The Gospel & the Zodiac

The Secret Truth About Jesus

Bill Darlison

• Publisher: Abrams Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781590200377
• eBook ISBN: 9781468304787
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

"Darlison elucidates the zodiac's significant place in the Gospels, most specifically in the Book of Mark . . . An intriguing leap into faith" ( Kirkus Reviews ).
 
For millennia the world has been driven by the differences between the great patriarchal religions. Western civilization—or Christendom, as it was once called—received its values and its confidence from a belief in God, the Father, and Jesus, his only son. But what if this conviction were founded on an error? Who is the man in the factually inconsistent Gospel stories? And who is the man who makes a brief appearance carrying a jar of water?
 
This extraordinary study by a Unitarian minister suggests that Jesus never existed historically; he was simply a representation of an astrological theology—a representation, simply put, of the zodiac sign of Aquarius. In The Gospel & the Zodiac, Rev. Bill Darlison demonstrates that all the other signs are present too, in perfect zodiacal order. The Gospel story is not the product of historians or eyewitnesses, but an older, mystical text produced by an ancient, esoteric school as a guide to the Age of Pisces. Every bit as revelatory and controversial as it sounds, The Gospel & the Zodiac will shake up the religious status quo, and in doing so, provide both a new look at a religious icon and a deeper understanding of the faith that binds millions together.
 
"Darlison begins by looking at different scholarly approaches to the gospels, then outlines his astrological interpretation logically and lucidly, matching the zodiacal signs to the narrative of Mark." — Fortean Times

Appendix 1: The Gospel of Mark

(A new translation by Bill Darlison)

Aries

Aries is the sign of the springtime and so signifies new beginnings, new life. It is associated with the element Fire. Its symbol is the Ram or Lamb. It was called ‘The Lord of the Head’ by the Egyptians and ‘The Hired Man’ by the Babylonians. Its ‘decans’ (nearby constellations) are Cassiopeia,(the Reclining Woman), Perseus, (the Hero or the Bridegroom), and Cetus (the Evil Sea Monster). In the constellation Perseus is the star Algol, called Rosh ha Satan (Satan’s Head) by the Hebrews; it was considered the most evil star in the heavens.

Chapter 1

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ. As it says in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet, ‘Look, I’m sending my messenger ahead; he’ll build a road for you.’ A voice is crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; straighten out his paths.’

John the Baptist turned up in the wilderness, offering people an opportunity to change their ways and be released from their sins by means of a ritual immersion in water. Crowds of people from Jerusalem and from all over Judea were coming out to him, and as they confessed their sins he would plunge them in the water of the river Jordan. John’s clothing was made from camel hair, and he had a leather belt round his waist; he ate locusts and wild honey. He was proclaiming, ‘There’s someone coming after me who’s stronger than I; I’m not fit to lace his shoes. I drenched you in water, but he will drench you in holy spirit.’^*

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was immersed in the Jordan by John. As soon as he came up out of the water he saw the heavens splitting open and the spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove; a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my beloved son. I’m very pleased with you.’ Straight afterwards the spirit drove him out into the desert, where he spent forty days among the wild beasts being tempted by Satan. But the angels looked after him.

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the good news about God. He was saying that the appointed time had come; the kingdom of God was close by. ‘Change your mind and your ways and believe the good news.’

Going along by the Sea of Galilee he saw some fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, who were casting their nets into the sea. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and follow me; I’ll make you into fishers of men!’ They left their nets without hesitation and followed him.

A little further on he saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, mending nets in the boat. He called out to them and they followed him at once, leaving their father Zebedee and the hired men in the boat.

They went to Capernaum and, wasting no time, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them like someone with authority, not like the experts in religious law. Suddenly in their synagogue there was a man with an evil spirit, who cried out, ‘What business do you have with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – God’s holy one!’ Jesus rebuked him. ‘Shut up and come out from him!’ he said, and come out it did, but not before letting out a terrific scream and throwing the man into a fit of convulsions. Everybody was astonished, so much so that they were asking one another, ‘What’s all this about? A new teaching? And he has authority to make the evil spirits obey him!’ The report about him soon spread everywhere around the region of Galilee.

On leaving the synagogue they went to Simon and Andrew’s house, along with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying down, sick with a fever, and as soon as they told Jesus about her, he went in to her, and taking hold of her hand, he raised her up. The fever left her and she began to wait upon them.

