THE RED DRAGON: The Revelation 12 Sign (Part II)

After much prayer and diligent searching over the course of this past year, I offer to you a plausible explanation for the astronomical aspect of the sign of the dragon depicted in Revelation 12:3–4:

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

I want to start off by stating three important things: first, this is by no means setting the date of anything like the rapture or the actual casting down of satan.  We’ve all noted with intrigue that the Revelation 12 Sign last year was extremely clear and unmistakable, but obviously not pinpointing an actual event like the rapture or the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week.  These are major prophetic road signs telling us that the time, which is not exactly known, is exceedingly near.

Second, I have already explained in depth what the sign of the dragon represents and how its unique meaning, differentiated from the sign of the woman in labor, indicates that it does not necessarily require an accompanying astronomical aspect.  You can read this exegesis here.

Third, I have no desire to take credit for all of this.  A brother on YouTube got the wheels turning with his discovery that the Draconids meteor shower in Draco might be particularly stunning this year since the moon will be dark.  Also, I’ve seen several depictions of what the dragon might be (in terms of a sign), but nothing quite seemed to fit from my perspective—including several depictions that incorporated certain pieces that I’ll show below.

So, without further ado, I present to you what I think may in fact be the sign of the dragon, or perhaps something very, very close to it...

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The Great Red Dragon on the Evenings of October 7th and 8th

It had greatly puzzled me over the course of the past couple of years that there are three different constellations in the immediate vicinity of Virgo and Leo that represent serpents (Hydra and Serpens) and dragons (Draco).  In Revelation 12 the devil is called both a serpent and a dragon (Rev. 12:9; in the Greek drakōn and ophis).  In fact, to the ancients a dragon was just a particular type of serpent.  They were both dangerous, scaly beasts with a penchant for eating flesh.

Long story short, the reason they’re close together and in the vicinity of Virgo is because they represent the same thing: the great red dragon (a.k.a. horn-hat and pitchfork guy who is headed for his doom).  The missing link, so to speak, was actually the constellation Link—I mean Lynx.  In modern constellation art it’s depicted as the wildcat by that name, but that depiction wasn’t invented until the 17th century.  It’s unknown what exactly it represented before then.  In any case, it’s actually a simple serpentine shape and it bridges most of the gap between Hydra and Draco as shown above.

To see the dragon, imagine that #9 is the very end of its tail and #1 is its heads.  There are, of course, no lines in space, but I’ve added a few red lines to help you visualize how the stars are aligned.  When you follow the principal (major/bright) stars from Hydra’s tail (#9) all the way around to Serpens (#1) it looks like a giant snake connect-the-dots and that’s exactly how God, for whatever reason, decided to arrange His heavens.

Make careful note that Revelation 12:3 explicitly calls the second sign in the heavens a “great” or “large” red dragon, which is megas in the Greek.  Whatever the sign is, you’d expect it to be big, powerful, and menacing—surely not just Draco, Serpens, or Hydra on their own, which by themselves aren’t much bigger than Virgo (Serpens is actually smaller).

Let’s break this down based on the points of interest noted on the above image:

#1 - There are exactly seven principal stars in Serpens.  These are the dragon’s seven heads.  They are right below the woman’s feet, ready and waiting to devour the male child, just as the prophecy foretold (“...and the dragon stood before the woman... to devour her child as soon as it was born.”).  Note that the dragon is only composed of fixed stars.  The dragon has been there all this time and has been waiting, standing before the woman, even back in 2017 when we saw the gestation and birth of Jupiter.

#2 - Corona Borealis is one of only two constellations that represent crowns and it just so happens to be immediately above and directly adjacent to the heads of Serpens.  There are exactly seven principal stars in this constellation, which represent the seven crowns that sit atop the dragon’s heads.

