Quick links to various main topics in my blog

(Especially impressed you managed to find a photo of the event :-)

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Question tho: how many similar events (not necessarily involving the triple conjuntion but something equally likely to be remembered or recorded in some sort of folk lore) happened around a hundred years either side of that time, or can this be used as a "probable date marker" for some sort of event, even if that event is only the recording of it in folk lore.
If that makes any sense at all ;-)
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JM

I think the key to understanding all this is to realise that the knowledge transferred is all about the sky, the movements of it and the symbolism associated with each 'age' of the precessional cycle and nothing to do with actual individuals, historic or messianic.

So in this story, the allegorical figure of Christ (the solar deity) is being associated with the dawn of a new Piscean age, and the closing of the previous Age of Aries. All the symbolism in the Christ myth points this way - it's fish, fish, fish and more fish :-)

The actual astronomical event class in question can be described as:

"If you look in the sky on this date of any year, you'll see that the three stars of Orion's belt rise first, followed by Sirius (which they point to) and then the Sun which rises where Sirius did earlier that night. This is because the Sun on this day of the year has the same declination as Sirius."

And:

"In this *particular* year, there is a triple quadruple conjunction - which is special and rare - and so we (the astronomer-priests in charge) have determined that this will be the marker for the imminent start of the Age of Pisces"

The first of these elements is part of the humdrum annual cycle of the year. The *second* is a far more signficant event and - critically - can be predicted with certainty in advance unlike (say) a comet, supernova or other random celestial event.

In 2AD (or 4BC or 100BC or...) there's a certainty that element #1 will occur, but only in 1AD does #2 happen at the same time.

The date of birth of any particular historical figure (such as a messianic leader) is actually entirely immaterial. The western calendar doesn't date from a physical birth, its start point is tied to a specific astronomical event - in the same way that the Mayan calendar's end is similarly tied to a different specific astronomical event.

Fragments of the characteristics of the key event have ended up being mythologised, including the later conflation of historical beings with allegorical concepts.

Note to self: This triple quadruple conjunction involving Mars plus the same three planets that attended the Sun's virgin birth at the start of the precessional cycle in 10880BC is interesting because Saturn was excluded then too (being on the other side of the sky, with the Moon)

Saturn/Cronos and the Moon at the Vernal Equinox in 10880BC, on the opposite side of the sky from where the action (the virgin birth of the Sun) is taking place, attended by Mercury, Venus and Jupiter/Zeus

... and this may be the source of the overthrow of Cronos by Zeus mythology that ended the Greek "Golden Age". I've come across conjunctions = Star of Bethlehem theories before, but they've usually involved the Jupiter/Saturn trigon.

Updated: it's a quadruple, not triple, conjunction.
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simon

I failed to spot it because (duh) I hadn't zoomed in far enough to see Mars.

A few days earlier, the Moon would have also been near this group which puts every one of the major luminaries on one side of the sky with only Saturn left out (near the Sun's summer solstice position over 115° away).

Quadruple conjunctions are even rarer than triples.
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simon

Having made that choice, we can start at the beginning of the current precessional cycle (Winter Solstice 10880BC) and see if there's anything interesting going on.

At this time, the Sun's winter solstice point was where its summer solstice point is today - ie above Orion, between Gemini and Taurus.

Now the Sun has exactly one conjunction with any star on the ecliptic every year - because the Sun appears to travel around the ecliptic exactly once per year.

Regulus is the first bright star the Sun will pass after the 10880BC Winter Solstice, about 2 months later. If I wind forward the time from Winter Solstice, I notice that there's a triple conjunction in the offing, which takes place 52 days after WS:

10880BC Triple Conjunction in Leo, 52 days after Winter Solstice

Is this significant? It's not really that close to Regulus (about 13° away).

The Sun's going to get a lot closer to Regulus over the next week or so, but by that time Mercury will be well on its way to its maximum eastern elongation (ie distance away from the Sun) and won't be part of the conjunction any more.

Venus, like Mercury, is within Earth's orbit so it doesn't ever stray that far from the Sun - more than Mercury does though - Venus can get up to 45° away whereas Mercury can manage only about 24°. It moves more slowly, and by its position relative to the Sun I can tell it's going to get closer to it the next few weeks pass, so it'll still be in the right area.

Jupiter moves far more slowly and in a different way (further away, and it's outside Earth's orbit rather than insider it), so I can tell it'll pretty much stay put and the Sun (and Venus) will get closer to it as the Sun itself heads towards Regulus.

Which all means that when the Sun is near Regulus it's going to still be conjunct with Venus and Jupiter. The Moon won't be involved though, it's approaching full and will be on the opposite side of the sky.

Here's a QT Movie - try stepping through it frame by frame to get an idea of what's happening.

Conjunctions are frequent, but the higher the number of planets involved and the closer their separation the less common the event.

It is worth seeing when the most remarkable ones occur though, and I'll have a go at that (it will take some time!).
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simon

As Venus is involved, I wonder if there's anything in Uriels Machine about this event? A while since I read it, but Robert Lomas is big on the Venus / calendar / ancient knowledge trip.

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Dom