Jennifer Asad, Contributor
Waking Times
The story of the four horsemen is found in the Revelation of John, which scholars believe was written in 95 AD. They did not carbon date it. It is given this date because the author alludes to a numbers of kings who had come and gone. It was more likely written during the period of the compilation of the bible around 325AD.
There is something very strange and unique about Revelations that needs closer examination.
The ancients imagined the sun as riding through the heavens in a chariot. The Greek sun god Helios rode his chariot across the heavens drawn by four horses, as did the sun god Apollo. It was once common knowledge that the four horses represented the four seasons and this is what they represent in Revelations.
Each season bursts forward in a certain zodiac sign at “cardinal points”. The cardinal points once occurred in Taurus for spring, Leo for summer, Scorpio for fall and Aquarius for winter (one zodiac sign back due to the precession of the equinox). The cardinal points are also the two equinoxes (spring & fall) and two solstices (summer & winter).These cardinal points is the origin of the symbol of the cross.
If the compilers of the bible had understood that what they had in Revelations was really astrology sweetly wrapped in Christian salutation, it probably would never have seen the light of day.
They did not recognize that the author prophesied the churches corruption and downfall. They did not recognize themselves as the Great Whore of Babylon who rides the Beast.
In creating the Roman-Catholic Church, they joined government with religion and created a Church-State. This conglomerate entity is not the US as some have supposed because the US was purposefully founded on separation of church and state to avoid this very prophecy.
The church officials were very picky about what they included in the final compilation of writings that makes up the bible we have today. They rejected many articles, especially those that did not conform to their doctrine. For example, the Book of Enoch (written in Aramaic and Hebrew in 300 BC) was considered blasphemous because it describes the fall of the Watchers; angels who came unto women and fathered the Nephilim (giants). Yet they left 1 Samuel 17:41 where David killed the giant Goliath.
Not knowing how to interpret Revelations, but concluding that the visions must be from a prophet of God, possibly even the disciple John, the compliers stuck it in the back in the 11th hour, much to our delight today.
Being the last book of the bible, Revelations is a beautiful finale of astrotheology and it undeniably unmasks (much like a Rosetta stone) the presence of astrology in our established religion. It starts by the writer identifying himself as John, with the implication that he is the disciple John (a Jew, yet written in Greek?). He gives a Christian salutation then acknowledges the churches, as did the earlier Christian writer, Paul. It then switches into a beautiful astrotheological thesis and ends with another Christian salutation. What we have is a message written in the language of astrology for those who can understand. It also carries a warning for those living in perilous end-times due to the astrological phenomena of the 24,000 year -Great Year- of the precession of the vernal (spring) equinox.
The first indication that we have entered the realm of Astrology is that while Paul wrote to 10 or more churches, the author of Revelations mentions only 7. The numbers 7 and 12 are significant to astrology because there are 7 planets and 12 constellations. Planets are considered the hosts of heaven.
So, let’s look at the beautiful piece of astrotheology that has come to us today, so carefully and unwittingly preserved by the Catholic Church.
Revelation 4:6-8
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion (Leo) and the second beast like a calf (Taurus) and the third beast had a face as a man (Aquarius) and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Scorpio).
Scorpio is the only constellation that has three signs, the scorpion, the eagle and the phoenix, the symbol of transformation and spiritual rebirth. The eagle more likely represents the sign of Aquila, which means “eagle” and is also in that region.
These 4 beasts are the four fixed signs of the Zodiac. At these points the season is fixed. Spring is fixed in Taurus. Summer is fixed in Leo. Fall is fixed in Scorpio and winter is fixed in Aquarius. Seasons occurs in three phases. Each season has a startup phase called cardinal, its middle is called fixed, and its decline is called mutable. This cycling has been compared to an airplane. A lot of energy is required for a plane to take off (cardinal,) the plane coasts along (fixed,) and then the plane declines (mutable). Ancients used the analogy of horses.
