Yosemite National Park

(Where my story begins)

WHERE THE JOURNEY BEGAN

My journey to the stars began in the summer of 1980 shortly after I graduated from high school. My older brother Ron and I traveled to Yosemite National Park in California, arriving late at night sometime around midnight.

Nothing had prepared me for what I saw when I stepped out beneath that sky. I had never seen the heavens like this before. The stars seemed innumerable, stretching across the darkness in every direction, and the Milky Way was plainly visible overhead. I remember standing there in amazement, realizing that I was looking upon something extraordinarily beautiful.

I had no idea at the time that the heavens I was staring into that night would eventually become the subject of many years of study. The seed had been planted, although it would be decades before I understood where that journey would lead.

DISCOVERING A MESSAGE IN THE HEAVENS

My interest in the spiritual significance of the stars did not really begin until 2007 when I came across E. W. Bullinger's *The Witness of the Stars*. The title immediately caught my attention. I read portions of the book, although at the time I found some of Bullinger's reasoning difficult to follow and eventually set it aside.

But the subject stayed with me.

Not long afterward, my friend Joe Maniscalco produced a video entitled *God's Throne and the Zodiac*. Once again my curiosity was stirred.

Then, during the winter of 2012 I encountered a presentation by E. Raymond Capt based upon his book *The Glory of the Stars*. Something was different this time. The subject would not let me go.

I became convinced that I needed to investigate it for myself—not casually, but thoroughly. I wanted to search the Scriptures, study the constellations, examine the historical sources, and continue until I understood the subject well enough to teach it to others.

That decision began what has now become a **fourteen-year journey of research**.

LEARNING THE FORTY-EIGHT CONSTELLATIONS

I immediately began memorizing the **forty-eight classical constellations** and studying the Scriptures that various Christian authors associated with them.

I already had a strong interest in biblical symbolism, particularly from my studies of the book of Revelation and the Mosaic Tabernacle. I had learned that Yahweh frequently communicates spiritual truth through visible symbols—objects, animals, numbers, colors, patterns, and sanctuary imagery.

It therefore seemed reasonable to ask whether the heavens might contain a similar kind of pictorial language.

Psalm 19 declares:

> “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

> —Psalm 19:1

For approximately the first three years, I read nearly everything I could find presenting what is commonly called **“the Gospel in the Stars.”** Among these were works by Joseph A. Seiss, E. Raymond Capt, E. W. Bullinger, Ken Fleming, and Frances Rolleston.

At first I accepted many of the traditional star-name definitions repeated throughout these books.

I had no reason to suspect how important questioning those definitions would eventually become.

WHEN I BEGAN TO QUESTION THE TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATION

The more I studied, the more uneasy I became with some of the meanings assigned to ancient Arabic star names.

They often seemed almost *too perfect*.

A particular Arabic name would be connected with a Hebrew word that sounded somewhat similar, and that Hebrew word would then be used to support a Christian interpretation of the constellation. Because I did not know Arabic, I initially had no practical way of evaluating those claims for myself.

So, like many others, I relied upon the definitions that had been handed down through earlier writers.

Only later did I discover that much of this system could be traced back to **Frances Rolleston's nineteenth-century work *****Mazzaroth; or, The Constellations*** and was subsequently repeated and expanded by writers such as Seiss and Bullinger.

This became one of the most important turning points in my research.

I eventually came to recognize that phonetic similarity between an Arabic star name and a selected Hebrew word was not a sufficiently reliable method upon which to build an interpretation of the heavens. The original Arabic meanings must be allowed to speak for themselves rather than being redefined simply because another Hebrew word happens to sound similar.

This realization forced me to reconsider much of what I had learned.

For a time, it felt as though the foundation beneath several years of study had been removed.

But instead of ending my investigation, it opened an entirely new door.

A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT THE MAZZAROTH

After approximately three years of studying the traditional “Gospel in the Stars” interpretation, I encountered Tim Warner's book *Mystery of the Mazzaroth*.

His approach was fundamentally different.

Rather than beginning with reconstructed star-name definitions and attempting to find the New Testament gospel in every constellation, Warner proposed that the twelve signs follow the **historical progression of the children of Israel**, beginning with Abraham and Sarah and continuing through major turning points in biblical history.

That idea immediately caught my attention.

Virgo could be associated with the Abrahamic promise and the beginning of the chosen seed.

Libra corresponded remarkably with Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the covenant, and the giving of the Law.

Scorpio paralleled the wilderness experience.

Sagittarius followed naturally with Joshua and the conquest of Canaan.

As I continued around the Mazzaroth, I began seeing something I had never recognized before:

THE SIGNS APPEARED TO FORM A PROGRESSIVE STORY

This was much broader than what I had previously understood as merely “the Gospel in the Stars.” The work and redemption of Messiah certainly belonged within the story, but the heavens appeared to encompass the much larger history of the **seed of Abraham**—their calling, covenant, rebellion, scattering, redemption, restoration, and ultimate destiny.

From that point forward, the direction of my research changed dramatically.

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES AGAIN

For the next several years, I returned to the Bible with a different set of questions.