#3 - The constellation Hercules was another missing piece.  I had never noticed before that most depictions of the constellation show the mythological figure wrestling with a multi-headed serpent.  Even more—and this one should give you chills—the man in the constellation is almost universally depicted as crushing the head of Draco (as can be plainly seen in the image above).  In fact, the Wikipedia article states as much:

The traditional visualization imagines α Herculis as Hercules’s head; its name, Rasalgethi, literally means “head of the kneeling one.”  Hercules’s left hand then points toward Lyra from his shoulder (δ Herculis), and β Herculis, or Kornephoros (“club-bearer”) forms his other shoulder.  His narrow waist is formed by ε Herculis and ζ Herculis.  Finally, his left leg (with θ Herculis as the knee and ι Herculis the foot) is stepping on Draco’s head, the dragon/snake who Hercules has vanquished and perpetually gloats over for eternities.

This should immediately remind you of the very first prophecy given in the Bible, which foretold of Christ’s ultimate victory over satan—that He would intervene on our behalf and be wounded in the process, but would ultimately crush the serpent’s head:

I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

- Genesis 3:15

Indeed the constellation has nothing to do with the half-man/half-god Hercules and everything to do with the fully God and fully man Christ, who created the stars Himself (Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2).  It is He who stepped into His own creation to face down the dragon on the Cross.  He took the brunt of the dragon’s bite on our behalf, but came out victorious on the other side.

Notice that Hercules is crushing Draco’s head with his left foot:

Compare what’s portrayed in the heavens with the eerie Garden of Gethsemane scene in The Passion of the Christ where Jesus also crushes the serpent’s head with his left foot, symbolizing the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 (starts at the three-minute mark):

This brings us to another interesting prophecy that further identifies the male child of Revelation 12 with the Church.  It’s Romans 16:20:

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.  The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Under Christ’s feet?  No.  Under your feet—under the feet of the mystical body of Christ, which is soon to displace satan and his cohorts.

Lastly in regards to Hercules, I noticed that there are exactly seven principal stars at the bottom of Hercules so in my depiction I imagined them connecting the necks of the dragon’s heads, but that isn’t necessary.  The image in heaven is of the main head of Draco splitting into seven that terminate in Serpens.

#4 - As someone has already pointed out, the Draconids meteor shower will be at its peak on October 7th and 8th, one week after Shemini Atzeret, and the shower may be particularly spectacular this year since the moon will be almost completely dark.  The prophecy states that the dragon’s tail will sweep one-third of the stars of Heaven to the earth.  The stars of course represent the fallen angels (Rev. 12:7–9), but I can think of no better visualization than shooting stars, which look like stars falling to earth.

#5 - The talk of late has focused on the Draconids, but as I was studying this I noticed that three other meteor showers will be happening at the exact same time on October 7th and 8th: the Aurigids, Orionids, and Sextantids (I wonder how rare that is?) and all three will be directly along or in the vicinity of the dragon and its tail.  #5 is the Aurigids in the constellation Auriga.

Auriga is directly above Leo and Virgo’s head and looks like a doorway or portal into Heaven.  It is often depicted as a chariot.  Elijah was raptured to Heaven in a chariot of fire.  Auriga is equidistant between Draco and Hydra, the two serpents that surround Virgo (Draco to the left of Virgo and Hydra to the right).

Now let’s back up a few weeks to September 11th and the Feast of Trumpets.  At precisely 2:30 AM local time in Israel on Yom Teruah, Comet 21P will leave the boundaries of Auriga—appearing to exit this doorway into Heaven.  Why does that matter?  Because it just so happens that Comet 21P is what causes the Draconids that everyone has been talking about.  It’s these meteors that many have speculated represent the stars that the dragon’s tail sweeps down.

Perhaps Comet 21P leaving Auriga on Rosh Hashanah symbolizes satan being kicked out da’ door and the October Draconids (in convergence with the Aurigids, Orionids, and Sextantids) symbolize the dragon’s tail sweeping down 1/3rd of the stars.  I should also note that at the dragon’s widest point (from the farthest point of Hercules to the farthest point of Lynx) is approximately 120 degrees or one-third of the distance around the celestial sphere.  Furthermore, depending on where you consider the tail to begin, the tail could also be about 120 degrees in length.

Below is a picture of Auriga in relation to nearby constellations.  You can see the position of Comet 21P at 2:30 AM Israeli Time on Rosh Hashanah, the moment it leaves the doorway:

Notice some other things: Gemini is situated directly below Auriga.  The Son of God (represented by Pollux) has stepped out of Heaven to rescue and grant immortality to mortal man (represented by Castor).  He ultimately pulls him back into Heaven.