After we are introduced to this strange creature, the Lamb appears and opens a seal. The Lamb is the zodiac sign of Aries; which for many ancients actually began the new year. Then, each of these four beasts announces one of the four horsemen in turn.
The horses represent each of the four cardinal months or start of the seasons. The riders represents the four fixed months of the season. Together they are the four horse-men.
The four beasts also represent the four Ages of man called Veda Yugas that are equivalent to the Golden age, Silver age, Bronze age, and Iron age. The Satya Yuga is man’s Golden age. Tetra Yuga the Silver age. Dvapar Yuga the Bronze age and Kali Yuga the Dark age.
Due to cosmic influences, based upon our location in the universe as our sun drags us though the cosmos upon its elliptical path, man suffers long periods of intellectual and spiritual deficiency during the Dark ages, where his capacity for comprehension slowly diminishes. Yet, at other times based upon location and beneficial energy, during the Golden ages man’s intellectual and spiritual capacity increases. Some believe that we are leaving the dark ages and that entering Aquarius turns us back towards a Golden age. I don’t agree with this. It is my contention that we are moving below the galactic plane, not above it. Aquarius is a winter month and is ruled by Saturn; a malevolent planet of fear and control. We are already seeing the effects of Saturn with the militarization of our police force and the hammering on our head of the word terror.
Rev, 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb (Aries) opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
The first horseman sounds almost regal. He is unique in that he represents both the season of spring and a savior-hero, hence the white horse and crown. The word Herod, as in King Herod, translates as “Hero’s song”. The hero’s song is the story of triumph and struggles as our hero (the sun) transverses the wheel of the zodiac.
The first horseman rides a white horse, always associated with the good guy. He wears a crown and carries a bow. He rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. The word crown is from the Latin root word corona. A crown originally meant to represent the golden rays of the sun and associated the ruler with the power of the sun and authority to rule. The rider wears the crown because the sun is ‘exalted’ in Aries and in this house he is called the “conquering sun”. He arose from the dead, the dead of winter, to save us. He is after all, the light of the world.
The first horse is cardinal spring in Aries, and the rider is fixed spring in Taurus. Our hero, the sun, has conquered the dark and cold of winter with its warmth and life giving energy in spring. The world is renewed.
The rider has borrowed the bow from Sagittarius the centaur, a half horse, half man creature. In the constellations, Sagittarius follows after Scorpio. The centaur has turned around and points his arrow at a star called Antares, which is at the “heart” of the scorpion that gives the sun the “kiss of death”. A scorpion’s sting is in the shape of a pair of lips. This is where Judas (Scorpio) betrays Jesus, the sun, with a kiss before he goes to his death during the winter solstice in Capricorn (the goat). The bow symbolizes that he plans to conquer death. He will be resurrected.
The artist painted the rider with feet of clay. The reference of clay feet comes from the book of Daniel. The king had a dream which Daniel interpreted. The dream was of a statue that represented the four Ages of man; the Golden age, the Silver age, the Bronze age, the Iron or Dark age.
Daniel 2:32
The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
The rider in the painting presented here wears a golden crown, a suit of silver and bronze, with feet of clay. The artist again alludes to the four horsemen being in reference to the Ages of man, in case you missed it.
Rev 6:3
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
The second horseman rides the face of the earth on a fiery red horse carrying a sword to take peace from the earth. The Greek word that was used for red is “purros” or “pyros,” meaning the color of fire. The normal Greek word for red is “eruthros” so the word chosen (purros) is a more specialized term to suggest fiery flickering of reds, oranges, and yellows of a flame.
The second horse is the cardinal summer in Cancer, and the rider is the fixed summer in Leo. The fiery color of the horse represents the heat of summer where emotions run high and if unbridled leads to war and strife (the sword) and takes peace from the earth.
The summer solstice occurs in Cancer June 21st when the sun is straight overhead during the longest day of the year. But the sun still rules the sign of Leo and always will. For our ancestors, the heat of the sun in summer became like a devouring lion. The lion may be courageous and brave and the king of the jungle, and all, but this sign’s negative aspects are the heat of passions and emotions. All signs have positive and negative aspects.
