More Star Musings

A little while ago, I blogged about the constellations.  My post made the argument that the spiritual story of the world can be told through the study of the stars.  This post builds on that a bit.

I watched a video a while back called "Beasts of the Bible."  By interviewing several marine biologists and historians, they came to the conclusion that the large fish that swallowed Jonah was likely to be metaphorical since there is no fossil record indicating there could have been an animal like the one described in that place and in that time.  Such animals did exist and some still exist today but the time period and location do not fit.  So when some aspect of the Bible does not make sense, the next logical question arises:  "Is this a metaphor, and if so, what is it describing?"  They turned to the stars for the answer.  Somehow (I've forgotten how but it may have been based on records of Jonah's arrival in Ninevah) they determined that Jonah would have been in the water at the time when a large fish constellation would have been dominating the sky.  In the lore of the day, that constellation would represent darkness, reflection, and repentance for deeds.  So they concluded that that particular animal of the Bible was not a real animal but a metaphor depicting Jonah's mental state.

Now, I am not intending to represent this as truth, or that I believe God could not provide a real, physical fish to come swallow Jonah despite the fossil records.  But I admire that when one part of the Bible appears to contradict science (which is equally as important for understanding our world), the response is not to throw out scripture or science, but to keep searching until a suitable reconciliation can be found for the two.

I believe the same concept can be applied to other confusing parts of the Bible.  Lets take Revelation.  Chapter 12 mentions a sign in heaven:  a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, 12 stars on her head, about to give birth to a son who will rule with an iron scepter.  Later in Revelation the one ruling with the iron scepter is said to be Jesus, so this woman might represent symbolically Mary, or the entire people of Israel, who gave birth to Jesus, or something else entirely.  But just as things here on earth have symbolic meaning spiritually, couldn't things that happen here also be reflected in the stars?  Could something happen that would cause the constellation Virgo, Andromeda, or Cassiopeia to appear more brightly than usual, with the moon by her feet, a group of 12 stars near her head, and something unexplainable in her belly?  Perhaps a supernova or some other celestial occurrence that does not happen often?

Later, another sign appears in heaven- a dragon.  We know from later passages that this represents Satan.  But just as the symbol of the dragon represents a real entity, could the constellations represent a real event here on earth?  Could Draco appear near Virgo, waiting to "devour" the supernova in her belly?

Perhaps I've been living in my fictional world of Sendreluna for too long.  There is a part of that story in which people receive messages from the dreams they have while lying under the open stars.  Perhaps my imagination is simply too active.