Daniel and the Polar Configuration

There are a number of scriptural stories that are clearly Saturnian in nature. That is, knowing the myths and traditions spawned by the Polar Configuration of planets in antiquity allows us to recognize when the prophets used that same imagery in their accounts. Indeed, we find indications that most of the prophets, if not all, were shown the appearance of the planets in Earth’s ancient heavens. Their response to what they saw in vision was uniformly enthusiastic.

The first example is that cited in "Kolob, the God Star," analyzing the Pearl of Great Price, and more specifically the vision in Abraham. The polar configuration was the primary feature of his vision. This appears to be the case in the Old Testament book of Daniel as well.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream

In Daniel, chapter 2, we find that King Nebuchadneaazar has a dream that leaves him “troubled.” While he cannot remember the dream, he is certain that if one of his sages can refresh his memory, that same person will certainly know the interpretation of the dream.

The wise men (Chaldeans) were at a loss. They had no idea what the king had dreamed, much less the interpretation thereof. What is more, they asserted that no one should be expected to know the dreams of another. When the king heard this, he became furious. He threatened to kill them all.

At this point in the narrative, the wise men seek out Daniel, who appeals to the king for more time to divine the dream and its meaning.

We pickup the account in verse 19.

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

I think thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. (Daniel 2:19-23.)

The prophet’s common vision

Daniel’s enthusiasm comes from more than simply learning in vision of the king’s dream. His euphoria likely stems from the fact that he was shown the Polar Configuration in vision and recognized it as the source of all religious tradition. The evidence of this is in Daniel’s words to King Nebuchadnezzar, as we shall see shortly.

Note Daniel’s reference to the change of times and seasons in the above verses. One of the most profound differences between the world at Daniel’s time (our time as well, in fact) and the Patriarchal Age was the radical change in the heavens and the earth. The contrast between the two ages was so dramatic that the Apostle Peter was later to write “the old world that then was … perished.” (2 Peter 3:5.)

This radical change necessitated a whole new way of calculating the day of the year and the time of day. While in the heavens, Saturn and its appendages were the equivalent of a celestial clock and calendar. Instead of looking at one’s watch, as we do today, the ancients had only to glance at the heavens in order to determine the time of day. Many ancient monuments were constructed after the collapse of the polar column in order to record the passage of time, using the periodicity of the new heavens, yet employing the symbolism of the old Saturnian system. Stonehenge, for example was both a celestial observatory and a circular calendar. And because it preserved the time keeping elements of the ancient Saturnian system, it was also a sacred place, fit for rites and rituals — a temple, in other words — connected with both the old and the new heavens.

Hence, the ongoing debate about whether sacred compounds like Stonehenge are calendars to mark the passage of time, observatories to track the motion of the sun, moon and stars, or sacred compounds for religious rites and rituals is truly futile. Such sacred sites served as all three at once! (Notably, modern temples serve these same three functions.) Indeed, the very layout of modern timepieces reflects the circular arrangement of the ancient Saturnian system, as do monuments such as Stonehenge.

Seasons, as we know them, were nonexistent in the Saturnian Age. When seasons began, after the polar configuration seemingly exited the heavens, the calendar became a vital necessity for tracking the seasons and marking the passage of time. Thus, it was natural and proper for Daniel to attribute the change of the “time and the seasons” to God and the vision he had just seen.

Saturnian traditions revealed in a dream

Daniel ultimately reveals to the king a rather interesting narrative that bears scrutiny in light of what we know about ancient Saturn and the Polar Configuration of planets.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee and the form thereof was terrible.

This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. (Daniel 2:31-33.)

This description matches the appearance of the Polar Configuration during the phase that gave rise to the celestial, heaven man, angel or god standing upon the Earth and answers to the archetypal symbol of Saturn’s crescent as outstretched arms, Venus in the center of Saturn as the head, Mars at the top of the polar column as the chest or heart, and the column itself as the belly and lower limbs.


Here we see an Egyptian version of this image.


This is the Babylonian version of the same astral image.


This is an artist rendition of how it appeared above the Earth in the ancient heavens.


This is the same image that the apostle John declared to be an angel of God. It is also likely that this is the image that is referred to in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 133, verse 18 wherein the Lord is made to “stand upon the mount of Olivet and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion,” a remarkable feat for a man (even a resurrected god), but an accurate description of the ‘heaven man’ image. (Incidentally, this speaks volumes about events that will be seen to occur in the last days as described in this remarkable revelation to Joseph Smith.)