Rather than searching primarily for verses that seemed to correspond with traditional star-name definitions, I began examining the actual **figures represented by the constellations**.

What does Scripture say about a virgin?

Balances?

A scorpion?

An archer?

A goat?

Water being poured out?

Two fish?

A ram?

A bull?

Twins?

A fold?

A lion?

I also began studying how the forty-eight classical figures interact with one another visually.

The constellations themselves became part of the investigation.

At the same time, I began looking more closely at objects found within them—the stars, nebulae, clusters, and other remarkable formations that sometimes seemed to echo themes already present in the constellation imagery.

One of the earliest examples that especially fascinated me was the **Butterfly Nebula in Scorpio**. Situated near the sting of the Scorpion, its extraordinary butterfly-like form caused me to consider the contrast between death and life, judgment and resurrection.

That experience taught me an important lesson that continues to guide my research:

**Look first. Ask questions. Search the Scriptures. Then compare the patterns.**

THE HEBREW LETTERS CHANGED EVERYTHING

Several years later came what I consider one of the greatest breakthroughs in my entire study.

While investigating ancient connections between the twelve tribes, twelve months, and twelve signs of the Mazzaroth, I encountered the ancient Hebrew tradition associating the twelve signs with the **twelve simple letters of the Hebrew alphabet**.

This immediately fascinated me.

The Hebrew alphabet contains twenty-two letters. In the traditional division preserved in *Sefer Yetzirah*, these are grouped into three mother letters, seven double letters, and **twelve simple letters**.

Twelve letters.

Twelve signs.

But I soon discovered something even more intriguing.

When I compared the traditional letter assignments with the biblical storyline I had been studying, the correlations did not seem to fit as well as they should.

Eventually I began testing the letters against their **opposing signs—180 degrees across the Mazzaroth**.

That changed everything.

Under this reversed alignment, **Qoph corresponded with Virgo**, **Hey with Libra**, **Vav with Scorpio**, and so forth around the entire circle.

I began comparing each letter's ancient pictographic associations, its Hebrew usage, and its numerical value with the biblical history represented by its corresponding sign.

Again and again, connections began emerging.

This became one of the principal **keys to the Mazzaroth**.

FROM STUDYING THE STARS TO STUDYING THE HEBREW LANGUAGE

My research increasingly moved beyond the constellation figures themselves.

I began examining the older forms of the Hebrew letters, their numerical values, their appearances throughout Scripture, and the biblical themes connected with each one.

For example, the Hebrew letter associated with a particular sign might carry a numerical value that repeatedly appears within the same portion of Israel's history represented by that constellation.

The letter might also contain pictographic ideas that reinforce the same theme.

No single connection, by itself, establishes the interpretation.

But when **constellation imagery, biblical history, Hebrew language, numerical patterns, calendar associations, tribal relationships, and Scripture begin converging upon the same theme**, the cumulative pattern becomes increasingly difficult for me to dismiss as coincidence.

This principle has become central to my present method of research.

I am no longer looking for one spectacular connection.

I am looking for **multiple independent witnesses that converge upon the same story**.

THE HEBREW LETTERS CHANGED EVERYTHING

Several years later came what I consider one of the greatest breakthroughs in my entire study.

While searching for additional connections between the **twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve signs of the Mazzaroth**, I came across an ancient Hebrew tradition concerning the **twelve simple letters of the Hebrew alphabet**.

The Hebrew alphabet contains twenty-two letters. In the traditional arrangement preserved in the ancient Jewish work known as *Sefer Yetzirah*—the *Book of Formation* or *Book of Creation*—the letters are divided into **three mother letters, seven double letters, and twelve simple letters**.

What immediately caught my attention was what this book says about those twelve simple letters.

*Sefer Yetzirah* states that God:

> **“formed with them the Twelve Constellations in the World.”**

I want to be careful about what I am claiming here. I am not saying that the statement itself proves that these Hebrew letters literally created the constellations. I am simply reporting what this ancient Jewish text says. What fascinated me was that an old Hebrew tradition explicitly connected **twelve particular Hebrew letters with the twelve constellations of the Mazzaroth**.

That was something I could investigate.

But there was another piece of information connected with this discovery that was even more important.

THE LETTERS HAD BEEN REVERSED

When I came across these twelve Hebrew-letter correspondences, I also encountered the claim that their proper alignment with the signs had been **reversed**.

I did not first study the traditional arrangement, decide that it did not work, and then begin experimenting with different combinations until I found something that fit.

That is **not** how this discovery happened.

Rather, when I encountered the information that the letters had been reversed, I immediately restored each letter to the **opposing sign 180 degrees across the Mazzaroth**.

Thus **Qoph (ק)**, traditionally associated with Pisces, was restored to **Virgo**.

**Hey (ה)**, traditionally associated with Aries, was restored to **Libra**.

**Vav (ו)** was restored to **Scorpio**.

And the same reversal continued all the way around the twelve signs.

Only **after restoring the letters to this opposing alignment** did I begin the real test.

Would these letters actually support the continuous biblical storyline I had already been studying in the Mazzaroth?

