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Zeitgeist (Spirit of the Age), Part 1 "Astrology"

It so happens that we live in an age when various speculations follow one after another. This film is precisely about that. A kind of sequel to Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code." The film is divided into three parts, and we decided to share some impressions and facts about each part separately.

It so happens that we live in an age when various speculations follow one after another. This film is precisely about that. A kind of sequel to Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code."
The film is divided into three parts, and we decided to share some impressions and facts about each part separately.

Part 1 - "The Greatest Story Ever Told"

The story is really about how powerful Religion and the Church are. Have you never wondered why the Church is "owed" a tithe, has a peculiar relationship with the state, is exempt from taxes, and is always short of money?

Most of us have presumably seen the Bible. And probably read the New Testament too. Strangely, no historian who lived in that region left any testimony about a figure as charismatic as Jesus. Or so the film's authors claim.

The figure of Jesus. Long before Christianity, in ancient Egypt around 3000 BC, legend has it that the sun god Horus was born on exactly 25 December to the virgin Isis. Three stars in the sky pointed to his birth. Horus had 12 disciples. One of them betrayed Horus, who was then crucified and rose from the dead after 3 days.

Similar parallels exist with Attis (Greece), Krishna (India), Mithra (Persia), Dionysus (Greece) - all with very similar birth stories, 12 disciples, and the same time and manner of death and resurrection.

The story of Jesus's birth can also be given an astrological meaning. Sirius, the brightest star in Orion, appeared in the sky on 24 December, followed by three less bright stars known as the Three Kings, pointing to the place where the sun rose.

An interesting natural fact: the sun completes its movement between solstices in a peculiar way. At the winter solstice (i.e. 22 December) it ceases moving southward for three days and remains at its lowest point. Then it begins to move again, suggesting that it has "risen from the dead." However, this fact was not celebrated until the spring equinox (Easter), when the length of day equals the length of night.

The magic number 12 appears in a great many places in the Bible. The Apostles were 12 in number, Jacob also had 12 sons, there were 12 kings of Israel, and so on. It is worth noting that the signs of the zodiac are also 12, arranged around the zodiac cross - which, simplified, can be seen as the Christian symbol of a cross with a circle at the centre.

The term "age" is widely mentioned in biblical texts. The ancients knew that approximately every 2,150 years the sun rises in a different constellation. This occurs due to the oscillation of the Earth's axis. To pass through all the zodiac constellations requires ~26,000 years - the so-called Platonic Year.

The Age of Taurus - from 4300 BC to 2150 BC.
The Age of Aries - from 2150 BC to 1 AD.
The Age of Pisces - from 1 AD to 2150 AD.
In 2150 AD the Age of Aquarius begins.

Each age is heralded by a new prophet who, as a rule, brings with them a new structure and symbolism. Thus Moses ushered in the Age of Aries, Jesus - the Age of Pisces. The end of each age therefore marks what is conceived as the end of the world.