Does the Zodiac Predate ALL Existing Cultures? Who is it about?

One of the tantalising mysteries of archaeology has been the zodiac. Would you believe that all over the world – despite language differences – isolated ancient cultures had IDENTICAL meanings for the names of the constellations and stars. For example, the same group of stars was called Virgo by the Romans, Bethulah by the Hebrews, Parthenos by the Greeks, and Kanya by the Indians. And every one of these names means Virgin. Investigators have come to the conclusion that all nations had an original zodiac with a common source. WHAT IS THE ZODIAC? Zodiac? you ask. Isn’t that an astrological term? Not really. Perhaps before proceeding further we should define our terms. Astrology is the linking of positions and aspects of celestial bodies to the belief that they influence earthly and human affairs. Astronomy, on the other hand, is purely and simply the scientific study of the celestial bodies and phenomena. The zodiac belongs not to astrology, but to astronomy. You see, very early in human history, the stars were named and arranged into groups (constellations) and drawn on sky charts as pictures of animals, people and other objects. These constellations extend in a belt about 16 degrees wide, encircling the earth. If the stars could be seen in daytime, the sun, moon and planets would appear to move through this belt over the course of one year, in a path called the ecliptic. It is this belt, with 12 months for its steps or stages, that we call the zodiac (not from the Greek life as is commonly supposed, but from a more ancient Hebrew word meaning a way by steps). Each stage of the yearly cycle contains its own group of stars designated by a picture, or sign. These are the 12 signs of the zodiac. Each sign is accompanied by 3 more adjacent signs, called decans (pieces). This makes a numbered and well-ordered set of 48 signs (12 groups of 4). (Actually there are 88 constellations in all, but only 48 lie within the band across the sky known as the zodiac.) “EXPERTS” UNABLE TO EXPLAIN The world has looked in vain for the origin of these inventions. Current attempts to explain the zodiac's existence are clearly lame and absurd, with no supporting fact. It has been taught in introductory astronomy classes that these star groupings resulted from the fantasies of primitive imaginations. Ask any expert, “Where did the constellations come from?” “To identify the locations of surrounding nations,” some will reply. “No,” retort others. “They come from observations of the seasons and man's seasonal occupations.” For example, in December the sun was seen ascending toward the north, so men gave that month the sign of a Goat, because goats like to climb rocks! Hmm…er, well. September's equal days and nights led to the drawing of the sign of the Scales, it is said (though one wonders why March had no such sign, and unfortunately - but don't dare mention it - these “equal” Balances have one side up and the other down!). October, abundant in fruit, meant that many people got sick, hence a Scorpion! (These wizards seem unworried by the fact that the scorpion has no particular season.) Such delightful twaddle has actually appeared [don't laugh] in our books of science. It is true that some of the signs have at times been used as seasonal markers. However, being of less than infinite intelligence, I find myself asking a few dumb questions. For starters, how is it there is not one country anywhere that the interpretations for all the signs fit? Then again, why, if the signs were developed to reflect local planting conditions (which would differ in each global region), or to celebrate local legends, then why are the signs - from Mexico to Africa to Polynesia - the same the world over? (Dead Men’s Secrets, p.17. <http://www.beforeus.com> ) Something else. Modern explanation is limited to only 12 of the constellations. What of the remaining 36 equally conspicuous figures? One could go on, but you get the point. Is it not disturbing? Here is a great and masterly system of ancient hieroglyphics, very ancient and in use today, which modern man cannot historically or scientifically explain. It baffles them. So they guess. And the flippancy with which they dispose of some of the problems, while ignoring others, shows that they have not fully taken in the case. I feel sorry for the theorists, but that will not do. There is enough evidence now to show that not until Greece, Rome and later, did such mistaken notions arise. The more ancient peoples never so explained these signs. Several ancient nations, such as the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Indians, and the Chinese, although seated at some great distance from each other, possessed astronomical formulae common to them all. These were handed down to them by tradition from some general source: for they used them, as our workmen use certain mechanical or geometrical rules, without any knowledge of the principles on which they were originally constructed. Research now suggests that the constellation figures were designed as a pictorial scientific coordinate system. In other words, a set of imaginary lines for measuring positions. But the pictures formed by them told a story. A COMMON ORIGIN? Is it possible that the system had one common origin?  Why do I ask that? Because we find that this same star story was scattered across the whole ancient world. ANCIENT STAR MAPS RECORDED A PROPHECY A prophecy?  Yes, it was a prophecy – and shown on star charts in 48 pictures as well as in the meanings of star names. So, what was this prophecy? That’s clear when you examine the ancient names. It was about an expected coming Deliverer. So many of us have just assumed that the star signs were to tell peoples’ fortunes through the stars? Oh, come on! It’s evident they had nothing to do with astrology. They were known long before astrology was ever thought of. It turns out that the ancient civilizations believed that a serpent (representing the Devil) had taken control of the earth. They believed that a virgin’s baby would fight the serpent, defeat him and bring life, peace and happiness back to mankind. The hieroglyphic pictures on the star maps plainly showed this. It was a prophecy that parents around the world passed down to their children. In fact, carefully researching these star maps myself, I was able to catalogue no less than 116 absolute parallelisms between these star messages and prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures which told of the same coming Deliverer. Both sources told the same, identical story – from beginning to end… the prophecy of a Messiah who would come to rescue men and woman of planet Earth. OLDER THAN EVENTUAL “CHRIST” LEGENDS How old are these star signs? From internal evidences, it has been calculated that both the solar and lunar zodiacs had their origin when the summer solstice was in the first degree of Virgo, about 4000 BC. As you may already know, each year the stars rise and set some 50.2 seconds later. In 2,156 years they fall back 30 degrees. It has been calculated that when the earliest zodiac sphere was drawn, the position of the stars in relation to earth was almost 90 degrees different from now. So this brings us close to 4000 BC. That’s 6,000 years ago. To tie the evidence together, it now appears that a promised Messiah was portrayed on star maps that go back thousands of years older than the various “christ” legends of India, Mexico, Greece and Rome. This prophecy was known to mankind LONG BEFORE the time of the Sumerians, the Indians or the Egyptians. In fact, whether you believe them or not, the ancients themselves claimed it had been handed down from the first parents of the human race. If this has whetted your appetite for more scientific discovery, you may like to pursue this further.