Egyptian Astrologers Strike Again!

ט' לחודש האחד עשר תשע"ד

Arutz 7: Egyptian Astrologer: Jews Will Be Stronger in 2014
Egyptian astrologer claims: When Saturn enters Sagittarius in December, the Jews will be stronger.

Elad Benari, January 2, 2014

It’s written in the stars: The Jewish people will become stronger in 2014, at least according to an Egyptian astrologer who appeared on local television on Tuesday.

In an end-of-year interview on Al-Nahar TV, Egyptian astrologer Sayyed Al-Shimi warned that whenever Saturn enters a fire sign, the Jews become stronger. This, he claimed, is supposed to happen in December of 2014.

Al-Shimi based his claims on various events in Jewish and Israeli history, including the first World Zionist Congress, the Balfour Declaration, and the wars fought by Israel against the Arabs throughout its history.

The interview was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).



“Saturn will enter the fire sign of Sagittarius. My late father and I have had a long history with Saturn entering fire signs. As Sheik Daud Al-Antaki wrote, when Saturn enters any of the fire signs, the Jews grow stronger. Don't believe in this merely because I say so. It's been tested. We tested it, and it turned out that...” claimed Al-Shimi.

“We discovered that Saturn entered the fire sign of Sagittarius when the first World Zionist Congress convened,” he continued.

“The Balfour Declaration was released when Saturn was in the fire sign of Leo. The Haganah Brigades began organizing and helping the English in 1928, when Saturn was in the fire sign of Sagittarius. The 1948 [War of Independence] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Leo. The 1956 [Sinai War] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Sagittarius. The 1967 [Six Day War] took place when Saturn was in the fire sign of Aries.”

Al-Shimi also said, “The last time Saturn was in the fire sign of Leo occurred in 2006. I started warning them in 2004: ‘Beware, when Saturn enters the sign of Leo, the Jews in Palestine will get stronger. Something leading to this will inevitably occur.’ What happened? The Palestinian Authority split into Fatah and Hamas.”

He concluded by advising Arab leaders to “do whatever they can to resolve the Palestinian problem” before the month of December, when Saturn enters the fire sign of Sagittarius, making the Jews stronger once again.

(Tip: Life In Israel)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
We have a famous, or rather an infamous, tradition regarding the astrologers during the time of Pharoah's enslavement of Israel. His astrologers determined that the savior of Israel would be born soon, and that water would be his downfall. And so, Pharoah decided to implement the death of all of Israel's boys by drowning (לא עלינו).

The astrologers were right about the savior's birth. Moshe's parents hid his existence for a few months, and then sent him on a journey down the river, but not unsupervised. The astrologers were also right about his downfall, which was, indeed, through water (20:7-12). They were just off on the details,...very off.

The point is that our tradition is that Egyptian astrologers and diviners do not have a very good track record, when it comes to Israel.

Nevertheless, let's take a look at what this one has to say.

Astrology has an extensive tradition in Judaism. But, now, for the most part, as a guideline for middoth work (self-improvement), by examining ones natal (birth) chart to see what cards an individual has been dealt. Astrology has also been used to look at the strength of a match between a particular couple, and what a given couple might expect to have to work on in their marriage. We stay away from future forecasts, relying on The Almighty himself, to show us the way directly.

And so, since this forecast has already been published, I believe that it is important to refute it.

We were delivered out of Pharoah's hands on the full moon of [the Hebrew month of] Nissan, the mazal (sign) of Aries. This is when we became the people "who were taken out of Egypt by The Almighty" (Ex. 20:2). The Aries lamb, often associated with Egypt, was now associated with Israel, through the miracles surrounding the Qorban Pesah, the Passover sacrifice of a lamb or kid, an Egyptian deity. The age of Aries was approximately 4,000 to 2,000 BCE when it "took over" from Taurus, the Bull, and the predominant form of avodah zarah (foreign/forbidden worship), at the time.

The point here, as the astrologer already mentions above, is that Aries is a fire sign. Even though, he does not mention Israel's association with Aries.

What is interesting here is that שבתאי/Saturn is often associated with challenges, obstacles, and perhaps forcing one to re-examine things, and to be practical. This is why Al-Shimi's theory puzzles me, especially when שבתאי/Saturn is in טלה/Aries itself, forcing its hand, so to speak. On the other hand, when שבתאי/Saturn is in one of the other fire signs, אריה/Leo or קשת/Sagittarius, its position is at a highly favorable 120^o angle, and thus less challenging to an Aries-Sun/Aries-Ascendant (we left Egypt at dawn) such as Israel.

What Al-Shimi has also not taken under consideration is that The Almighty lifts us up above the mazaloth, when we follow His path. When Avraham Avinu was informed that his seed will be like the stars of the sky (Gen. 22:17), one tradition teaches us that The Almighty lifted him above the mazaloth, to demonstrate that Avraham Avinu were/could be above their fateful determinations.

Although, I look forward to seeing שבתאי/Saturn enter קשת/Sagittarius, I recommend that we focus on what The Almighty wants from us, instead of what the mazaloth suggest to us might happen.

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Much of my knowledge in astrology comes from my teacher Yermiyah Moshe, a long-time professional, Torah-based astrologer. I must also give credit to the book The Sign of the Times: The Zodiac In Jewish Tradition by Rabbi Gad Erlinger (translated into English by Yakov Kooper).

In further examples of the astrological ages, the Age of Pisces began around 2,000 years ago, and is represented by the fish, not coincidentally, the symbol used by Christians as they secret identifier. Of course, the fish had already been associated with such savior figures. However, no one can deny the power that the Christians have accumulated over the pat 2,000 years.

The Age of Aquarius which has begun, or is beginning, around now suggests a shift toward a human centered the human face in Yehezqel's vision, the "fixed" signs of Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio corresponding to the four faces in his vision (Eze. 1:10).

I was pointed to the potential correspondence between the "fixed" signs and the four faces of the Holy Creatures and Wheel in Yehezqel's vision from a video by Astrologer Diana Garland, while doing research for this piece.