King Herod's death

[Jim Eshelman]

As Cyril Fagan summarized in Chapter 16 of Astrological Origins, according to Josephus King Herod the Great died in Jerusalem "shortly after an eclipse of the Moon," which Fagan dated as March 23, 5 BC, 8:41 PM. The death was also prior to Passover, which was April 22. This doesn't time it very closely, but does give us a month within which this significant event occurred.

We can estimate "a few days after" the eclipse as, perhaps, around April 1, just to have a working date.

The December 20, 6 BC CAPSOLAR had Neptune 1°34' below Dsc in close (1°27') mundane square to Venus at MC. Moon in her exaltation degree (3° Taurus) conjoined Jupiter (2°37' in mundo), which I think is consistent with "a royal event."

The March 19 ARISOLAR is indeed a royal looking affair at first glance, with Moon just risen in Leo and Jupiter and Venus culminating in Taurus opposite a very exact Mars-Neptune conjunction. Calculating these more carefully (since I just gave that summary in the loose and poetic feel of Middle Eastern astrology of the day), Jupiter is 0°49' from MC; Moon, Venus, Mars, and Neptune are more widely foreground; Mars conjoins Neptune 0°14' in mundo; and Venus opposes Mars 0°23' and Neptune 0°37' in mundo. It's a startlingly accurate chart, even when we are used to startlingly accurate charts for such things.

The March 29 CAPLUNAR reflects a significant upheaval. Uranus squares Asc 2°15' and is opposed by Pluto. On closer calculation, Pluto is only 0°28' from Midheaven with Moon square Saturn 0°21' in mundo. Definitely suitable for death of a monarch!

As for the exact day, which I am estimating (but am now sure was no earlier than March 29), Cansolar Quotidian Ascendant crosses ingress Saturn April 2, which was presumably the date of death. (Transiting Saturn crossed on April 5.)

[Jim Eshelman]

2,025 years ago today (approximately) Herod died - probably on April 2, 5 BC, when Sun conjoined Saturn, Mars conjoined Neptune, and the Capsolar, Arisolar, new Caplunar, and CanQ for the day all led to the same approximate time in Jerusalem.