Note that each segment of the great image described by Daniel was said to be of certain elements: head of gold, beast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. This is clearly an indication of the appearance, brightness and color of each element of the Polar Configuration that gave rise to the ‘heaven man’ image.

The brightness of this apparition was said to be “excellent,” and its form “terrible.” All the elements of the Polar Configuration were in this specific alignment or arrangement at only one time during a 24-hour period: at the time we call midnight. At the point in the day/night cycle, the entire configuration became astonishingly bright, much like today’s moon rising in a blackened sky at midnight.

The celestial stone

But there is yet more to the king’s vision as described by Daniel.

Thou sawest til that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:34-35.)

These verses describe the metamorphosis of the heaven man image. While it is unlikely that this event saw the dissolution of the Polar Configuration, which event came much later in its career, this was a notable state in the long evolution of that peculiar arrangement of planets. Ultimately, at the end of the Saturn epoch, Saturn and its satellites did vanish into the darkness of space, “that no place was found for them.” Therefore, the statement is correct, but not chronological. In the meantime, the configuration continued to evolve into many other forms before its final dismemberment. Evidence of the continued evolution is in the narrative itself, as we shall see.

The stone that “was cut out without hands” was Mars. In the early stages of the ancient configuration of planets, Mars appeared to be in the center of Venus, which appeared to be in the center of Saturn. It had remained stationary relative to the other visible planets while Venus underwent many dramatic changes before returning to a more stable position. (See "The Saturn Epic: In the Beginning.")

Now it was Mars’ turn to become unstable. Mars exited its apparent position in the center of Venus and began to ‘wander’ or ‘descend’ without any apparent outside intervention. Thus, it was said to have been “cut out without hands.”

As Mars appeared to descend, it seemed to grow larger because it was, in fact, moving toward the Earth along the shared axis of rotation. Thus it seemed to ‘descend’ and ‘grow’ at the same time. By the time Mars reached the position shown in Figure 1, the ‘pillar’ or ‘mountain’ appeared between Earth’s northern horizon and the approaching Mars. Thus, in Daniel’s depiction, the “stone” became a “great mountain.”

The plasma stretching between Earth and Mars, Daniel’s “mountain,” now appeared to form a skirt about the legs of the heavenly apparition, while Mars was seen as the torso. The crescent on Saturn formed the outstretched arms of the figure with Venus as the head. (See the above illustrations.)

The plasma in the pillar (skirt/mountain) must have been spectacularly bright and colorful, as pictures from the Hubble telescope have shown in other such plasma structures in our galaxy. Thus, earthly spectators assigned the colors of various metals to the “image” to describe its wondrous appearance. Daniel’s account merely repeats those cultural traditions of the colorful image.

But, as Mars continued its descent and growth, the mountain appeared to collapse and the grouping seemed to come apart. Thus, in Daniel’s account the stone “smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.”

Mars continued its apparent descent as it approached Earth along the common axis of rotation until both the polar column and Mars appeared to be a literal appendage or “mountain” on Earth’s northernmost horizon. Or, as Daniel told it, “… the stone … became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

As Mars and the polar column approached most closely to the Earth, the ground beneath the feet of onlookers began to quake, furthering the impression that an impact of some kind had take place. Hence, they had the idea that the stone “smote” the image. Darkness shrouded the Earth and the great cities fell, lending yet more weight to the idea that the image had been destroyed as well.

When the darkness dissipated after an indeterminate length of time, Earth’s inhabitants saw the polar configuration once again. However, Mars had begun to withdraw from its former proximity to the Earth. A new phase of the Saturnian configuration had begun.

The interpretation

Of course, Daniel gave an interpretation of the dream.

This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beast of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. (Daniel 2:36-38.)

In antiquity, the role of the monarch was clearly defined by Saturn traditions. He was god’s agent on earth, the successor to the original, celestial monarch, Saturn. Any interpretation of dreams that involved that heavenly prototype of all earthly kings would, by necessity, follow that concept. Daniel indulges in neither flattery, as some have suggested, nor exaggeration to ingratiate himself to the king by referring to Nebuchadnezzar as the gold head. He was merely articulating cultural tradition.