In the evening, when the sun was setting, they were bringing him all those who were sick or who were possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered together by the door, and he healed many who were sick of various diseases. He also cast out many demons, but he wouldn’t let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up and went off to a deserted place to pray. However, Simon and his companions found out where he was and told him that everyone was looking for him. He said to them, ‘Let’s go somewhere else, to the villages roundabout, so that I can preach there. That’s why I’ve come.’ And off he went, preaching in synagogues and casting out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

A leper approached him, and falling down on his knees begged him, ‘If you want to, you can make me clean!’ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do want to. Be healed!’ The leprosy disappeared immediately and the man was clean. Jesus sent him on his way, telling him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t to say anything to anybody, but to show himself to the priest and to make the appropriate offering for his cleansing, just as Moses had commanded. But the man went out and started to blab about everything and to spread the word everywhere, so that Jesus was no longer able to go openly into the city, and had to stay in the wilderness regions. Even so, people kept coming to him from all directions.

Chapter 2

A few days after he’d gone back to Capernaum, word of his whereabouts got around and there were so many people gathered that there was no room, not even by the door. While Jesus was speaking the word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralytic, but not being able to get near him because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof of the house and let down the stretcher on which the paralysed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralysed man, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’ But there were some legal experts sitting there who were asking themselves, ‘Why is he speaking such blasphemy? Only God can forgive sins!’ But Jesus quickly realized what they were thinking, and he said to them, ‘What’s your problem? What is easier to say to the paralysed man: “Your sins are forgiven”, or “Get up, pick up your stretcher, and walk”? But in order to prove to you that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ he said to the paralysed man, ‘I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home!’ The man got up immediately, and picking up his stretcher went out in front of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were praising God, saying, ‘We’ve never seen anything like this!’

Jesus went out again beside the sea and all the crowd came towards him and he taught them. Moving on he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in his tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me!’ which he immediately proceeded to do. Jesus was sitting down to a meal in Levi’s house along with his disciples, but there were many tax collectors and sinners with them, because quite a number of such people were following Jesus. The scribes, who were the legal experts belonging to the Pharisees, pointed out to his disciples that he was eating with undesirables, and when Jesus heard it he said to them, ‘It’s the sick who need a doctor, not the healthy. I’ve not come to call the righteous; it’s the sinners I’m after.’

Now the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast, and some people came and asked Jesus, ‘Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?’ To which Jesus replied, ‘The friends of the bridegroom can’t fast while the bridegroom is with them. While they have the bridegroom with them they can’t fast. But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and that’s when they’ll fast. Nobody patches an old garment with new cloth because the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear even worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, because the wine splits the wineskins and both wine and wineskins are ruined. No: new wine goes into new wineskins.’

One Sabbath day he happened to be walking through the grain fields, and his disciples began plucking the heads of grain as they were making their way along. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Hey! Why are they doing what they are not supposed to be doing on the Sabbath day?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and took the loaves of holy bread which only the priests were allowed to eat, and gave it to those who were with him?’ He went on: ‘The Sabbath came into existence for the sake of human beings; human beings didn’t come into existence for the sake of the Sabbath. So, the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.’

Chapter 3

He went into the synagogue again, where he found a man whose hand was shrivelled up. They were watching him closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day and so give them something to accuse him of. Jesus asked the man with the shrivelled hand to come up into the middle, and then he asked, ‘Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?’ They were silent, so looking round at them with anger, and deeply grieved at their stubborn insensitivity, he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was healed, but straightaway the Pharisees went out with the Herodians, plotting how they might kill him.

Jesus and his disciples went back towards the sea, followed by great crowds of people from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from the other side of the Jordan, and the area around Tyre and Sidon. People who’d heard what he was doing came to him. And he told his disciples to have a little boat ready because the crowds were pressing in upon him. He’d healed many, and the sick people were crowding round him, just so that they could touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him they would fall down in front of him and say, ‘You are the son of God!’ And often he would order them to keep quiet about him.

He went up the mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. He selected twelve to be with him, whom he called ‘apostles’ (emissaries) because these were the ones he would send out to preach. They would have authority to cast out demons. These are the twelve he chose: Simon, whom he called Peter; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John (he called these Boanerges – ‘Sons of Thunder’); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean; and Judas Iscariot who was to betray him.

He went into a house but the crowds were so tightly packed once again that they couldn’t even eat a meal. When his relatives heard about it they went out to grab hold of him, because they said he was out of his mind. And the legal experts who’d come down from Jerusalem were saying that he was in league with Beelzebub, and that he was casting out demons by the power of the chief demon. So Jesus called them to him and, using a few apposite metaphors, he said, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? A divided kingdom can’t survive. Nor can a divided family. And if Satan rises up against himself and is divided, he can’t survive but his end approaches. But no one is able to enter the house of a strong man and steal his property unless the strong man has been bound first; only then can he rob him. I’m telling you the truth: human beings will be forgiven for everything, no matter what sins they commit or what blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit won’t ever be forgiven, because he’s guilty of an eternal sin.’ He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

His mother and brothers came and were standing outside, and they sent someone in to summon him. A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, ‘Your mother, your brothers and your sisters are outside; they are looking for you.’ Jesus responded by saying, ‘Who is my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those sitting in a circle round him, he said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.’