If this reversal was genuine, I reasoned, the letters should not merely produce an interesting connection here or there. Their meanings, pictographic associations, and numerical values should consistently correspond with the portion of biblical history represented by each sign.

So I began with **Virgo and the call of Abraham**, and proceeded sign by sign around the Mazzaroth, following the history of the seed of Abraham all the way through the Old Testament, into the New Testament, and ultimately toward the **Second Coming of Yeshua**.

What I discovered astonished me.

Again and again, the restored Hebrew letters supported the same progressive storyline I had already been seeing in the constellation figures.

The reversal had not been derived from the storyline.

**The storyline became the test of the reversal.**

And the farther I followed it, the stronger the pattern became.

AN UNEXPECTED CONFIRMATION

At some point during this investigation, I shared what I had discovered with my friend **Christian Israel**, who has devoted a tremendous amount of time to bringing a substantial body of Jewish apocryphal literature into English.

His response caught my attention immediately.

Christian told me that in the course of his own research he had encountered this kind of thing **many times**—information being flipped, rearranged, or otherwise obscured within Jewish esoteric and apocalyptic traditions. As he expressed it to me, this practice of reversing things in order to conceal deeper knowledge was something he had repeatedly observed while working through these texts.

That conversation was significant to me because Christian had arrived at that observation through a completely different field of study.

He was not attempting to prove my Hebrew-letter alignment.

I had discovered the reversal while studying the Mazzaroth; he was simply telling me that **reversal and rearrangement were patterns he had independently encountered in the Jewish material he had been translating and researching**.

That did not, by itself, prove that my restored alignment was correct.

But it encouraged me to keep testing it.

And that is exactly what I did.

PUTTING THE RESTORED ALIGNMENT TO THE TEST

From that point forward, I began examining each of the twelve simple Hebrew letters much more carefully—their names, ancient forms, pictographic associations, biblical usage, and especially their **numerical values**.

Then I compared each letter with the major biblical event represented by its restored constellation.

The results became one of the most rewarding discoveries of my entire journey.

**Virgo—Qoph.**

**Libra—Hey.**

**Scorpio—Vav.**

And onward around the Mazzaroth.

I was no longer dealing merely with twelve constellation pictures.

I now had twelve Hebrew letters providing another independent layer through which the same story could be examined.

These letters became, for me, genuine **keys to the Mazzaroth**—keys that helped unlock a continuous story beginning with the call of Abraham and the promised seed and progressing through the history, covenant, rebellion, scattering, redemption, gathering, and ultimate restoration of the children of Israel.

And importantly, this was not a pattern I imposed upon the letters in order to create the storyline.

**The storyline was already there.**

The question was whether the restored Hebrew letters would bear witness to it.

After years of testing them, I became convinced that they do.

WHERE I STAND TODAY

Today, after fourteen years of concentrated study, I understand the Mazzaroth very differently than I did when I began.

At first, I thought I was studying a celestial presentation of the Gospel.

Then I began to recognize the history of Israel.

Then came the Hebrew letters.

Then the tribes, months, numerical relationships, opposing signs, constellation interactions, nebulae, and numerous other patterns.

Each stage corrected, refined, or expanded the one that came before it.

And I expect that process to continue.

I do not claim that every question has been answered or that every proposed connection carries the same degree of certainty. Research requires being willing to reconsider earlier conclusions when better evidence becomes available.

My own journey is proof of that.

I once accepted star-name definitions simply because respected Christian writers had repeated them. Eventually I had to question them.

I once thought the message of the Mazzaroth was primarily a presentation of the Gospel. Eventually I came to see a much broader historical narrative.

I once knew nothing about the Hebrew-letter correspondence. Today those letters have become one of the most important tools in my investigation.

And I suspect there are discoveries still ahead that will cause me to refine my understanding further.

That is part of what makes this journey so extraordinary.

THE STORY WRITTEN IN THE HEAVENS

When I look back to that night in Yosemite in 1980, I sometimes wonder what I would have thought if someone had told that eighteen-year-old young man staring upward at the Milky Way that he would spend a large portion of his later life studying those same heavens.

I certainly would not have believed them.

Yet here I am.

What began as wonder became curiosity.

Curiosity became investigation.

Investigation became years of study.

And those years of study have become books, seminars, charts, teaching materials, and an ongoing search to understand the testimony Yahweh placed in His heavens.

Abraham himself was told:

> “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them... So shall thy seed be.”

> —Genesis 15:5

That verse has taken on an entirely new significance for me.

I have increasingly come to believe that the story found within the Mazzaroth is fundamentally connected with that **seed of Abraham**—the people whose history, redemption, judgment, scattering, gathering, and ultimate restoration unfold throughout the pages of Scripture.

The heavens are not a substitute for Scripture.

They send me **back to Scripture**.

And after all these years, Psalm 19 remains one of the simplest and most profound descriptions of what first drew me into this investigation:

> “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

My journey to the stars is far from finished.

There are still questions to ask, patterns to test, Scriptures to search, and—I'm convinced—many more treasures waiting to be discovered.

**To Yahweh be all the glory.**