"Today the President of Kepler College, Enid Newberg, sent out an announcement effectively saying that the school will be closing down in the near future....

Kepler College cannot meet either the financial or accreditation requirements of authorization."

Today In Music History...December 3rd, 2009 - Home - World As I Der See It!

Today In Music History...December 3rd, 2009 - Home - World As I Der See It!

Season of Birth and the Birth Dates of Famous (Eminent) Historical Persons Listed in the Encyclopaedia Britannica

Astronomers unknowingly malign astrology.

Humans have always tried to reach for the stars to bring them to an understandable human level. This is what astrology does - it makes the stars "relevant" to human beings.

The general conception of scientists that all of astrology is bunk, has not been empirically proven, either one way or the other. We are not talking here about drawing horoscopes out of a hat and that kind of thing. Rather, just as outbreaks of solar flares can influence radio transmission here on earth, it is not impossible that celestial bodies have some influence upon us, especially in the period of our early conception and gestation, however small this influence may appear to be to the physicists.

The geneticists tell us we are all formed of DNA so small that we can not even see our genes with the naked eye, so why should there be no influence on that "tiny" genetic mixture at conception as exerted by large and visible heavenly bodies, such as the Moon, which is powerful enough to create ocean tides? Are our bodily fluids immune? We consist of 90% water.

And yet, a number of years ago, a number of Nobel Prize Winners signed a document stating that Astrology had no foundation in fact EVEN THOUGH NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THESE SCIENTISTS HAD EVER DONE FIVE MINUTES OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON THE SUBJECT. A poor showing by the Nobel Laureates. VERY UNSCIENTIFIC.

Upon hearing this, I bet a colleague at the university where I worked at the time (the colleague was a rabid astrology opponent) a bottle of champagne that an empirical study of the birth dates of famous persons in terms of their field of eminence would show statistically significant deviations by mathematics, i.e. that there was an unknown variable at work, whatever it might be.

I won the wager.

The scientific, empirical evidence - the subject of this blog - consists of the dates of birth of history's most famous (viz. eminent) persons. It totals 11,439 men and women from the year 1400 to the year 1974 as listed in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, 1974 edition. Of course, that selection is subjective, but over the space of more than 500 years, there is no reason to expect that the season of birth of selected persons would be anything other than random.

I compiled that list over a number of years and quantified the results. Those results, when subjected to mathematical scrutiny of the kind that is standard in scientific research, does in fact indicate that there may be differences of some kind between human beings - when these are viewed in very large groups as a "sample" - that are somehow correlated to the season of birth. I do not allege here that the "planets" are the cause for these differences, nor do I need to do so , as the planets are only one kind of "clock" in our solar system, by which events are subjected to chronology. There may be other "causes" to which the planetary clock may be attuned. We have some postings about those here too.

The links in right column lead to various other postings about the topic of Astrology and Birth.

Choice of Marriage Partners and Month of Birth as a Factor in Mating : Divorce and Month of Birth of the Husband and Wife Point to Aggression as a Key

Choice of Marriage Partners And Month of Birth: A Question of Astrological and Compatible Aggressiveness?

The late Drs. P.P.A.M. Kop and Dr. B.A. Heuts, behavioral scientists at the University of Amsterdam, authored "Month of Birth and Partner Choice in Marriage", Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1974, p. 19.

In the course of many years they had noted in their studies of animals that "not every male will form a pair with any female or vice versa". Indeed, observations of certain kinds of birds tended to show that they seemed to have a preference for mates born in the same year as themselves.

It therefore occurred to these scientists to study whether any such preferences could be found among human beings as well. Accordingly, they went to the marriage registry office in Amsterdam and took a random sample of nearly 3500 marriages from the files. These files contained the birth dates of the partners and also noted when a marriage had ended in divorce. This data is scientifically valid only for Amsterdam, but it would be interesting if one would obtain similar data for other locations.

Since neither of the scientists were interested in astrology, they divided the data up into months and half-months. The "Strongest Results" seemed based on differences in aggressivity.

PLEASE NOTE: These are just statistics as far as romance is concerned for a very large sample of human beings. Love is stronger than math, so do not apply this to your own situation.

Females generally showed a preference to marry men born two months later in the year than they were themselves. This preference was particularly strong for women born in January, February, March and April.

Males generally preferred women born within two months (earlier OR later) than their own birth month, and generally showed less of a preference for women born four to six months distant.

Males born in the second half of January tended to show a preference for females born in the second half of October (twice as many marriages as expected by chance).

Males and females born in April and the first half of May tended to show preference not to marry each other (half as many marriages as expected by chance).

Males born in the period from the latter half of June to the first half of July tended to marry females born in the period from the latter half of July to the first half of August (twice as many marriages as expected by chance).

