Updated Mars Calendars Testify of Sacred Dates

by John P. Pratt
7 Jul 2018, 1 Serpent (SR), 1 Rebirth (UMa)

©2018 by John P. Pratt. All rights Reserved.

Index, Home

Contents

1. Mars Calendars Update

1.1 Two Errors Detected

1.2 Updated Version

2. New Witnesses

2.1 Life of Christ

2.2 Old Testament

2.3 Latter-day

3. Mars Ages

4. Conclusion

Notes

Updated Mars calendars add new witnesses for the scriptures and the importance of the latter-day restoration.

The Mars Calendar (Ma) and Uniform Mars Calendar (UMa) are recent additions to the list of known sacred calendars.[1] They have not received the attention in my work that the Venus Calendar has because the Savior identified the bright Morning Star as his symbol (Rev. 22:16). Recently, while preparing my Sacred Calendar Tutorial on the Mars Calendar two minor errors were detected in the lengths of the current model phases. The same lengths are used in both the Mars and Uniform Mars calendars, so both were affected. When the mistakes were corrected, many new witnesses of sacred events came to light on both calendars. This article summarizes the corrections and the results. It also announces the discovery of Mars ages which have special importance to latter-day saints. Those not interested in the technical details about the corrections can skip directly to Section 2.

1.1 Two Errors Detected

Fig. 1. The life phases of Mars.

The first error which was detected was in the "Quickening" phase of the Mars life cycle (see Figure 1). That is when the planet is hidden by sunlight on the far side of the sun. When Mars sets and enters that phase, it symbolizes the spirit entering the womb and so is called Quickening. The problem was that the length assigned to the phase in my original model of the Mars Calendar did not match the true length closely enough. That had to be corrected because the whole idea of the sacred planetary calendars is to track the average positions of the actual planet in the sky.

The average period of the disappearance of Mars behind the sun is about 120 days. All phases on the sacred planetary calendars must be synchronized with the 13-day trecena count on the Sacred Round. That means that all phases have a length which is a multiple of 13. The nearest multiple of 13 to 120 is 117, not 104 as used in my original version. At the time it was felt justified to have such a large discrepancy, but now it was time to review all of the phase lengths, especially those from Translation through Creation. As can be seen in Figure 1, none of those phases correspond to an observable event such as the rising or setting of the planet. Their lengths were derived making a "best" fit to the 200 sacred dates in my Religious Chronology.

The second error found was that using the original phase lengths the Quickening phase was not opposite in the orbit from the Adult phase as it must be (See Figure 1.) The only phase between Quickening and Adult is Birth and it needed to be lengthened.

One of the tools to double check on the phase lengths in the Mars Calendar is that the same lengths are used both in the Mars Calendar, which occasionally corrects the calendar to the actual position of Mars, and also the Uniform Mars Calendar which is never corrected by a leap trecena because it is not attempting to track the planet. Thus, any phase length changes must work equally well for both calendars.

1.2 Updated Version

Table 1. Phase length corrections.

After research into how to fix those calendars, it was found that the Quickening phase length needed to be increased by one trecena and also the Birth phase by that amount. They were both lengthened and one trecena was taken from Prime and from Fulness. Table 1 compares the phase lengths of the original 1.0 version to the updated 2.0 version. Notice also that the Mars cycle of 780 days is longer than two full years, so those nine pairs of holy days at each phase change are mostly separated by long periods.

As for how the model is aligned with the true position, in the first article everything was lined up with the observable phenomenon of Mars actually rising. That led to the discovery that many of the already published dates of births of the prophets happened to fall on 1 Birth (Mars). That was one of the key results that showed that the Creator was actually using the Mars Calendar.

The updated model is also synchronized to the rising of Mars, so none of those dates was affected. Dates which changed were mostly in phases from Translation through Creation, where the lengths had been known to be somewhat uncertain but seemed worth publishing anyway. This updated model is so much better that now no more phase length changes are anticipated.

Another change is shown in Table 1. The fifth phase has been renamed "Rebirth", rather than "Prime" as in the original version. The name Prime was taken from comparing the phases to the Venus Calendar where the planet is at its "prime" of life in two senses: it is both highest in the sky and also brightest. But it is also the ending of the somewhat evil Adult phase where one repents and is "born again". That act indeed ties to becoming brighter! But that scenario does not apply well to Mars. It is neither highest nor brightest there. That occurs for Mars at the middle of the Adult phase at the center of the retrograde motion, being opposite the sun. Thus, the fifth phase was renamed "Rebirth" because that is the true life phase: it represents when the planet repents (turns around) and begins to move forward again after its retrograde motion which began at 1 Adult. The Venus phase name was not changed because it is still appropriate enough to describe the planet's appearance.

Table 2. Uniform Mars holy days.

