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

JUL 28, 1997 - Star of Bethlehem offers yet another Jesus chart for those interested in this sideline of astrology. John Charles Webb Jr. uses heliocentric astrology to come up with a birthdate of March 1, 5 BC (9:14 AM EET, zone -2 hours) for the Jewish Messiah. Venus, Uranus and Neptune are involved in a grand trine configuration in this chart, while Earth, Moon, Pluto, Jupiter and Mercury are caught up in a second grand trine. The two grand trines together form a Star of David pattern - which is quite appropriate for a Messiah who was supposed to have been descended from David. Historically, this chart falls in the right time period. It's bound to be controversial, as all the many Jesus charts are: a) because there's no way of knowing which (if any) is the right one; and b) because this one in particular is heliocentric (sun-centered) rather than geocentric (earth-centered).

Apart from its interest to Jesus chart collectors, Star of Bethlehem offers some interesting references to the history of astrology. While nothing of this sort breaks new ground, much of it will be news to anyone who is new to the study of the cosmic craft. For example, the tradition about Gjamasp, the Persian astrologer said to have predicted the coming of the Jewish Messiah . . .

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