Additionally, notice that Taurus, which several people, including myself, believe plays a crucial role in signs pertaining to Jesus’ actual second coming to earth (see here), happens to be directly adjacent to Auriga.  This is similar to what we see in Revelation 19:11 when Christ is finally revealed:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Directly below Cancer is Leo and below Leo is Virgo.  Thus Cancer is a threshold of sorts, separating heavenly things from earthly things.  Lastly, notice that Lynx is shaped like Serpens and Hydra.

Side note: It’s interesting that Comet 21P was named after its discoverer Michel Giacobini, whom discovered it exactly 43,000 days (inclusive) of this Rosh Hashanah when it comes out of Auriga.  Michel = Michael and Giacobini = an old Italian variant of Jacob.  It’s the archangel Michael that kicks satan out of Heaven and satan’s descent signals The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

#6 - This is the constellation Lynx, which, as noted earlier, was a missing link.  Remember that its depiction as a cat wasn’t developed until the 17th century AD.  It’s pretty much all that stands between Hydra and Draco and it happens to have a serpentine shape like Serpens and Hydra.

#7 - The great red dragon bisects the small constellation of Cancer, intercepting and corrupting God’s created order.  From the perspective of the biblical Mazzaroth, the ecliptic, which is the path of the sun, moon, and planets, along which the twelve major constellations reside, represents God’s created order on earth and eternal plan.  The entire gospel message is included in these twelve signs, along with the story of Israel’s redemption (see here and here).  The fallen dragon exists outside of the created order and is the great corrupter who influenced Adam to “break” creation.  Now that we can see what the astronomical aspect of the dragon is, we can see how the dragon has severed our connection to Heaven and has encircled and entrapped Virgo.

Below Cancer resides Leo and Virgo.  Above Cancer resides Gemini, which represents immortal deity reaching down to save mortal man.  As I noted in my article The Gospel in the Stars:

The constellation of Gemini is near-universally depicted as two men embracing after having been separated by death.  In Roman and Greek mythology, one of the twins named after its brightest star “Pollux”, was the immortal son of the chief deity.  The other twin was Castor, the son of man.  The mortal Castor dies and Pollux pleads with his father to grant Castor immortality and his father agrees—the two are then united in the heavens forever.  I believe this pictures God and Adam reconciled through Jesus’ death and resurrection

Luke even makes mention of Pollux and Castor, which constitute the constellation Gemini in Acts 28:11.

Above Gemini and just outside the created order of earth represented by the Mazzaroth and ecliptic, is the constellation Auriga, which as stated earlier looks like a doorway into Heaven.  The arrangement of the heavens is such that it looks like Christ (represented by Pollux in Gemini) has stepped out of the door into Heaven in order to save (and ultimately rapture) mortal man.  And on September 11th we see a depiction of satan—the corrupted cherub who overstepped his bounds as described in Ezekiel 28—being kicked out of Heaven through that same doorway.

#8 - The Sextantid meteor shower will be occurring at the same time as the other three meteor storms and it will be emanating from Hydra, the tail of the great red dragon.

#9 - The star 46 Hya / y Hya is the second brightest star in Hydra and represents the end of the dragon’s tail.

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A Depiction of the Rapture?

We know what comes next in the story:

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

- Revelation 12:5

The dragon can’t get its prey.  The male child escapes its clutches via a miraculous deliverance at the hand of God.  Jesus was never in danger from the dragon.  He laid His life down of His own accord (Jn. 10:18).  As He said, at any moment He could have called down twelve legions of angels (Mt. 26:53), but instead poured out His life unto death to save you and me.  And if we’re going to trust what the Bible plainly says, He was not raptured.  He ascended.  Different words in the Greek.  The male child is the Church (see here, here, and here).