The Uniform Mars Calendar has the same phase lengths as the Mars Calendar, but like all of the uniform planetary calendars, it never skips a "leap" trecena in order to actually track the planet in the heavens. Because the length of the Mars Cycle of 780 days equals exactly three Sacred Rounds, that means that all of the UMa holy days always occur on the same day of the Sacred Round. Table 2 lists the Sacred Round days on which the uniform holy days always occur. The Uniform Mars Cycle is synchronized with the Sacred Round in that 1 Birth (UMa) corresponds to 1 Light (SR), being its first day. Major holy days are shown in red and minor holy days in blue in the table.

It may be of worth also to note the main purpose of the uniform calendars is to provide a way for sacred events to occur on significant holy days which happen to occur when it is not possible to have the event occur on the usual calendar. Supporting that idea is the fact that the Sacred Round dates of the updated UMa Calendar never occur on the Mars Calendar during history, so it does indeed provide a good alternative. For example, while 1 Birth (UMa) always occurs on 1 Light (SR), 1 Birth (Ma) never does!

Notice also only one pair of the corresponding days in Table 2 both symbolize the same life event. They are Rebirth (UMa) which always falls on 1 Serpent (SR), both of which represent being born again spiritually. The reason for this is not clear at this time, but it seems worth noticing, if only because that is the day of the publication of this article.

One witness that the new table of phase lengths is correct concerns another correlation to the Sacred Round. On the Venus Cycle of 585 days the length of the "life" of Venus from Birth to Death is 260 days, being one Sacred Round. The length of life on the Mars cycle from birth to translation, which replaced Death, is now exactly two Sacred Rounds! Thus, in both cases mortal life begins and ends on the same day on the Sacred Round. That result is true for both Mars calendars because they both use the same phase lengths.

Another witness is the link to the Enoch calendars. On the Venus Calendar it is one Enoch year of 364 days from Creation to Resurrection. Similarly, on the Mars calendar, it is 364 days from Birth to Rebirth. This shows design to work well with other sacred calendars. Then it is exactly one more Sacred Round from Rebirth to Lord.

In the updated version only a few of the previously published events on Mars holy days were lost, some have been changed to different holy days, and several new ones have been added. Let's now look at the most important new dates. All new additions and corrections have been added to the Religious Chronology on my website. Moreover, this article does not have footnotes to how all of the formerly published dates were derived. If the reader desires more information on that subject, there are links for each date to that information in that chronology.

2.1 Life of Christ

Fig. 2. The amazing length of the Baptist's life.

There are only a few known events in the life of Jesus which were holy days on the Mars Calendar. The Savior identified Venus as His planet, so only a few were expected. My earlier articles about the Mars and Uniform Mars calendars did not even have a section about dates in the life of Christ.

The date for the visit of the magi was formerly published as 1 Prime (UMa) and it remained unchanged except that it is now called 1 Rebirth (UMa).

The most important event in the life of Jesus was the Resurrection. It appears to have been the most holy day in history! The contribution toward that title from the Mars calendars is undiminished: that day was formerly on 0 Resurrection (Ma) and that remained unchanged in the update. On the uniform version that date was formerly on 0 Creation and it is now 0 Quickening (UMa). So the Resurrection occurred on a major holy day on both calendars.

The other main date in the life of Christ which was holy on both Mars calendars was the date of the return of the holy family from Egypt. In the original articles the reason for that was not clear. The date was formerly on 1 Resurrection (Ma) and 1 Creation (UMa). On the new version that day is still 1 Resurrection (Ma), but the new date on the uniform version is 1 Quickening (UMa). What was not noticed at the time was the significance of the fact that an exact number of Mars cycles were completed in that period.

Fig. 3. The Baptist Interval in Jesus' life.

Figure 2 shows the length of the life of John the Baptist on several planetary calendars. Notice that his life is an exact number of Mars cycles, being from 1 Birth to 0 Birth (first day to last day). That particular interval is amazing in that it realigns so many cycles. Three Mars cycles equals four Venus cycles and this can be seen because the length of his life was 15 Mars cycles and 20 Venus cycles. But in his case, the interval also begins and ends the Sacred Round and both Mercury cycles. This interval is so important it seems worthy of a name. Henceforth it shall be called the "Baptist Interval" in my work.

The significant importance of the Mars Calendar in the life of Jesus is that the two events mimicked the life of John the Baptist, down to the very day. Look at Figure 3 and notice that the same exact Baptist Interval separated two events which were also on holy days on many calendars. The first was a birth-like event when Jesus was delivered from the womb of Egypt, similar to how Israel was born from Egypt at the Exodus. And the interval ended at the Resurrection! This did not all happen by chance!

