Priesthood, Angels, and Constellations

by John P. Pratt
18 Jan 2020, Eagle (S), Wisdom (US)

©2020 by John P. Pratt. All rights Reserved.

Index, Home

Contents

1. Seven Chief Angels 2. Priesthood Restored 2.1 John the Baptist 2.2 Peter, James, John 2.3 Elias & Elijah 3. Aaron 4. Melchizedek 5. Conclusion Notes

Multiple probations show which constellations represent the angels who restored various priesthood levels.

The concept of multiple mortal probations[1] suggests the probability that the seven chief angels have lived as mortals on earth more than one time each. This is the second article in a series which proposes possible correlations between those seven angels, various religious leaders and constellations that might represent them. The first article proposed that in the 7x7 table of 49 constellations, each column represents one of the seven angels and the seven constellations in each column may each represent one of their the mortal lives. Moreover, it went on to identify which constellation represented what formerly was considered to have been the only mortal life of each angel (see Table 1).[2]

Table 1. The Seven Chief Angels and one of their mortal lives.

This article attempts to identify the constellations associated with the angels who restored the various levels of priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Those seven priesthood levels were identified in a recent article along with the mortal names of those angels.[3] This article builds on that one by attempting to identify which constellations belong to the mortal lives of the men who returned to restore those priesthood levels. It then also proposes constellations for Aaron and Melchizedek, who each merited having a priesthood level named after him. In all, it identifies six more constellations in addition to those proposed in the first article in this series.

It is recommended that all three of those referenced articles be read prior to this one because it builds on all of them. This is all very new material which requires study and deep pondering to understand and accept.

2.1 John the Baptist

The Aaronic Priesthood is the lowest level of priesthood. It was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in May 1829 by an angel who identified himself as having been called "John the Baptist" during life. The purpose of this section is to identify both his angel name (what column his constellation is in) and also his constellation (what row it is in).

John the Baptist.

There are several clues to the angelic identity of John the Baptist. One is that he was more than a priesthood leader or dispensation head, even more than a prophet. In fact, Jesus made that statement that of all those born of woman, no one was greater than John the Baptist, except for Him who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat. 11:9-11).

That amazing endorsement alone is a strong vote in favor of John the Baptist being Michael, the greatest of the chief angels, called the archangel.

Secondly, at the same time, Jesus announced that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy that the Lord would send His messenger to prepare the way of the Lord (Mal. 3:1). That scripture is nearly always associated with the Second Coming because the next verses ask who can abide the day of His coming, which will be like a refiner's fire. Moreover, after talking more about that day which shall burn as an oven, Malachi repeats that before that day, the Lord will send the prophet Elijah. Thus, the usual interpretation of this scripture is that it refers to the coming of Elijah before the Second Coming.

So was Jesus mixed up? Did He not understand the difference between His first and second comings? Of course not, so we should take what he said seriously.

His apostles asked him a very similar question when Elijah appeared to them on the Mount of Transfiguration. They asked why the scribes (quoting Malachi) said that Elijah would come first and yet he appeared to come after Christ on the mount. Of course, they were referring only to His first coming. Jesus replied that indeed Elijah ("Elias" in KJV Bible) had come first, implying he referred to John the Baptist (Mat. 17:10-13).

Aaronic Priesthood restored.

That makes twice that Jesus declared that Malachi's prophecy of the messenger preparing the way referred to John the Baptist and even implied that Elijah and John the Baptist were somehow the same. That they were indeed two incarnations of the same spirit was already discussed in an earlier article.[4] What that means in this article is that the constellations for John the Baptist and Elijah should appear in the same column, being mortal probations of the same angel.

A final clue is that when Jesus quoted Malachi's prophecy, he referred to the angel to precede His coming as "my messenger" (Mal. 3:1). That possessive pronoun "my" in "my messenger" may indicate the personal angel of the Lord, who is Michael.

Thus, putting all of this together that everything about John the Baptist seems to be the greatest, it is suggested that he was an incarnation of the archangel Michael.

As will mentioned above, the top row of the table which is for the most celestial lives, appears to be reserved mostly for great prophetic writers such as Isaiah. If John the Baptist is the greatest, then he is deserving to be in that row. Thus, it is suggested that his constellation is the Dragon (Draco). The Dragon, Serpent, and Scorpion can refer to either good or evil beings, depending on the context. In this context, it refers to God, being located in the first position at the top of the heavens. Michael means "Like unto God", so the Dragon as one his constellations is indeed like unto God.

The star days at the birth and martyrdom of John the Baptist support this identification of the Dragon constellation. The star day of his birth on the Unified Star Calendar was of the star Power Center in the Dragon (Zeta Dra), which is the very nearest star to the symbolic throne of God (the ecliptic pole). Moreover, the day was the day "Prophet", which is in the Serpent (Serpens, being the star Alpha Ser) on both of the Star Calenars (S, US). Those are three witnesses that the choice is correct.

2.2 Peter, James, John

Peter, James, and John.

Not long after John the Baptist restored the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph and Oliver, Peter, James, and John visited them both and ordained them both to be apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ (D&C 27:12). Recently it has been proposed in my earlier article that these three actually each ordained them to three separate levels of priesthood: Peter to the Mosaic Priesthood to be apostles, James to the Melchizedek Priesthood which would be required to ordain high priests, and John to the Patriarchal Priesthood, required for the Presiding Patriarch.[5]

The constellation for Peter was already proposed in the last article to be The Fishes, as shown in Figure 2. Let us now identify the constellations for James and John.

Fig. 3. Ideal presidency: seer, prophet, & revelator.

