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Astro*Dictionary by Michael Erlewine

 

 

 

 

1 article for "Eternity, Horoscope of"

Eternity, Horoscope of [Astro*Index]

The appearance of the heavens at some special moment in antiquity was recorded by the Egyptians in their Standard Diagram, which has been called The Horoscope of Eternity, has been found in numerous places, such as the cenotaph at Abydos of Seti I (Sethos, or Setekdy). In this diagram, the figures representing Sirius and Orion are easily identified. To the left of Sirius are the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus (represented as a large heron, "the bennu-bird of Osiris"). The Egyptian name of Sirius is Sopdet, which the Greeks pronounced as Sothis; Sopdet means the Sharp One, Arrow- head, or Pointer. The importance of the heliacal rising of Sirius is well-known, as it marked the beginning of the New Year for the Egyptians. Thus, all the diagrams represent the appearance of the sky on New Year's Day at dawn. From this information, the Irish astrologer, Cyril Fagan, determined that the only possible date for this event was in the year BC2767, which marked the Inauguration of the Sothic Calendar. From the Legend of the Phoenix, together with a consideration of the geographical locations at which the Standard Diagram has been found, and the religious and political atmosphere of the period, the city of Heliopolis was selected as the site for further computation. Fagan determined that the heliacal rising of Sirius (magnitude - 1.58) occurred at Heliopolis, Egypt (E31°18', N30°18') on BC2767 JUL 16,04:01 LCT (in the Julian Calendar). Calculation shows that, at that moment, a remarkable alignment of planets was found along the eastern Horizon in the following order: Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Sirius--with Venus on the left and Sirius on the right. Mercury and the Sun were just below the Horizon (about to rise), Orion had previously risen, and the Full Moon was setting in the West. The Standard Diagram is, then, marked as the oldest `horoscope' known to astrologers. Numerous other details in the diagram, together with hieroglyphic inscriptions make it clear that the Egyptians at Heliopolis actually observed the sky at that moment; i.e., the chart was not reconstructed after the fact. Still more remarkable is the fact that this date is equivalent to JUN 23 in the Gregorian calendar, which marks the Summer Solstice! And, Sirius and Venus are separated by an angle of 55° in azimuth, which led to the solution of the problem of `dekans', which were thought to span 10°, but have now been found to cover only 5° and, thus, have been renamed Pentades.

 

BodyLong.Lat.RADEC
MCARI10°43'  +00°00'  331°41'  +99°99'
HamalARI13°24'  +09°55'  330°39'  -01°42'
MarsCAN19°07'  +00°53'  065°50'  +23°01'
JupiterCAN21°41'  +00°18'  068°42'  +22°50'
SaturnCAN25°04'  +00°00'  072°23'  +23°00'
VenusCAN25°48'  +00°29'  073°07'  +23°35'
SiriusGEM20°10'  -38°30'  049°05'  -21°42'
ASCCAN28°58'  +00°00'
Sun LEO10°40'  +00°00'  089°22'  +24°00'
MercuryLEO29°00'  +00°50'  109°27'  +23°3'8
MoonAQU19°08'  +03°25'  278°24'  -20°22'
SpicaVIR29°00'
AldebaranTAU15°00'
Obliquity = 24°00'

 

See also:
♦ Heliacal Rising/setting ♦ Egyptian Astrology ♦ Sothic Calendar ♦ Horakti Calendar ♦ Sirius ♦ Fagan, Cyril ♦ Decan ♦ Pentade ♦ Julian Calendar ♦ Gregorian Calendar ♦ Solstice ♦ Azimuth

 

Astro*Index Copyright © 1997 Michael Erlewine