Rev 6:5
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; see thou hurt not the oil and the wine”.
The third horse is cardinal fall in Libra, and the rider is fixed fall in Scorpio. While Aries represents 6am and daylight (white horse) on the zodiac clock, Libra represent after 6pm and night (black horse). The scales represent Libra and the sun’s fall below the equator as it heads towards its death at the winter solstice.
Scales represent the fall equinox where there is equal length of day and night. There are 6 months above the equator and 6 months below. One pan of the scales represents the 6 months above (positive & life affirming) and the other pan represent the 6 months below (negative & life effacing). In this painting there is really only one scale; a serious lacking, a famine, which this horseman is said to represent. This horseman is told to measure the wheat and barley and hurt not the oil and wine; meaning be very judicious with your food storage. If ancients had not reserved enough food by this time of the year, they could easily starve to death in the winter months ahead.
Next comes the forth horsemen of Death followed closely behind by Hades. The word Hades has mistakenly become synonymous with the relatively new concept of a Christian fiery hell. The Greek word Hades means the cold, dark underworld; a shadowy, gloomy Netherworld cut off from God. Hades is the lower, outer regions of heaven where Saturn is.
Rev 6:7
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given unto him over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword (second horseman), and with hunger (third horseman), and with death (fourth horseman), and with the beasts of the field.
The fourth horse is the cardinal winter in Capricorn, and the rider is the fixed winter in Aquarius. The sun hypothetically dies on the cross every year during the winter solstice December 21st. The sun rises from the dead on December 24th. The sun is born at the spring equinox March 21.
The fourth horseman of Death kills with all the negative aspects of three of the preceding horsemen. He kills with the sword given to the second horseman representing Leo with his unrestrained passions and emotions. He destroys with hunger, which represents Libra, the third horseman. And he destroys with the beasts of the field. He does not kill with the more positive (spring) first horseman on the white horse.
The constellations have been called the beasts of the field, save for Aquarius the Divine man. The word zoo and zodiac comes from the Latin Zodiacus, or Greek Zoidiakos, and means little animals. This is to say that not only is man destroyed by the negative aspects of Leo with uncontrolled passions, and with Libra whose scales tip us below the equator in a type of spiritual deficiency, but man is destroyed by all the beasts of the field, by all the negative aspects of each of the zodiac signs.
The next image helps explain the cardinal and fixed signs of spring, summer, fall, and winter that represents the horse and rider of Revelations. To help visualize the description, the face of a bull, lion, eagle, and man has been placed on the rider.
Notice that the forth horseman (Age of Aquarius), where originally occurred the winter solstice, is below the galactic plane in a region considered the underworld. This is hades where Saturn fell or was “cast down” and where this planet rules. The sun “dies” in this region during the longest night of the year. Remember, with Ages we move counterclockwise through the zodiac. In other words, the Age of Pisces, which we are leaving as we move though the galactic plane, is followed by the Age of Aquarius, and the Age of Aquarius is followed by the Age of Capricorn.
In the painting, the first horsemen is actually turned back to shoot his arrow at the heart (star Antares) of the rider of the black horse (Scorpio) across the way. The scorpion plans to betray the sun with a kiss. During the winter solstice (marking the longest night of the year) the sun does not appear to move in the heavens for 3 days. The ancients took this to mean that the sun had died. Then, the sun begins to move across the horizon again and the days begin to get longer. Our hero has conquered death.
Each of the 4 beasts has 4 faces upon their body. Each body represents a Great Year (approx. 24,000 years). The 4 faces represent the 4 Ages within that Great Year, which are the 4 fixed signs of the zodiac (“without turning”). They are called “fixed” because these signs do not appear to move. The idea of four prior world creations agrees with other ancient peoples who say that the world has been destroyed and recreated many times. The Aztec and Navajo say we are in the fifth world and it could be true for them. The Maya agrees with Revelations in that we are in the fourth world and headed for the fifth. As you know, in Revelations this world is destroyed and a new heaven and a new earth appear in the heavens; all astrological.