Daniel follows that pronouncement with an explanation that each of the other parts of the image represents four subsequent kingdoms, each inferior to the one that immediately precedes it. Apparently, the idea that the whole of civilization is deteriorating is not new to our time. Representing mankind in a long, downward spiral, except where God intervenes through his prophets, is the entire message of the scriptures.

“… on earth as it is in heaven.”

Note that this is an instance of how one time celestial objects were employed to give order and meaning to earthly events and conditions. It is an example of imposing the heavenly order of things on the earthly, a commonly used device in antiquity.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44.)

The analogy of earthly kings and kingdoms is made complete in Daniel’s exposition. It is the kingdom of God that, like the celestial stone, shall roll forth and consume all others.

Here we see the power of analogy at work. The evolving Polar Configuration is made to depict the world and the kingdom of God. As the prophets attempted to convert the ‘pagans,’ they were forced to use the religious traditions of those same people to teach gospel principles. What better way to change hearts and minds than to put a unique twist on that which is familiar and comfortable to your audience?

“If it works, use it,” seems to be the rule. This can be seen in the teachings of virtually every prophet, including the Savior’s use of parables. It is why most of the scriptures, the gospel, temple ritual and temple iconography has pagan roots. It was the pagans, with their obvious Saturn traditions, that the prophets were sent to convert.

Of course, there is inherent danger in this practice: Later generations might mistake the symbols and imagery used as teaching tools for the real thing. Additionally, converts may retain their beliefs in pagan traditions even after converting to the gospel. This is the drawback or downside to using symbolism at all, from whatever source.

Joseph Smith emphasized the validity of the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He let Daniel’s interpretation stand, adding only that the church he founded was the beginning of the kingdom that would consume all others seen in Daniel’s vision. All the brethren since Joseph have taught this same thing.

More dream symbolism

In chapter 4, the king has another dream with a new set of symbols.

Thus were the vision of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:

The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. (Daniel 4: 10-12.)

The heavenly tree was only another expression of the polar configuration, the pillar being the trunk of the tree and its branches being the crescent in an inverted position from that of the heaven man.

This was the appearance of the polar configuration at midday in the ancient, day/night cycle.


Though we do not readily recognize it as such, it was the principal symbol for an ancient cult that worshipped trees or worshipped in groves. The Israelite prophets called it Asherah (Ashtoreth), and they condemned its worship. (See "Temple Symbols and Christmas.")

Still more symbolism

Yet another dream in chapter 7 introduces us to yet another set of symbols. These are four beasts. Notice the remarkable similarity between these beasts and those listed in Ezekiel 1:10 and Revelation 4:6,7. It seems clear that the ancients frequently associated beasts with several aspects of the Saturn configuration.

There is a clear difference between Daniel’s beasts and those of Ezekiel and Revelation. It appears that the visions in Ezekiel and Revelation deal with the daily cycle of the Polar Configuration with each of the four beasts representing the four primary points of the compass. These originate in the four principle positions of Saturn’s rotating crescent in a 24-hour period—midnight, morning, midday, and evening. Coincidentally, Joseph Smith’s interpretation of the four beasts he found on the Egyptian papyri is the same: These four beasts represent the four cardinal points of the compass. The vision of Daniel deals with four primary stages during the evolution of the Saturnian configuration of planets. Hence, it’s use of the symbolic number four, personified in the four beasts. (See "The Eagle, the Bull, the Lion and the Man.")

A multitude of traditions

Thus we see that understanding the early history of our planet and its unique heavenly manifestations is vital to understanding the prophets because they taught the lessons of the gospel with traditions and stories — myths, if you will — that originated in the Saturnian congregation of planets as they metamorphosed over time as well as the plasma constructs that emerged between planets. These archetypes evolved into a multitude of icons and images in every ancient culture, becoming the basis for legends of epic dimensions.

The lesson to be learned here is that we should not mistake imagery for reality. We would do well to use our newfound knowledge to enhance our understanding by separating the planetary traditions from the lessons they were designed to teach.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2000

The Keys to Prophecy 6: A Great Star

If we look closely at the images venerated by the ancients from the point of view that they may have been inspired by planets standing in close proximity to the Earth, we see them with new eyes. And because we adopt this view, we can read the explanations of symbols on Egyptian papyri by the prophet Joseph Smith with a fresh perspective that also gives an entirely new dynamic to the imagery of prophecy.