Peter, James, and John as a priesthood presidency apparently formed a classic seer, prophet and revelator quorum. The name Peter means "stone", which is a "seer stone" in this case, putting him in the president's position of seer, which is both a prophet and a revelator (Mosiah 8:16). John is referred to as "John the Revelator" because he fills that slot (2nd counselor), leaving James to be the prophet (1st counselor). The classic symbols of the prophet is the serpent, who feels the ground, and the eagle, with keen eyesight who flights high to see both what is past and what is coming, is the symbol of a revelator.[6] The symbol of the seer can be either a feathered serpent, or flying serpent, such as the wyvern shown as "President" in Figure 3. In the case of the constellations, the seer is the Swan (Cygnus) who can feel the water as it swims and also can fly. In symbolism, beauty represents righteousness, so the Swan in Uriel's column (which contains Peter) is at the top.

The Eagle of St. John.

John was translated and has spent time on earth for the last 2,000 years working with various nations. There is a symbol known as "St. John's Eagle" which was on the Spanish flag until 1977. It is here proposed that the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila) represents John the Revelator.

James would be the counterpart of the Eagle, namely, the Serpent, the symbol of a prophet, who feels rather than sees. In this article it was already noted that John the Baptist died on the star day Prophet on both star calendars, which is the star in the head of the Serpent. Thus, it is proposed that the Serpent (Serpens), being held by the Serpent Bearer, also called Healer, (Ophiuchus) is the constellation representing James. The Serpent is always considered a separate constellation from the Serpent Bearer.

2.3 Elijah

In the Kirtland Temple on Easter Sunday, 3 Apr 1836, Moses, Elias, and Elijah each appeared in succession. They restored the fulness of the priesthood, which apparently must be done in a qualified temple.

The constellation for Moses has already been identified as the Herdsman (Bootes). It is not known to me who "Elias" was, except that it was likely a code name or title for Noah. If that is the case, then his constellation has also been identified as the Southern Fish. But what about Elijah? What constellation is his?

Elijah's chariot of fire.

There is one constellation that stands out as appropriate for Elijah. One of the things that he was most famous for is that he was translated and rode to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:1). One of the most prominent constellations in northern realms which represent heaven is the Charioteer (Auriga). That is a perfect match for Elijah.

Another consideration might be the Raven because Elijah was once fed by ravens, but one problem with that is that it is in the wrong column. That is, Elijah and John the Baptist are the same angel and hence in the same column. Moreover, there is an excellent confirmation that the Charioteer is the correct constellation.

One stunning confirmation of Elijah's constellation comes from the star on which the unborn baby, who would be John the Baptist, leaped in the womb of his mother Elizabeth. The proposed day for that occurred on the star day of Glory (Capella), the brightest star in the Charioteer and one of the brightest in the sky. That event symbolized the day of Quickening when the spirit enters the womb. Until now it has been confusing as to why that bright star would be associated with John the Baptist, and not on his day of birth, but at quickening.

Now in the light of our beginning to understand multiple probations, the symbolism is clear. That was the day that the spirit of Elijah the Charioteer entered the body to become John the Baptist!

Shem's birth star at end of the Dipper's handle.

For me, the biggest clue came from the star day of the birth of Shem (Melchizedek). On the west side of the LDS Salt Lake Temple one sees the Big Dipper, with its two "pointer" stars, at the front end of the bowl, actually always pointing to the North Star, similar to how those two stars point to that star at all times in the heavens. The architect explained that it represents "the great truth that through the priesthood of God the lost may find their way."[7]

A birth star is one way to tie an event during the life of one of these leaders to his constellation, and in this case it is about all that is available. Thus, it is proposed that the Great Bear (Ursa Major), which represents priesthood leaders, is the constellation of Shem/Melchizedek.

There is also a confirmation of this connection of Melchizedek to Abel. In the great revelaton on the Melchizedek Priesthood known as D&C 84 in the LDS Church, the Lord reveals that Melchizedek could trace his priesthood back to Abel (D&C 84:16), rather than Adam's son Seth who replaced him. That is really a curious little detail for the Lord to mention. Why would that be important? It now appears that the line through Seth would be the higher Patriarchal Priesthood. If the proposal of this section is correct, it would mean that Abel's priesthood was carried on down not only to his descendant, but to another mortal probation of his spirit, that of Sariel, the Prince of God, who would become the great king and high priest Melchizedek, the Prince of Peace.

Notes

1. Pratt, John P., "Multiple Mortal Probations" (31 Oct 2019) discusses in more detail the Grand Council before this world began as well as how this doctrine was taught secretly by both early Christians and early Mormons. For application to angels, see also my "Multiple Mortalities of Angels" (4 Jan 2020) which reviews four different reasons for angels to condescend to live another mortal life.
2. Pratt, John P., "Angels and Their Constellations" (16 Jan 2020).
3. Pratt, John P., "Priesthood and the Snowman Seven" (11 Jan 2020) introduces the concept of seven levels of priesthood, which were all bestowed by seven angels on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
4. Pratt, John P., "Multiple Mortalities of Angels" (4 Jan 2020), Section 2: Elijah & John the Baptist.
5. Pratt, John P., "Priesthood and the Snowman Seven" (11 Jan 2020) Section 3. Peter, James, & John.
6. Pratt, John P., "Seven Dragon Star Holy Days" (21 Oct 2018) Section 2.4 "Unified Heart" and 2.6 "Gut Feeling".
7. Pratt, John P., "Star Witnesses" (23 Dec 2018), Section 1.2: Shem. That section discusses both the identity of Shem with Melchizedek, as well his date of birth and its relationship to the star at end of the handle of the Big Dipper being the number 1 star (president) of those seven.