The Horoscope of Jesus of Nazareth

Many years ago I came across a wonderful and insightful article in the old Astrology Now magazine, written by Don “Moby Dick” Jacobs, and called “Astrology’s Pew In Church”. The article described his research and conclusions in a quest to find the birth chart of Jesus of Nazareth. Because King Herod is known to have been alive at the time of Christ’s birth, and yet died in the year 4 BC, it is historically obvious that Jesus must have been born before that date. Also, despite the fact that the Christian world celebrates the birth of Jesus on December 25th, it has long been accepted by most theologians that the December birthday is symbolic, not literal, and was chosen to coincide with the pagan feast of Saturnalia at the winter solstice, as a lure to draw in new followers. In the end Jacobs came up with March 1st of 7 BC as the likely date, and you can perhaps see why he called it “the most powerful horoscope in world history”. I highly recommend seeking out a copy of the original article, which also offers an amazing chart for King David as well, in the shape of the two interlocking equilateral triangles that make up the familiar Star of David, comprising six of the seven known planets.

My computer software is limited in its scope, and so I am unable to conjure a chart from it for such an early date. Instead I have reverted to the old style of handwritten charts, and some of my students from the 1980’s may recognize the lovely chart form created by my friend Rebecca Wilson. As you can see, it really is quite a birth chart, and it certainly tested my abilities to squeeze all the Piscean planets together so they are still legible. Bearing in mind that the three outermost planets had yet to be discovered, this chart has only two planets (Mars and Mercury) that are not in the sign of Pisces, and once we add in the extra three we find Uranus is actually in Pisces as well. When you consider the procession of the equinoxes, and the approximately 2,000 year astrological ages, it is extremely fitting that the Avatar of the Age of Pisces, has this tremendous alignment of planets in Pisces in his birth chart. It is also interesting that the bible is full of images of fish and fishermen, and that even today you can find many Christians that have a fish symbol on their cars, representing their faith.

At first glance this is quite a challenging birth chart, with Saturn conjuncting both the Sun and the Moon, as well as the massive opposition involving Pluto in Virgo. In fact, it’s a perfect example of how potent challenging aspects can be, if someone has enough consciousness and awareness to express those energies in a creative and positive manner. The strong Saturn suggests the heaviness of his destiny and his full awareness of the task at hand, as well as his self-discipline and determination necessary for his quest to serve humanity. Without the strength provided by his Saturn, it is unlikely that he would have survived experiences like the temptation in the desert, and of course the whole betrayal and crucifixion. The aspects to Pluto provide him with a tremendous depth of insight into human pain and suffering, and the desire to help and to heal, something obviously echoed by the Piscean cluster’s compassion and deep empathy. How much more compassion is possible, than that of a man who was willing to sacrifice his life to help the whole human race take important steps in its evolution? The presence of the Pisces planets in the 3rd house, including the chart’s ruling planet, Jupiter, suggest an orator, a teacher, a man of words, with a message that rings with both compassion and forgiveness. With Uranus also present in the cluster, and Aquarius ruling the 3rd house, we get a glimpse of how revolutionary and innovatory Jesus’ message really was, especially in context of the world that he lived in.

When I first saw this chart I was struck by the pattern formed by the aspects, particularly the oppositions to Pluto (red lines) and the trines to Neptune (blue lines), which make a shape similar to a harp, a symbol long associated with heavenly matters. In this case the tremendous impersonal clarity of Pluto is softened by the empathy and sensitivity of Neptune, allowing Jesus to deliver his message in a gentler way than if Pluto was left to his own devices. It seems that with Neptune, the ruling planet of all six Pisces planets, placed in the 11th house, there’s a strong impulse to teach an ideology based on love, compassion and truth, to the community at large.  Pluto at its higher levels is associated with healing, with the giving of one’s power in service to others, and for having penetrating insight. Placed in the 9th house it brings the need to regenerate old belief systems and reinvigorate them with deeper awareness and new perspectives, which of course suggests the inevitability of some “rattling of cages”.

In the late 70’s I attended a lecture at the Scottish Astrological Association, by an astronomer, who tackled the question of the Star of Bethlehem, from an astronomical perspective. His search for a viable “Star” brought him to the same year as Jacobs, and a focus on the ongoing conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn that had been unfolding in the months before Christ’s birth. In 7 BC these two planets were the two outermost that had been discovered, and had long been associated with the births and deaths of kings. This is the same pair of planets that has been implicated in the extraordinary series of deaths of American Presidents who were elected in the year of a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction. So it’s likely that the Magi, who were of course astrologers, would have been on the lookout for the birth of the Jewish Messiah, for some time previously. The astronomer also spoke of a phenomenon called the “zodiacal lights”, a hazy light extending in the skies from the horizon, usually in the shape of a triangle or a pyramid.  He speculated that the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn may have appeared along with this phenomenon, and may have even seemed to “point the way” to Bethlehem, when the Magi were in nearby Jerusalem.

I decided to post the Jesus chart mostly to share this extraordinary horoscope with you all, but also to elicit some comments from those who are more familiar with his life and Christian teachings than I am.  This chart certainly seems to speak to the Golden Rule, “love thy neighbor as thyself” and “turn the other cheek” with all its Neptunian/Piscean symbolism, and of course the victim/redeemer themes that are an integral part of his story.