This key is crucial because ancient sky gazers the world over drew remarkably similar pictures and offered stunningly similar descriptions of things that do not exist in our sky, though this vital truth has not been generally recognized.

Amazingly, when we heed Joseph Smith’s hints that the gods, goddesses, beasts and other images of antiquity all found their inspiration in Earth’s ancient heavens, some of the most mysterious icons suddenly appear to be virtual snapshots of what the ancients saw in Earth’s skies.

The star-in-crescent symbol, for example, so dominant in ancient symbology, appears to be a combination or blending of two astral elements: One is the sunlit limb of a planet; the other is an aurora-like discharge from another planet.



These images of "stars" look nothing like things seen in our present heavens. Yet, Joseph Smith implied that these are the planets and stars of antiquity.



Hence, the confusion of a star/planet symbol with the moon and stars is natural. The only heavenly object we see today with a bright crescent is the moon. But if other planets hovered near the Earth anciently, they would have also manifested this same crescent feature.

Certainly, the lighted crescent on the limb of neighboring planets became the basis for a multitude of symbols: the horns of a bovine, the crescent-shaped ship of heaven or the outspread wings of a bird, three of the most common symbols in ancient iconography — all seen in the Joseph Smith papyri as well as in apocalyptic and prophetic imagery.

If the planetary god’s crescent looked like outspread wings, then it could properly be described as a great heavenly bird and subsequently illustrated as a hawk or eagle.



Of course, its planetary disk is displayed over its head as well so there is no mistaking where the image originated. This is precisely what we see in the ancient symbols.



If, on the other hand, the planetary god’s or goddess’ crescent was seen as horns, he or she could be depicted as the bull or cow of heaven, a commonplace description in ancient texts of gods and goddesses. For emphasis and clarity, again the planetary disk is set between the horns.



If the planet’s crescent appeared to be a ship carrying the planet around heaven, then the god — with a disk over his head, naturally — would be depicted sitting on the ship of heaven. This, too, was a nearly universal depiction in Egyptian iconography.



Significantly, these same images, and many more like them, can be seen in the Joseph Smith Facsimile No.2, where they are most often called stars or planets.

Moreover, there must have been much more involved anciently than the simple, pacific presence of large orbs in the sky. They must have been active, changing, interacting and dynamic powers to evoke the expressions they inspired.

For example, Sumerian texts celebrate the "terrifying glory" of Inanna (Ishtar, Astarte, Venus), invoking the goddess as "the Light of the World," "the Amazement of the Lands," "the Radiant Star," "Great Light," and "Queen of Heaven." The texts depict the goddess "clothed in radiance." And it was said that the world stood in "fear and trembling at [her] tempestuous radiance."

Thus, we get the picture from the texts and the illustrations of a discharging planet, emitting aurora-like rays that form the basis for all ‘star’ imagery of antiquity.



The Sumerian "Exaltation of Inanna" says, "I want to address my greeting to her who fills the sky with her pure blaze, to the luminous one, to Inanna, as bright as the sun, to the great Queen of Heaven.

"You make the heavens tremble and the earth quake. Great Priestess, who can soothe your troubled heart? You flash like lightning over the highlands; you throw your firebrands across the earth. Your deafening command…splits apart great mountains."

An illustration taken from an Akkadian cylinder seal shows Ishtar (star) and her symbol, a planet with aurora-like streamers.



The wheel symbol of the Babylonian god Shamash looks nothing like the Sun and further illustrates the discharge streamer or star idea.



Both the texts and the images of the ancients tell the same story, each complimenting the other.

In fact, this more fully explains why stars and planets were interchangeable in the ancient mind: In antiquity, a great, nearby planet metamorphosed into a brilliant, awe-inspiring object that earthlings chose to call "star." This alone explains the graphic language and the myriad star symbols used by the ancients for their star goddesses.

This also explains why all the 'star' icons, familiar to cultures worldwide, look nothing like the mere pinpoints of light in the night sky that we designate as stars.

No wonder Joseph explained that all these archaic images were either stars or planets. They were!

© Anthony E. Larson, 2006

The Keys to Prophecy 3: The Prophets' Language

The bizarre and mystifying images employed by the prophets — by all ancient cultures, in fact — are derived from one common source: the heavens of antiquity. We have only to look at Hebrew history to determine this, though it is universally true of ancient cultures.

