Episode 8: The Saturn-Jupiter Conjunction of 7 BC and the Star of Bethlehem

In the Year 7 BC, a triple conjunction took place between the planets Saturn and Jupiter in the sign of Pisces. Many Hermeticists believe this was indeed the actual star the Magi saw as indicating a miraculous birth.

Before I get into that, let me present the general view of these two planets, that from a Hermetic perspective forms one of the most interesting set of polarities. The symbol for Saturn is the cross of manifestation depicted above the crescent. Indicating to us the moon or personality held down by the cross. The planet is associated with the lords of Karma, the reaping of what we have sown in that respect, and it is akin to the first law of manifestation, limitation. Hence it’s also qualitatively, or archetypally, associated with the Sefirah Binah, the Archangel Zafkiel, and the Guardian of the Threshold.

The Symbol of Jupiter conversely shows us the Crescent depicted above the cross. Suggesting a relationship to the superconscious Self, which is not limited and confined because it is linked to the divine mind. It signifies divine authority coming through obedience to the Spirit.

In more mundane terms, looking at birth charts, where Saturn rests at the time of birth, there is karmic debt and/or, relentless evolutionary pressure from higher planes working on the personality, tempering it, refining it, all to the end of revealing the diamond inside the coal.

The Story of Job demonstrates to us the work of Saturn, as tester, as a force that creates trials in human spiritual development.

According to Edgar Cayce, Saturn is also the afterlife realm referred to as Purgatory by the Catholic Church, of which Edgar Cayce said souls may enter and God loves those who would begin again. The essence of the experience is also portrayed in the weighing of the soul or heart against a feather in the ancient Egyptian understanding.

Saturn is intimately related, in a qualitative sense, to the Angel Zafkiel, the personification or manifestation of Binah in Olam Briah. This Holy Angel can manifest as a Dark Angel of Judgement, or an Angel of Mercy according to the consciousness of the spiritual aspirant who has succeeded in making contact with this force-intelligence.

As the function of Zafkiel is awakening what is unconscious, cosmic memory, granting knowledge of karmic purpose, concealing or revealing knowledge of past lives, but ultimately, it confronts one with the totality of who one actually is. If one is completely identified with the mental image they have of themselves, carrying much negativity in the shadow, anger, hatred, greed, fear, then such an experience becomes a trial by fire.
The Angel Zafkiel and the Sphere of Binah, rule over Teshuva, a Hebrew word conveying the idea of returning and repentance both at once. And this is the key to Tikkun or cosmic mending and the realization of Olam Ha-bah, or the future perfected world.

Saturn is an especially interesting planet as it is associated with these very many heavy, weighty, limiting themes, yet physically it is the least dense planet in the solar system. So much so that if there was an ocean big enough, it would float on its waters. I point this out to suggest something of its dual or paradoxical nature, and that is to say, from a personality perspective the effects of Saturn in our lives may bring trials and difficulty, yet from a higher perspective its motive is love, and the realization of one's essential nature, and it leads us slowly but surely to true freedom. As it is through the sphere of Binah that true and sincere repentance and renunciation can lead to Liberation from endless cycles of death and Rebirth.

Jupiter, indicates karmic credit in contrast to Saturn's karmic debt, and suggests areas in which we have been more true to our divine nature in previous incarnations. And in this life have relative freedom and grace acting through our lives.

As an example, a person with Jupiter in the second or eighth house, may well get unexpected financial gains, be seemingly lucky, and to others always at the right place or right time, or perhaps seem to have good instincts, but this is not luck, this is due to their own charity and generosity in previous lives, a quality that lives on in them as a virtue.

Saturn in these same houses can create loss, and lessons in attachment to wealth. Or success but only after great effort and discipline, depending on many factors.

Now, returning to the triple conjunction of 7 BC. This conjunction is the union of the two planets, in their synodic cycle. A unification and synthesis of the extreme polarities they represent, occurring in Pisces, and very much suggesting a great revelation, a great incarnation, a karmic incarnation, and perhaps the birth of a Piscean Avatar...
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