Males born in March who married females born in July had an eight times greater divorce rate than would be expected by chance.

Higher divorce rates than expected by chance also existed for marriages where the males were born in February and females born in May, and for males born in July and females born in February, and for males born in October and females born in June.

Males born in the second half of November divorced twice as often as males born at any other time of the year (regardless of the date of birth of the female !)

Here are the "tendencies" found by Kop and Heuts:

PLEASE NOTE: If YOUR partner does not match this list, do not worry! These are just statistics as far as romance is concerned. Love is stronger than math. Recall that this data applies ONLY to a very large sample of marriages in Amsterdam. Data at other locations may be far different, and every match has exceptions!

Females born in January
Most preferred male born in March
Least preferred born in April

Males born in January
Most preferred female born in October
Least preferred born in July

Females born in February
Most preferred male born in April
Least preferred July

Males born in February
Most preferred female born in October
Least preferred March

Females born in March
Most preferred male born in May
Least preferred August

Males born in March
Most preferred female born in January
Least preferred July

Females born in April
Most preferred male born in June
Least preferred November

Males born in April
Most preferred female born in February
Least preferred January

Females born in May
Most preferred male born in December
Least preferred June

Males born in May
Most preferred female born in June
Least preferred December

Females born in June
Most preferred male born in November
Least preferred October

Males born in June
Most preferred female born in April
Least preferred October

Females born in July
Most preferred male born in June
Least preferred March

Males born in July
Most preferred female born in April
Least preferred February

Females born in August
Most preferred male born in August
Least preferred September

Males born in August
Most preferred female born in July
Least preferred November

Females born in September
Most preferred male born in September
Least preferred April

Males born in September
Most preferred female born in September
Least preferred April

Females born in October
Most preferred male born in January
Least preferred June

Males born in October
Most preferred female born in January
Least preferred June

Females born in November
Most preferred male born in November
Least preferred August

Males born in November
Most preferred female born in June
Least preferred April

Females born in December
Most preferred male born in August
Least preferred May

Males born in December
Most preferred female born in May
Least preferred July

Whether similar results would be found in other cities or other geographic areas is of course SERIOUSLY open to question. But it is an interesting question.

Annual Environmental Variables and Season of Birth : Temperature, Daylight & Geomagnetic Activity : O. Héroux : Aggression & Marriage : P.P.A.M. Kop

The Birth of Eminent Humans and the Effect of Annual Variables of the Environment: Temperature, Daylight and Geomagnetic Activity

Sample for the Study: All Persons Listed (11,439 total) in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Micropaedia, 1974. Data Compiled by Andis Kaulins.

The graphs below show how the distribution of eminent humans by field of eminence as listed in the Encyclopaedia Britannica may be related to environmental variables of temperature and daylight. Plus, there is some interesting material on annual fluctuations in geomagnetic activity - which MAY be related to the Planets - but this is speculation.

Annual Temperature & the Seasonal Births of Eminent Humans

We see a similar pattern in the graph below for the effect of Temperature and Daylight on Human Depression.

Annual Fluctuations in Daylight & Temperature
and their Effect on Human Depression

SEASONAL VARIATION in GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY
Letter of O. Héroux, July 13 1979, National Resource Council of Canada, Division of Biological Sciences

"Dear Andis,

If I understand your figures, there are more eminent people born early spring than at any other time of the year. If this means March, then these people were conceived in June or July.

At that time I find that stress resistance is great and geomagnetic activity is low, which might explain as you say why we find more eminent people being born in March. Parents with strong
biological vigor would then have stronger offsprings.

On the other hand, when geomagnetic activity is rising in September, October...stress resistance is low.

It is with studies like yours and mine that eventually some strong scientific credibility may be given to the whole field of astrology.

If geomagnetic activity is ever demonstrated to have a causal relationship with biological vigor, then it will not be difficult to relate this vigor with the sun's erupting activity, which is known
to cause the seasonal fluctuation in the geomagnetic activity.

And since physical scientists tell me that the eleven year cycle in the sun's activity is controlled by the position of the other planets in the sky, then it becomes possible to relate the date of birth
of eminent people with the position of the planet in the sky at the time they were conceived.

All this may sound far-fetched right now but I think that we are progressing in the right direction.

(signed) - Sincerely, O. Héroux"


The Changing Time-Dependent Conditions of Foetal Development
by Andis Kaulins

The Example of Drugs for Pregnant Mothers and Thalidomide Babies

Foetal development is not uniformly continuous. Certain vital organs and appendages develop during various stages between conception and birth. This was evidenced by the thalidomide babies, who suffered from birth defects if the mother had taken this teratogenic drug during several crucial weeks of development but who showed no defects if this drug were taken several weeks later.

