Astrology actually has significant reverence in the Bible, so why does it repeatedly condemn astrologers?

What can we unpack from this hypocrisy hidden in plain sight? Does this puzzling paradox in Christianity suggest a greater mystery to our existential questions?

Most Christians, preachers and priests denounce astrology and for good reason, according to their sacred text. Many verses in both the old and new testaments strongly condemn and refute astrologers, along with other fortune tellers. Practitioners in the old testament were even stoned to death. Isaiah 47:13-14 may be my favorite criticism of astrology:

All the advice you receive has made you tired. Where are all your astrologers, those stargazers who make predictions each month? Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds. But they are like straw burning in a fire; they cannot save themselves from the flame. You will get no help from them at all; their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.

Ouch.

Yet, precise astrological symbolism is not only specifically mentioned in the bible but given the highest of reverences and holiest of positions. Was this intentional? Written as a hidden endorsement for people who knew enough to read between the lines. Or is it a divine coincidence implying that everything and everyone is connected?

So where exactly is this brazen astrological endorsement that has been missed for the last two thousand years?

In how the bible describes the most powerful angels that are in the rank that stands closest to God, in fact—they bear his throne.

The Cherubim are angelic figures repeatedly mentioned in the Bible, Torah, and Quran, starting with Ezekiel’s visions and descriptions of them. Cherubim are said to be the guardians of Eden; they are sculpted into the Mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, where God appears between them. They are described as residing in heaven, next to God himself.

The book of Ezekiel begins with his vision of the “Divine Glory”, describing his encounter with Cherubim and what they look like in verses 1 through 14. In short, it describes a great winged humanoid creature except with four faces: the heads of a human, a bull, a lion, and an eagle.

Biblical scholars have claimed that their description is metaphor for the four domains of God’s rule: the man representing humanity, the lion—wild animals, the bull—domestic animals, and the eagle—birds.

The first problem is that if the bible claims God to be omnipotent—why wouldn’t she have some creative control over fungi, insects, plants and in all domains of life? And aren’t birds already covered under both domesticated and wild? This interpretation just seems more redundant than emphatic.

The second thing is any seasoned astrologer can spot one glaring connection here.

The four heads of the Cherubim just so happen to also represent the four fixed signs of the Zodiac. The human represents Aquarius, the lion—Leo, the bull—Taurus, and the eagle—Scorpio. It takes a little homework, or tarot practice, to know that scorpions are not the only animal that symbolizes Scorpio. Throughout history the sign of death has been also represented by the eagle or the phoenix. The Zodiac is represented with these four animals explicitly in the tarot.

It’s also worth mentioning that these creatures are found in other cultures too: such as with the sphinxes of Egypt. These have the body of a lion, a human face, and an eagle’s wings. Though allegedly missing a fourth animal, it’s interesting that oxen and bull were often ritually sacrificed during this time.  It could also be argued that sphinxes have the tail of a bull, rather than both the body and tail of a lion, because they do happen to have similarly shaped tails.

I think this metaphorical representation of the Zodiac in Ezekiel’s descriptions of God’s most mentioned and significant angels throughout the bible is one curious contradiction. And that other biblical descriptions of these and other heavenly beings closest to God sanction astrology and might represent far more than what we have interpreted so far. Also that there is a reason the fixed signs are especially significant here. Stay tuned and subscribe to my newsletter to read more of my theology theories on mystical mysteries!