Astropro's Website Of the Week Award ©1997 by Richard Nolle

JUN9, 1997 - Astrology &Religion by Rollan McCleary addresses a centuries-old question in astrology; namely, what is the horoscope of Jesus? He doesn't answer the question in his website, unfortunately. Since Rollan doesn't come through, I will: the chart which appears here is calculated for speculative data (APR 12, 7 BCE, 5:41 AM LMT, Bethlehem, 035E12, 31N43) published by Wim Weehuizen in the Journal of the Astrological Association (November/December 1996 Vol. 38, No. 6). Jesus, Rollan, Jesus - you'd get a lot more hits at your website if the word got out that you actually had a Jesus chart there! In the 30 years I've been studying astrology I must have seen Jesus charts by the score - at least one for every sign of the zodiac, I'm sure. McCleary's website offers yet another, and after combing the whole thing through I find that the winner is . . . ah, but you'll have to buy McCleary's book for the answer to that one! A shameless ploy: tease us with a whole website which in the end comes down to nothing but a plug for a book. If that's the sort of come-on that chaps your hide, don't waste your connect time.

On the other hand, there's some good scary stuff here. You won't get Jesus' chart or birth data (you do get the year, which is 7 BCE). But you will get lots of Christian speculation - complete with red heifer and a hefty astrological admixture - on the end of the world. Which is pretty entertaining in itself. But completely erroneous, thank heaven. Twenty years ago I wrote an article for DELL HOROSCOPE ("Aquarius and Eschatos"), in which I pointed out that the 'end of the world-ers' are all wrong. Still in all, this is fun stuff - especially if you love getting spooked. It would be even more fun if you could get yet another Jesus chart for your trouble . . . Jesus, that chaps my hide Rollan! Note: Jesus (Yeshua) by most reasonable accounts was born in 7 BCE (the year -6). The advent of the second millennium therefore occurred sometime in 1994 or 1995, depending on how you reckon millennia. Since the world didn't end then, I think we can all safely breathe a sigh of relief. (And if Rollan actually puts up a Jesus chart at his website sometime before the world does end, I'll gladly re-write this review accordingly.)

NOTE: Please people, get it right. When applied to dates by century, BC and AD are really quite chauvinistic; or at least provincial. The ecumenical equivalents recognized throughout the civilized world are BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) respectively.

2005 UPDATE: Rollan McCleary has a new website.

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer phone or fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA on the World Wide Web at http://www.astropro.com