Accordingly, if the physical environment, geomagnetics, and similar factors do play a role, then the foetal period - reflected by the birth date - could account for some "astrological" differences in humans.

Season of Birth (Conception) and Human Aggression

Drs. P.P.A.M. Kop, who first studied birds, also studied variations in human aggression based on month of birth. He discovered -in birds - that there were mutual yearly aggression incompatibilities, e.g. birds of low aggression did not mate with birds of low aggression. In human circles he discovered it is the same - two partners - both low in aggression - do not mate.

Indeed, Drs. Kop made some very interesting SEPARATE studies on criminals and Marriage Partners - seeking the common denominator of aggression in terms of the month of birth. He found that the month of birth did make a statistically significant difference and that aggression was the key.

Seasonal Variation in the Birth Data of Famous Humans: Statistical Analysis by Drs. P.P.A.M. Kop of Data Compiled by Andis Kaulins

Birth Data Famous Humans Seasonal Variation. Statistical Analysis by Drs. P.P.A.M. Kop of Data Compiled by Andis Kaulins

The following is a letter from the late P.P.A.M. Kop, a behavioral scientist at the University of Amsterdam, to Andis Kaulins containing the mathematical STATISTICAL analysis of the distribution of famous persons by field of eminence AND Birth Date (both by Month of Birth as well as by Astrological Sign) as listed in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, 1974 edition (a total of 11,439 persons with known birth dates).

"Dear Andis,

I have done the basic work of almost 650 Chi-square-tests besides other calculations.

Well, the results seem to be amazing!

(The Chi-square-test calculates the expected frequencies if the professions were taken by chance, considering the total number of people born in each month (or sign) and the total number of people with a particular profession, as well as the total number of people in the sample.)

The total Chi-square-value for month of birth and profession is 368.952 which is significant at a p-level of 0.05!

Thus, the frequencies deviate significantly from chance and there must be something special about the frequencies distributed over the months according to profession.

For Data 2 astrological sign and profession the total Chi-square-value is 370.3659
which is significant at a p-level of 0.05!

Thus, a similar story holds for the astrological signs. But this does not mean yet that the signs are causal factors. The signs-division is also a particular period of the year, just as the division in months. Actually, the division in monthly periods is as much as arbitrary as the division in astrological signs.

Significant Results deviating from chance have been found for
[the MONTHLY distributions in]:

Politics
monthly distribution (P less than 0.05) excess for October (P less than 0.01)

Business Entrepreneurs
monthly distribution (P less than 0.01) deficit June and excess July (P less than 0.02)

Biologists
monthly distribution (P less than 0.01) deficit January and July (P less than 0.05)
excess in February (P less than 0.05)

Geographic Explorers
monthly distribution (P less than 0.02) deficit December (P less than 0.02)
excess June (P less than 0.02)

Performing Arts
monthly distribution (P less than 0.02) excess April (P less than 0.01)

Linguistics
monthly distribution (P less than 0.05) excess for December (P less than 0.05)

Significant results deviating from chance have been found for the data
[as distributed by SIGNS]:

Religion
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.02) deficit for Aries and Sagittarius
(P less than 0.05) excess for Libra and Capricorn (P less than 0.05)

Military Leaders
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.02)
with an excess for the sign Libra (P less than 0.001 !)

Business Entrepreneurs
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.05)
deficit for Gemini (P less than 0.05) excess for Cancer (P less than 0.02)

Physics
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.05)
excess for Cancer (P less than 0.05) deficit for Capricorn (P less than 0.01)

Archaeology
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.05) excess for Capricorn (P less than 0.001 !)

Linguistics
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.05) excess for Sagittarius (P less than 0.02)

Geographic Explorers
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.05)
excess for Leo (P less than 0.05) deficit for Sagittarius (P less than 0.02)

Performing Arts
distribution by astrological signs (P less than 0.01) excess for Aries (P less than 0.05)
deficit for Virgo (P less than 0.02) deficit for Scorpio (P less than 0.05)

Significant results are also possible
for LAW and MUSICAL COMPOSERS.

(signed) - Drs. Kop -"

Accordingly, there may be something unusual about the distribution of professions among eminent people according to date of birth within the year.

The CAUSE, of course, may not be directly in the STARS or PLANETS - which are simply ancient calendric signposts - but we may find clues in annual variations of climate, light, temperature and/or geomagnetic activity. On the other hand, geomagnetic activity is a function of the solar eruptions of the sun - and these may be related to the position of the planets in orbit. Maybe there is something serious in this subject after all.

For further interesting analysis of the birth data in terms of seasonal distribution, annual light, temperature and depression, geomagnetic activity, etc. see the right column for links to Annual Environmental Variables.