The scroll in Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelations is Revelations itself!
The theme of Revelations is a carry-through of the visions and prophesies of Ezekiel and Daniel. They share a common thread of the four beasts and each was given a prophetic scroll. Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll, which was sweet as honey in his mouth, and to go prophesy to the house of Israel. Daniel was told to seal up his scroll till the time of the end when knowledge would be increased and people ran to and fro.
In Revelations 10:10 the writer is instructed to take a “little book” and eat it. It is sweet as honey in his mouth but turns bitter in the stomach. But it is Revelations 22:10 that demonstrates that this is indeed the same scroll of Ezekiel and Daniel; “Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near”.
Ezekiel 2:9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
Ezekiel 3:1 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.
Daniel 12:4 But thou, o Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book (scroll,) even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
Revelations 10:10 I (John) took the little book from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” 22:10 “Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near”.
Ages move counterclockwise though the zodiac.
The following scripture shows the similarity of Ezekiel’s vision and that of Revelations.
Ezekiel 1:5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, 6: but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7: … they went every one straight forward, without turning as they went. 10: As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back.
In the painting provided, the first horseman stomps a king, a bishop, and a Jewish scribe underfoot as buildings representing great societies fall in ruin around them.
Collapse of governments, the fall of the Catholic Church and weather related catastrophes are depicted in Revelations as signs of the end times. Geological records show that periodic global destruction has come upon the earth. These happen at galactic crossings.
It is certain that the writer of Revelations, versed in ancient astrology, knew exactly what events would portend the end of the Age (of Pisces). The writer would have known about the 24,000 year, Great Year that marches out the rise and fall of man from the dark ages to the golden ages and back again. He knew that the destruction of the world was cyclic and just like it had happened before it was destined to happen again.
Revelations is a time capsule of astrotheology that has survived under the most extraordinary circumstances. Whoever wrote and successfully orchestrated its inclusion into the holy bible was absolutely brilliant.
What about the zombies!!!
I was as surprised as anyone to see that an artist painting in the 1880s would add what we today are calling zombies. A crazed man gnaws on the arm of another man, literally eating him. So what does scripture say about the “walking dead”? As we all know, there is a fad today about Zombies. It makes you wonder just how this movement got started.
Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
Ephesians 5:14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Isaiah 26:19Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy, because your dew is refreshing dew, and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead.
John 5:28 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
Obviously, more research needs to be done regarding the biblical subject of the dead rising. But suffice it to say that many people who are spiritually dead walk among us already. These people are scary because they are capable of doing anything and they are the ones to worry about during trying times. They, the Zombies, the walking dead, are the ones who will rape, pillage, and plunder. They will riot, murder, and loot. The spiritually dead are pretty scary folks. Even our government and military are preparing for what they openly call, the Zombie Apocalypse. These military exercises are to prepare for coming civil unrest, with citizens viewed as the Zombies.
Sometimes the writings sound like they are talking about a great spiritual awakening where those who were spiritually dead awaken and walk among “them,” with the word “them” being the spiritually dead.
You might have looked around at society today and felt that a lot of people are indeed spiritually dead so the idea of them awakening to some form of enlightenment would be a good thing.
But, maybe there is something more to the idea of the dead actually rising that we don’t understand. It could even be those that have destroyed their brain with drugs yet still live, for example the meth epidemic sweeping across America.
Helios relief sculpture from the Britannica Online for Kids .For more on the Great Year see article Tarot Wheel of Fortune and Astrology http://www.scribd.com/doc/130103168/Tarot-Wheel-of-Fortune-and-Astrology
Helios, the Greek god of the Sun, rides his chariot drawn by four horses in a relief sculpture from the ancient city of Troy. Helios was believed to ride his chariot from east to west each day accounting for the path of the sun. Notice the 4 horses representing the seasons. The rays behind his head represent the sun.
