Harvest Time

On August 23rd the sun enters the house of Virgo the virgin. Virgo is the virgin that figuratively gives birth to the sun each year when the sun passes out of Virgo. Even though Virgo gives birth, she remains a virgin, just as Mary is the virgin who gives birth to Jesus and yet remains a virgin.

star on shoulder of Virgin Mary
The star on the shoulder of the Virgin Mary was a traditional symbol in all art prior to the 1600's. It is derived from the star 'Spica' which figures in the constellational image of Virgo.1 (Duccio's 'Virgin and Child', National Gallery, London.)
A star on the shoulder of the Virgin Mary was a traditional symbol in all art prior to the 1600's. The star is derived from the star 'Spica', which is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.1 'Spica' is Latin for "ear of wheat," which Virgo holds in her hand. The sun's ecliptic path passes very close to this bright star as it moves through Virgo. Hence when the sun reaches Spica, it's time to harvest the wheat. Virgo is also sometimes depicted as holding an ear of corn.

Food and drink are literally the elements which sustain life. Mother earth brings forth food which grows up out of the ground. Because life springs forth from the earth, the earth is given the female role of mother, since it is from the female that life emerges. And if earth is the mother, then the father must be the god above who pours down rain from the sky impregnating the earth. This is why God above is a masculine "He" instead of a feminine "She" or a sexless "it."

The sun is born or re-born in four different ways:

  1. Christmas Day (three days after the Winter Solstice).
  2. By passing out of Virgo the virgin.
  3. The dawn of every new day the sun arises born again.
  4. Solar eclipse. The following verses describe a solar eclipse:
    Isaiah 13:10
    The rising sun will be darkened
    and the moon will not give its light.
    Jeremiah 15:9
    "Her sun will set while it is still day;"
    Joel 2:31
    "The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood"
    The sun is "turned to darkness" during a solar eclipse. The moon becomes as blood during a lunar eclipse, when it is "full" and the earth's shadow falls upon it; it's deep copper colour, like that of dried blood, being due to the fact that the light, falling upon it, has passed through a great depth of the earth's atmosphere.2
    Amos 8:9
    "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD,
    "I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
    Mark 13:24-35 (Matthew 29:29-51)
    This is a description of a solar eclipse. "The sun will be darkened." is the solar eclipse. "The moon will not give it's light" because the moon is in front of the sun. "The stars will fall from the sky." During a total solar eclipse it's so dark that the stars become visible. "The day and hour unknown". Today we can predict solar eclipses years in advance down to the minute, and the newspapers always tell us when one is about to happen. Back then a solar eclipse could take a community by surprise. The text essentially says, "Don't panic. The sun will reappear and everything will be alright." The reappearance of the sun after a solar eclipse could be thought of as the sun's "second comming."

[1] Frederick Goodman Zodiac Signs pg. 87
[2] E. Walter Maunder The Astronomy Of The Bible p.124 (1908).

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