2.2 Old Testament

Until now there were two different significant "lengths of life" for Adam. He lived an exact number of Venus cycles during the 930 years of his mortality (after he left the Garden of Eden). He also lived 999 years from when he first breathed the breath of life on the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles (which represents birth) until his death at End Tabernacles (which represents death).

Fig. 4. Adam's life from the Fall in Mars cycles.

Now there is a third example of an exact number of planet cycles which did not appear on the earlier version. On the updated Mars Calendar it is an exact numbers of cycles from the Fall of Adam on 1 Lord (Ma) until his death on 0 Lord (Ma) (see Figure 4)! That is an amazing result considering how rare the nine pairs of holy days are in the two year Mars Cycle. In fact, it is a strong confirmation of the already published dates for both the Fall as well as for his death.

Another proposed date which has not yet been published is the birth date of Eber for whom the Hebrews are named. According to the Book of Jasher he had an academy where both Isaac and Jacob studied the ways of God. His proposed birth date is Wed 9 Oct 2275 BC, being Atonement (PH), the same as his son Peleg. The day was also 1 Cre (UMa), which ties to his death date of 1 Qui (Ma), as well as 1 Lord (M) and 1 Flint (SR).

Another new pair of dates is that Isaac was born on 1 Lord (UMa) and Rebekah was born on 1 Resurrection (UMa). As noted, many times husband and wife couples are often both linked by holy dates on the same calendar. Rebekah also died on 1 Resurrection (UMa) so she lived an exact number of Mars cycles and Sacred Rounds.

Moreover, it has been noted in the articles about the birth dates of Ishmael and his brother Isaac that there was clearly an plan by the Creator to have their two dates be equally impressive. The same holds true with Mars, where Ishmael was born on 1 Rebirth (UMa) and Isaac on 1 Lord (UMa). Both were born on 1 Serpent (SR). Looking at Table 2 shows that both 1 Lord and 1 Rebirth occur on 1 Serpent on the Uniform Mars Calendar. Given the context of the fairness to both brothers, these two dates alone give a strong confirmation of the correctness of the new phase lengths because Isaac's birth date was not on a Mars holy day using the previous model.

Another new date is that Abraham died on 1 Birth (UMa). That fits perfectly with him having been born on 1 Birth (Ma). The uniform version is often used as a second witness that another date paired with it was not due to random coincidence. That seems to be the case here. Also Sarah was born on 1 Fulness (UMa), whereas she was not born on a Mars holy using the previous calendar.

Here's another new date which shows the importance of having all of the phase lengths exactly right. In the former version Rachel died on 1 Translation (UMa) but Leah did not die on any special day. There is only a 13-day difference in cycle location between Translation and Resurrection. In the new model that shift was made and now Rachel died on 1 Resurrection (UMa) and Leah died on 1 Translation (UMa)! You can see what a difference it makes and how this pair of dates being equally important holy days for the two wives of Jacob gives a strong witness of the correctness of the updated model.

Jacob and family enter Egypt.

There is another newly discovered date which has never been published in my work because it was not correct until this updated version. The day on which Jacob entered Egypt is very important because it represented the conception of the nation of Israel (Jacob) which would be delivered from the womb of Egypt 300 years later at the Exodus. The gestation period of the Savior was ten lunar months, nearly exactly 300 days. Jacob was a type of Christ, both having been born on Passover. The proposed date of Jacob entering Egypt is the morning of Sun 19 May 1762 BC, being Firstfruits (PH), the same holy day on which the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce her coming son, near the time of her conception. It was also 0 Quickening (UMa) and 1 Dragon (SR), on both calendars like when baby Jesus left Egypt. It was also New Year (UE), Easter/Resurrection (UJ,P,M,US), 1 Lord (UV,UM), and Champion (S). It was sacred on 11 of the 16 known sacred calendars, which is rare indeed! Moreover, most of those holy days do not appear random, but are directly related to the symbolism of the event. Even the star "Champion" (Pollux) represents a champion wrestler, which Jacob was because he was even victorious over an angel.

Another new result is that Joseph of Egypt died on 1 Birth (UMa), like Abraham.

With the updated version the birth of Joshua was on 1 Creation (UMa) whereas before it was not on a Mars holy day. Another important change is that in the previous version it was published in my article that Moses was translated[2] on the day 1 Translation (Ma). In that version the beginning of the revelation of Deuteronomy and the day the manna ceased were not holy days on the Mars Calendar. In the new version Deuteronomy began on 1 Translation (Ma), Moses was taken by the Lord on 1 Resurrection (Ma), and the manna stopped on 0 Lord (Ma). The 13-day shift in the phases allowed three sacred events to fall on holy days instead of one!