God will keep His promises to rapture the Church: Rev. 3:10; 4:1; 5:8–10; 12:5; 20:4; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16–18; 5:4; 2 Thess. 2:3, 7; 1 Cor. 15:51–52; Acts 15:14–16; Zeph. 1:14–2:3; Jn. 14:1–6; Isa. 17:10–11; 26:17–21; 57:1–2; 66:7–9; Lk. 21:36; Deut. 32:21, et al.

So I want to bring your attention back to 2017 and the series of signs that occurred (particularly on September 23–24, October 13, November 13, and December 25).  You can learn about these in detail here.  In summary:

September 23–24: The Great Sign of Revelation 12:1–2

October 13: Jupiter leaves Virgo’s belly (did this represent the birth of the male child?)

November 13: Jupiter in close conjunction with Venus, the bright morning star, one month after the birth (did this represent the Church meeting Christ in the air since Venus is the brightest planet and is explicitly tied to Christ in Rev 22:16?)

December 25: Jupiter enters Libra (might this have represented the Church entering the altar or throne room of God—the next step in the rapture after the Church meets the LORD in the air?)

In retrospect, perhaps I was wrong about December 25th.  Libra is below the woman, not above her.  Perhaps we should factor in Revelation 2:26–28:

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father.  I will also give that one the morning star.

Aside from guaranteeing the overcoming (sola fide) Church that they will rule the nations with a rod of iron (just as the male child does in Rev. 12:5), this passage also includes another promise.  The Church will receive the morning star.  Jesus Himself is the morning star, represented in the celestial sphere by Venus (among other stars and constellations since all of creation is pointing to Him).  On November 13, 2017 we saw a close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, shortly after the birth depiction, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tells us that after the Church meets the LORD in the air “we will always be with the LORD”—never separated again.  Thus the Head (Christ) and the body (the Church) are inseparable after the meeting in the air.

For this reason, perhaps we should now be watching Venus to see the culmination of the story and lo and behold, we find two interesting things in 2018:

1. On June 21st Venus was in conjunction with the Beehive Cluster right in the middle of Cancer, crossing the symbolic threshold of Heaven and earth.  There was an unbelievable amount of rapture symbolism there that I wrote about in my article Stranger Things.

2. On Shemini Atzeret (or maybe one or two days later, depending on which calendar you use), just one week before the sign of the dragon, Venus stops.  Yes, you heard that correctly—well it appears to stop from the perspective of an earth-based observer like you and me.  This is called retrograde motion and it’s the same principle in physics that allowed us to witness the 9 to 10 month pregnancy of Virgo with Jupiter in 2017.

And where did Venus stop?  Right below Virgo’s feet, not that far from where the story left off on November 13, 2017 when Jupiter and Venus had their close conjunction (the meeting “in the air”).  For the next approximately 40 days, Venus will appear to travel in reverse along the ecliptic, back towards Heaven.  Could this represent the male child being caught up?

Thus, we can see now that all the key players are in place for the completion of the sign of the dragon.  Revelation 12:4 indicates that the dragon is waiting to devour the child, but after the child’s birth in v. 5, the child escapes to safety—caught up by God into Heaven.  The fact that Venus will be under the feet of Virgo, near and parallel with Serpens (the seven heads of the dragon) at the same time as four separate meteor showers are occurring along the path of the dragon, completes the picture.  The dragon is set to strike, but instead the child is caught up and the dragon’s stars “fall”.

So on October 7th and 8th this year we see: 1. the dragon (which has always been lurking “up there”), 2. four meteor showers at the same time along the dragon and its tail while the moon is dark, and 3. the correct location of the newly born Church (having met the LORD in the air after being born out of Virgo) in imminent danger of the dragon’s bite.

When we include the missing Lynx, which happens to have a serpentine shape, the dragon suddenly becomes a huge and menacing figure in the sky that has severed earth from Heaven and has wrapped itself around Leo and Virgo, imprisoning the people of God.  Yet I want to point out that Draco + the multi-headed serpent portrayed in combat with Hercules + Serpens and Corona Borealis, could by themselves constitute the great red dragon.  Taken together, these four constellations are about 120 degrees in length (one-third of the length around the complete celestial sphere we call “sky”).

Lastly, remember again that we don’t unequivocally know the day or hour and these are only signs, but the time is near.

~MARANATHA~

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