ThE Star of Solomon

Have you ever wondered about the origins of the star of Solomon or as it is more commonly know today, the Star of David? This star which today is commonly associated with the nation of Israel and the Jewish people has only seen widespread use as their national and religious symbol for the past couple of centuries. Farther back in Jewish antiquity it was used mostly among the Cabalists and mystics. Even further back is usage has an even more sordid history. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, by Ellen Frankel and Betsey Platkin Teutsch has this to say about the history of the Star of David: Although scholars have attempted to trace the Star of David back to King David himself; to Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kokhba (son of the star) rebellion (135 C.E.); or to *kabbalists, especially Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century), no Jewish literature or artifacts document this claim. Rather, all evidence suggests that the early use of the hexagram was limited to practical Kabbalah, that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th century C.E. Legends connect this symbol with the Seal of Solomon, the magical signet *ring used by King Solomon to control demons and spirits. Helen Blavatsky one of the more respected occultists of our time had this to say about Solomons Seal:
Solomons Seal. The symbolical double triangle, adopted by the Theosophical Society and by many Theosophists. ...the pentagram is the triple triangle--the six-pointed star being the hexalp ha (See Pentacle)... The way a triangle points determines its meaning. If upwards, it means the male element and divine re; downwards, the female and the waters of matter; upright, but with a bar across the top, air and astral light; downwards, with a bar--the earth or gross matter, etc. - Theosophical Glossary

Is the association between this hex symbol and King Solomon just a figment of occultists and cabalists imagination or is there more to this story. Does the Bible hold any clues as to the history and origins of this symbol? As most students of Bible history know ancient Israel had a problem with idolatry. It seems, according to the Biblical narrative that astrological idolatry was an ongoing problem. One of the 1st instances of national Israels laps into idolatry was just after the Exodus from Egypt. The books of Exodus, Amos and Acts describe the events.

Just a few months after their miraculous departure from Egypt, Israel made a golden calf to worship. The book of Amos states that while Israel appeared to be offering sacrifices to YHWH they secretly were worshipping Moloch and Chiun. According to the book of Amos, Moloch and Chiun were associated with a star. The New Testament book of Acts completes the picture by explaining the golden calf was associated with the host of heaven. Notice in Acts 7 the idol Remphan is associated with the same star. The ISBE Bible Dictionary explains the reason Chiun is used to represent the star in the Old Testament while Remphan is used in the New.
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E xodus 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool,
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after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

A mos 5:25-26 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty
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years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

!WYKi

Kiyuwn {kee-yoon}

4481 ~Remfa.n Rhemphan {hrem-fan}

Meaning: Chiun = an image or pillar 1) probably a statue of the Assyrian-Babylonian god of the planet Saturn and used to symbolise Israelite apostasy

Meaning: Remphan = the shrunken (as lifeless) 1) the name of an idol worshipped secretly by the Israelites in the wilderness
Origin: by incorrect transliteration for a word of Hebrew origin 03594

The difference between the names Chiun and Rephan, is due either to Rephan being local Egyptian name for the planet Saturn, and therefore used by the Septuagint as its equivalent, or to an actual error of transcription in the text from which they were translating: the initial of the word being taken as resh (r) when it should have been kaph (k), r instead of k. The word should therefore be transliterated Kaivan, which was the name of the planet Saturn amongst the ancient Arabs and Syrians, while kaimanu, constant or regular, was its name with the Assyrians. The English Revised Version in Am 5:26 adopts the reading of the King James Version margin, Siccuth your king, Moloch meaning king; but the authority of the Septuagint and the parallelism of the text and its general line of thought support the reading given by some of the ancient versions and followed by the King James Version..................The difculty of the passage is that both Amos and Stephen appear to represent the worship of the golden calf as identical with the worship of Moloch and of the planet Saturn; yet though Kaivan is only mentioned here, the nature of the reference would imply that this deity was one familiar both to speaker and hearers. The difculty vanishes at once, if the plain statement of Stephen be accepted, that when God permitted Israel to go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels (Ps 81:12) He gave them up to serve the host of heaven. The worship of the golden calf was star worship; it was the solar bull, the constellation Taurus, in which the sun was at the time of the spring equinox, that was thus represented. The golden calf was therefore analogous to the familiar symbol of the Mithraic cult, the bull slain by Mithra, Sol Invictus, if indeed the latter did not take its origin from this apostasy of Israel. ----- ISBE Bible Dictionary

Acts 7:41-42

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
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Talisman of Saturn

The star Chiun which national Israel worshiped in the wilderness was the planet Saturn and its association with the constellation of Taurus the bull. Notice below in the occult Talisman of Saturn you find the bull, the star, as well as Rempha spelled out. Paul Christian in his History and
Practice of Magic describes this Talisman:

On the rst face is engraved...a pentagram or a star with ve points. On the other side is engraved a bulls head enclosed in a SIX-POINTED STAR, and surrounded by letters composing the name REMPHA, THE PLANETARY GENIUS OF SATURN, according to the alphabet of the Magi. (p. 304-5)