As for King David, the day proposed in my work for when he became king of Israel as well as of Judah was not a Mars holy day before, but now is both 1 Lord (Ma) and 1 Birth (UMa). The day when King Josiah began to purge idol worship was also not a holy day before, but with the update it was 1 Rebirth (Ma) and 1 Translation (UMa). The day when Daniel was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar was not holy before on the Mars cycle, but in the new version it was on the same two days as Josiah's purge!

Thus, we see that there are several important religious events that are now highlighted even more by being on holy days on these updated Mars calendars.

2.3 Latter-day

Book of Mormon witnesses.

There were only a few dates in the latter-day restoration that were highlighted by the Mars Calendar formerly. The Mars Calendar seems to be used mostly for priesthood events. Two important dates already published were the dates of the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood on the proposed day of 0 Lord (Ma) in May 1829, followed by the return of Peter, James and John on 1 Creation (Ma) just two weeks later, symbolizing the beginning of a new priesthood era. Both of those dates are the same on the updated version.

On the older version there was one date of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon which was on a Mars holy day, namely, the day they actually viewed the sacred objects, being 1 Quickening (Ma), which is the same in the new version. That is good, but often such dates come in pairs so that there are two witnesses that it is not just a random coincidence. The dates of the three witnesses are firm because, although they were not recorded precisely in Church history, they are locked in by the Creation Pattern of Venus.[3] With the updated version, the day when the Lord announced that Martin Harris could become worthy to be one of the witnesses (D&C 5:15, 24) was on 1 Fulness (Ma). Thus, there were really two Mars holy days associated with the witnesses on the Mars Calendar. All of these dates were in about two months in 1829 which occurred when the Mars holy days are somewhat bunched up instead of spread evenly over two years (see points 8 through 2 in Figure 1). The other already known dates of that time nearly all stayed the same as before.

Table 3. Proposed event dates on holy Mars days.

There are two other new Mars holy days which are on dates known from history to the very day. The first is when Martin Harris importuned to take the 116 pages of the translation home to show his wife. The history of the Church records that date as Sat 14 Jun 1828. Joseph would likely have remembered that exact date because his son was born the next day. The morning of the 14th was 1 Adult (Mars), when the planet begins to backslide in retrograde motion. It is a day symbolic of when evil enters, so that is a perfect fit. The Sacred Round day was 2 Skull. Martin lost those pages and they have never been recovered.

The second firm date is Tue 2 Aug 1831. That was the day when Zion was officially founded by ceremonially laying the first logs to build a building and the land was consecrated. According to John Whitmer's history, it was also a day when the saints covenanted to keep the laws of God. That morning was 1 Quickening (Mars), the holiest day of the cycle because it is when the spirit enters.

Seeing these two new firm dates led to investigating whether or not other events of that time might have occurred on Mars holy days. One that seems worth proposing is the day of the revelation of D&C 10. It makes it clear the Joseph himself backslid when he chose to give Martin the 116 pages and he lost his gift to translate at that time. Again that fits perfectly with it having occurred on 1 Adult (Mars). Then with D&C 10 the Urim and Thummim were returned to Joseph so he could continue translating the Book of Mormon. The revelation explicitly says that his gift to translate was restored at that time (D&C 10:1-3). All that is known of the date of that revelation is that it was given sometime in the summer of 1828. Sacred calendar symbolism would suggest that the perfect time for him to start moving forward again after having been in retrograde motion would be on 1 Rebirth (Mars). That was on Sat 30 Aug 1828 which fits into the time frame. That day was also 1 Temple (SR), 1 Creation (M), and Tabernacles (UE). Moreover, the Lord had told Joseph he would lose his gift for a "season" (D&C 3:14). What is a "season"? The Adult phase of the Mars Cycle seems like it should qualify as a "season" in the life of Mars! Thus, it is here proposed that the date of the revelation of D&C 10 was Sat 30 Aug 1828.

Similarly, following this pattern, other dates are proposed in Table 3 for various other revelations as shown by dates in black type. Most of them are tentative because they do not have the witness of other sacred calendars, but such is not always required. They are, however, supported by being in the two very rare and holy Mars cycles 0 SERPENT and 1 SERPENT as explained in the next section.

After this preparatory Mars cycle was completed, several more key events took place during the first cycle of the new age, called here 1 SERPENT. First, the Book of Mormon came forth and then the Church of Christ was founded on Tue 6 Apr 1830.[4] Then the date of the ordination of the first high priests of Melchizedek on Sat 4 Jun 1831 also fell within the first two-year cycle of the new age! That event is not always considered of such importance, but Parley P, Pratt, who was so ordained, summarized: "This was the first occasion in which this priesthood had been revealed and conferred upon the Elders in this dispensation, although the office of an elder is the same in a certain degree, but not in the fulness."[5] Another important event was the founding and consecration of Zion. Thus, the amazing timing of the Lord is seen in that many key priesthood events occurred in the two holy Mars cycles which began a new seven-century age!

Notes