TAURUS

Taurus is an Earth sign, and the Pleiades, a beautiful group of stars in the shoulder of the Bull, which has been called ‘The Hen with her Chickens’ by many cultures throughout history, was used by ancient farmers to mark their seeding time. This section of Mark uses the Greek word for ‘earth’ (translated here variously as earth, ground, soil, etc.) nine times, and nowhere else in the Gospel do we find such a wealth of agricultural imagery and vocabulary. In the ancient world Taurus was also associated with light, and was called The Bull of Light by the Egyptians, probably because in and around the constellation are some of the most beautiful sights in the night sky. Orion, one of the decans of Taurus, was called The Light of Heaven by the Babylonians.

Chapter 4

He began to teach again beside the sea, and so great a crowd gathered about him that he had to get into a boat and sit in it on the water, while the crowd looked on from the shore. He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! Look! The sower went out to sow, and while he was sowing some seed fell by the roadside and the birds came along and ate it. Some fell on the rocks where there wasn’t much soil; it sprang up very quickly because there was no real depth of soil, but when the sun rose it was scorched and it withered because it didn’t have any root. Some fell among the thorns, but the thorns came up and choked it and so it yielded no crop. But some fell on good soil where it grew and thrived, yielding an abundant crop – increasing thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.’ He said, ‘Use your ears! Take notice of what I’m saying!’

When they were alone, those close to him, along with the twelve, began to question him about the parables, so he said to them, ‘The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, so that although they may look they won’t see, and although they may hear they won’t understand in case they would need to turn around and forgiveness be given to them.’

He said to them, ‘If you don’t understand this parable, how are you going to understand all the other parables? The sower is sowing the word. The seed that falls on the roadside represents those who hear the word, but no sooner do they hear it than Satan comes along and takes it away from them. The seed that falls on the rocks are those people who hear the word and receive it with joy but they don’t have any staying power, so they continue for a while but as soon as they encounter trouble or persecution on account of the word they let things slide. Then there are those represented by the seed among the thorns. They are the ones who hear the word but the cares of the time, the enticements of wealth and desires for all kinds of other things overwhelm them and choke the word so that they cease to be fruitful. But the seed that is sown on the good ground represents those who hear the word, receive it and produce fruit – thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.’

He told them, ‘You don’t bring in a lamp and then put it under a measuring basket, or under the bed. No, you put it on a lamp-stand, don’t you? So, there’s nothing hidden that will not be revealed; and what’s been carefully concealed will be brought into the open. Use your ears and take notice of what I’m saying.’^*

He went on, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing; what you receive by way of increase will be in proportion to what you give out; and to him who has it will be given, and to him who has not, what he has will be taken from him.

‘The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters some seed on the ground and he sleeps by night and gets up by day and the seed sprouts and grows, but how it happens he doesn’t know. Things grow by their own power; first the shoot, then the ear of grain, then the full head of corn, and when it is ready, he puts in the scythe because it’s time for the harvest.

‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God? What image can we use to describe it? It’s like a grain of mustard seed which, at the time that it’s sown in the ground, is smaller than all the seeds of the earth, but after it’s sown it grows and becomes bigger than all other plants and produces branches so massive that the birds of heaven can nest in its shade.’

Using many parables like these, he told them just as much as they were able to grasp. Indeed he didn’t speak to them except by means of a parable, but he explained everything privately to his disciples.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Who is the Man with a Jar of Water?
• The Forgotten Language of the Stars
• A Note on Sources
• Aries: ‘Take up Your Bed and Walk!’
• Taurus: Sowing, Reaping and Shining
• Gemini: ‘My Name is Legion’
• Cancer: ‘Be Thou Open!’
• Leo: ‘Who Am I?’
• Virgo: Beginner’s Mind
• Libra: Maintaining the Balance
• Scorpio: Paths of Glory
• Sagittarius: ‘Zeal for thy House’
• Capricorn: ‘Call No Man Father’
• Aquarius: The Man Carrying a Jar of Water
• Pisces: The End and the Beginning
• Appendix 1: The Gospel of Mark
• Appendix 2: The Signs of the Zodiac
• Bibliography
• General Index
• Index to Appendix 1