By Prof. Sothnos Latillier
The Distinguished Astrologer.
THIS is the predestined year in which the Star of Bethlehem reappears in the heavens to herald the battle of Armageddon. Already in the evening skies the star, which is really a comet, is dimly discernible, and as the titanic conflict now raging reaches its climax it will be visible to all eyes. This celestial body has Recently been named by astronomers “Delevan’s Comet,” but it has always been known to astrologers as “the Star of Bethlehem.”
It may be seen in North America about 10 o’clock on clear nights at a point almost directly below the Pole Star. As the night wanes it rises higher in the heavens, and “in the early morning between 2 and 4 o’clock it reaches its greatest altitude above the horizon.
A great mass of interesting evidence has been collected to show that the present comet is really the Star of Bethlehem. These facts should interest both skeptical scientists and those who devoutly believe in astrology. A noted astrologer, who is also a competent scientific astronomer, has shown that the present comet will in December 25 occupy almost the same position in the heavens that was occupied by the star whose appearance is described in the Gospels. He has calculated closely the position of the star at that time from the accounts in the Bible and from other records. Of course there has been a certain change of position in the two thousand years that have passed due to the fact that all the heavenly bodies are moving.
It may be recalled that some people believed that Halley’s comet which reappeared in 1910 was the Star of Bethlehem, but astronomers have shown that this comet could not have appeared in the first year of the Christian era, whereas the present comet may have been seen at that time and judging from its present appearance occupied the quarter of the Heavens, i.e. “in the East,” which is clearly indicated by the Bible.
The Star was first observed by man kind during the cruelties committed by King Herod in Palestine. It then guided the three wise men from the East to the manger where the Saviour was born.
Whenever it has appeared since then it has betokened an event of the utmost importance to humanity. It was seen in 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest of England, as the ancient Bayeux tapestry, woven at that time, clearly proves. Again it was seen in the year 1300 when the Crusaders took Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher from the infidels.
To the eyes, of those who saw it in 1300 it appeared to take the form of a flaming sword, a fact attested by ancient chronicles and a sculpture in Rheims Cathedral. The pious beholders were confirmed in
their belief that this was the Star of Bethlehem because they believed it was a fulfillment of the Saviour’s prophecy “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (St. Matthew X. 24.)
My learned friend, Professor Sepharial, of London, has recently explained in his work “Cosmic Symbolism” why the comet now dimly visible in our evening skies must be the Star of Bethlehem.
“Tycho Brahe observed the star in 1672,” says Professor Sepharial, “and Sir John Horschel predicted that it would reappear in the present century. Tycho tells us that the star gradually grew in luminosity until it outshone Sirius, and even Venus, and gradually disappeared. “The star appeared above the head of Andromeda in the constellation Cassiopeia.
This would give it about thirty-two degrees of north declination, and thus make its appearance vertical to the latitude of Bethlehem in Judea. The sign of the Zodiac coinciding with its longitude would be Aries, which, according to Ptolemy, rules over Judea.
“This observation signifies the requirements of that passage where the Magi are reported to have said: ‘We have seen his Star in the east, and have come to worship him.’ Then, if a geographical quarter was
referred to by ‘the east,’ why should they travel westward from Persia to Judea? Obviously they referred to the quarter of the heavens, and being astrologers, would well know that Judea was signified by Aries, in which sign the Star made its appearance. Its standing over the house where the child lay indicates its position in the zenith of Bethlehem at the time of its southing, the latitude of Bethlehem being 31 degrees 43 minutes north in agreement with the observed position of the Star in Tycho’s time.”
We know what events happened in the year when the Star of Bethlehem first appeared, and we know what has happened on every appearance of the Star since then. Can we doubt that the mighty events of this year are connected with its return?
Will any reasonable man question that this world-war is the battle of Armageddon foretold in the Bible? In the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, St. John writes: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
“For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
“And he gathered them together into n place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
In the twentieth chapter the Book of Revelation tells us what will happen after the battle of Armageddon:
“And I saw thrones, they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto hem: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
It is clearly foretold here that after this war we shall have a thousand years of peace, after which, will come the general resurrection, and the end of the world. Many seers have warned us of the events of the present year. Madame de Thebes, the distinguished Parisian prophetess, published in January these words:
“It is an ominous year for the Kaiser of Germany, and no glory will accrue to him from its momentous events. “The Austrian Empire is tottering to its ruin.”
A correspondent of the London Times has described a conversation in which a gypsy woman foretold to the old Emperor William, grandfather of the present Kaiser, the events of this year. The Emperor, who was then Prince William of Prussia, met the woman near Mainz in 1849. She addressed him as “Imperial Majesty.” Not a little amused, for at that’ moment his chance of succeeding even to the throne of Prussia seemed slight, the Prince asked:
“Imperial Majesty, and of what empire, pray?” “Of the now German Empire,” said the “woman. “And when Is this empire to be formed?” he asked.
The woman took a scrap and wrote on it the year 1849. Then adding its figures together she obtained the total “22” which added to “1849” made “1871,” the year in which King William was actually proclaimed German Emperor.
“And how long am I to rule over this empire?” then asked Prince William. By similar calculations she showed that he would be Emperor until 1888, and that the Empire itself would come to an end in 1914.
The Rev. Charles T. Russell, pastor of the Millennial Dawners, who worship in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, warned the people very clearly that this would be the year of the battle of Armageddon.
“In view of this strong Bible evidence,” wrote the Rev. Dr. Russell as long ago as 1889, “we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God will be established by the end of A. D. 1914.”
The Rev. Dr. Russell very rationally argued that the battle of Armageddon signified that the common people would turn upon their kings and rulers who had wickedly led them into war. He believes that before the close of the present war the nations will dethrone all kings and form a universal brotherhood which will make a conflict like this impossible in future.
M. Peladan, the distinguished leader of the mystic Rosicrucian fraternity, has pointed out in the Paris Figaro that the details of this conflict were foretold with amazing exactitude by Brother Johannes, a monk, In the year 1600. The prophecy of Brother Johannes, written in Latin, begins thus: “People will Imagine that they have seen him many times, for all the slayers of the Lamb resemble one another, and all the wicked are precursors of the great wicked one.
“The veritable Anti-Christ will be one of the monarchs of his time, a son of Luther; he will call upon God and proclaim him self as His envoy. “He will have only one arm, but his Innumerable armies, taking as a motto ‘God with us,’ will seem like infernal legions. “For a long time he will act by ruse and treachery, and his spies will overrun the whole earth, and he will be master of the secrets of the mighty.
“A war will give him the occasion to remove his mask. It will not begin against a French monarch, but against another, and in two weeks it will be universal.
“His words will be like those of the Christians, but his acts will be those of Nero and the Roman persecutors; lie will have an eagle in his escutcheon and there will be one also in that of his acolyte, the other bad monarch.
“But the other is Christian, and he will die under the malediction of Pope Benedictus, who will be elected at the beginning of the reign of Anti-Christ” ‘
From the French point of view this prophecy points clearly to the German Kaiser, who, as most people know, has only one good arm. The other monarch referred to as having an eagle in his arms is the Austrian Emperor. The reference to “Pope Benedict” is most impressive, for the present Pope was elected and assumed that name after the beginning of the war, and we have been told that he has protested vigorously to the Austrian Emperor against certain shocking occurrences.
The Times Dispatch. Richmond, VA, October 18, 1914