Alexander Hislop has an interesting take on these talismans. In his book the Two Babylons (p. 269) he states the following: These are the principal Talismans whose traditions have been preserved for us by the most ancient monuments of the highest magical art and by the most reliable archaeologists in this type of research. These talismans are recommended under the name of Teraphim by the Hebrew Qabalists of the Middle Ages, who replace the names of the planetary Genii of Egypt by those of: Oriphiel (REMPHA), Zachariel (Pi-Zeus), Samael (Ertosill), Michael (Pi-Rh3), Anabel (Suroth), Raphael (Pi-Hermes) and Gabriel (Pi-Ioh). These Cabalists add another seven talismans to which they attribute the power of conjuring the inuence of seven demons who, according to their doctrine, share with the seven planetary angels the government of the divine creation. Against the angel of Saturn they set the demon Nabam; against the angel of Jupiter the demon Acham; against the angel of Mars the demon Nambroth; against the angel of Venus the demon Lilith or Naemah; against the angel of Mercury the demon Astaroth or Tharthac; and against the angel of the Moon the demon Sathan, See Judges xvii and xviii in the Bible. The Teraphim appear to correspond to the serpent images or seraphim. which in turn are said to derive from the Kabeiri Assyrian divinities worshipped at Hebron (Beni Anak). The Daimons S = 6 0 or male spirits of the planets are now given by esoteric students of the Qabala as: Adonai=sun, T = 400 Evoe=Moon. Saba=Mars, Astaphoi=Mercury, Eloi=Jupiter. Ouraioa=Venus and Ilde-baoth, or U = 6 according to the Orphites JAHWEH=SATURN. R = 200 Now, the name SATURN in Chaldee is pronounced Satur; but, as every Chaldee scholar knows, 666 consists only of four letters, thus - Stur. This name contains exactly the Apocalyptic number. (Hislop, p. 269)

The biblical connection between astral worship and Solomon is found in I Kings 11:4-7. It seems King Solomon built high places for Chemosh and other gods. He partook in the Zidonian idolatry of Ashtoreth (Star) or star worship. Its no wonder that today Solomon is revered by occultists and Cabalists. He is especially respected by the most popular form of ancient Babylonian Idolatry which today we call the Masonic Lodge. Lodges are often named after Solomons temple. Many Masonic symbols incorporate the Star of Solomon in there designs. If you look closely you will see an abbreviated Star of Solomon in the Compass and Square symbol that adorns all Masonic buildings and literature. Its especially illuminating to hear them describe the Star of Solomon in their own words.
6253 `Ashtoreth {ash-toreth} Meaning: Ashtoreth = star 1) the principal female deity of the Phoenicians worshipped in war and fertility 1a) also Ishtar of Assyria and Astarte by the Greeks and Romans

after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with YHWH his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of YHWH, and went not fully after YHWH, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

1 Kings 11:4-7 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart
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The six pointed star is used in Masonic work and is also found in other well known secret orders. Mary Ann Slipper

tr,Tov.[;

(a Masonic author) --- Symbolism of the Eastern Star, 1927, on page 14] ... the six pointed star is a very ancient symbol and one of the most powerful. The Second Mile a book of the Eastern Star Masonic order The hexagram was used as a stand-by for Magicians and Alchemists. The Sorcerers believed it represented the footprint of a special kind of demon called a trud, and used it in ceremonies both to call up demons and to keep them away. Gary Jennings, Black Magic, White Magic, Eau Claire, WI, The Dial Press, 1964, p. 51. Also Harry E. Wedeck, Treasury of Witchcraft , New York, Philosophical Library, 1961, p. 135

The triangle pointing downward is a female symbol corresponding to the yoni and the upward pointing triangle is the male, the lingam. When the two triangles are interlaced, it represents the union of the active and passive forces in nature; it represents the male and female elements.Also explained in Did You Know? Vignettes in Masonry from the Royal Arch Mason Magazine , Missouri Lodge of Research, 1965, p. 132, Wes Cook, Editor] The Symbolism of Freemasonry, p. 195, 1869 A.D.

Brooch of Blavatsky

Every man and woman is a star.

Moloch who in the Biblical texts is associated with Chiun and Saturn is often pictured with the torso of a man and head of a bull with arms outstretched. It was into these outstretched arms which idolaters of the past placed their innocent children to be burned alive. The Bible describes this abomination as passing through the fire. The worship of Moloch and Saturn is one of the most depraved form of idolatrous practices. I cant but fail to see the irony in King Solomons statement that there is nothing new under the sun. For some reason our generation considers all things relative to our own experience. Our associations and actions seem devoid of any anchor or principle from the past. We are arrogant in our own ignorance. The prophet Hoseas lament concerning Israels ignorance is just as appropriate to our generation today:

H osea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
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The apostle Paul exhorted early believers in Ephesus to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul draws on the idolatrous events of the Exodus story as an example of things which we as believers should not associate.

Corinthians 10:6-7 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

E phesians 5:5-12 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh
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the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

I have no doubt that most Jewish and Christian believers in no way associate the Star of Solomon with the ancient idolatrous practices of the past. But my fear is through a lack of knowledge of that past we condemn future generations to the same mistakes. We in ignorance plant seeds of idolatry in the gardens of the future. Seeds which lie dormant just waiting for the right conditions to sprout and flourish.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. --- George Santayana