Israel strayed into the same practices as their neighbors, though their prophets strove mightily to curb that idolatry.

"And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal." (2 Kings 17:16, italics added.)

King Josiah attempted to "put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven." (ibid. 23:5, italics added.)

Clearly this "host" or group was not comprised of God and his angels, and the heaven spoken of is not God's residence. The prophets referred to astral or cosmological bodies, as is specifically stated: the sun, moon, planets and stars. And the heaven spoken of is the vault of the sky over the Earth where all such astral bodies reside. This concept is key to understanding the meaning of the prophets.

Pay particular attention to the fact that planets are listed, along with the sun and the moon, among the things designated as the "host of heaven." Note that calves, cows and bulls were intrinsic symbols employed in their worship and the implication long recognized by scholars that Baal was an astral or cosmological deity.



Likewise, illustrations of the Egyptian goddess Hathor always depict her either as a cow with what is called a "sun disk" between her horns or as a queen wearing a disk and horns on her head.



In fact, it was the worship of astral images that the Lord, speaking through Moses, condemned "… lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them …." (Deuteronomy 4:19.)

So, the Israelites worshipped the stars and the planets in identical fashion to their neighbors the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Egyptians. Scholars who study antiquity have long asserted this.

Joseph Smith, too, emphasized that the Egyptians’ gods represented "planets" and "stars" when he produced his explanations of his Egyptian papyri. It is no great leap of logic, therefore, to assume that the language of the prophets, immersed in Israelite culture, reflected that astral worship — reverence for the stars, moon, sun and planets — even though they condemned the practices associated with it.

So it is that when we turn to the scriptures, we see an abundance of such cosmological imagery in prophetic declarations — especially those concerning the last days. Tellingly, the same imagery can be found in other biblical pronouncements, illuminating their origins for us.

Let’s look at just one example.

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 12:1.)

This 'woman,' described by John, is the same 'woman' worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites, their Queen of Heaven.

"But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem …." (Jeremiah 44:17.)

Sumerians also called their sky goddess, Inanna, the "Queen of Heaven." She was the Babylonians’ Ishtar, the Assyrians’ Astarte and the Egyptians’ Hathor (Athyr), Isis, or Sekhmet.

Of particular importance is that the very names of this goddess, Astarte, Ishtar and Athyr (the ‘s’ is aspirated), have the same root as our word ‘star,’ betraying their astral origin. They were all 'star' goddesses.

More familiar names for the same star goddess would include the Greek Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis, or the Latin Venus, Minerva, and Diana.

As we learned in the previous installment in this series, Joseph Smith indicated that such symbols are representations. "When the prophets speak of seeing beasts [a woman in this case] in their visions, they mean that they saw the images, they being types to represent certain things." (History of the Church, p. 343.)

In the case of the Egyptian papyri, Joseph explained that those images that did not represent some spiritual concept such as God or the priesthood, instead represented stars and planets.

This is key. Like most Egyptian icons, the woman represents a star or a planet. Of course, in the ancient mind, both words can apply to the same image in the sky because they looked alike, mere pinpoints of light. But the archetype, the original image for these goddesses, was a planet. Joseph was emphatic about that.

Yet another connection is provided by the fact that Hathor, who nearly all scholars agree represented the planet Venus, was a celestial calf or heifer — the very same calf goddess worshipped by idolatrous Israelites, as we have seen. This lets us look at the woman of Revelation with new eyes. Substitute the word 'planet' for 'woman,' in the above verse, and you have a more relevant, understandable image that fits better with the sun, moon and stars imagery.

The same kinds of connections can be made for nearly all prophetic images, such as the beasts, the mountain, the kings, horses and other creatures, further strengthening this assessment.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2004

Temple Symbols and Christmas

There is very little about Christ in Christmas. It’s more about Santa Claus, gift giving, decorated Christmas trees and colorful lights than remembrance of the Savior’s birth.

Perhaps that’s because Christmas is a holiday largely based on what most would call pagan festivals. In fact, it’s likely that Christians appropriated an ancient, cross-cultural tradition for our Christmas celebration that predates Christ by centuries, if not millennia.

Christ was not born in December. We learn from modern revelation that he was actually born in April. (See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20.)

The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in about the 4th century. The Catholic Church, based in Rome, wanted to eclipse the festivities of the original pagan religion of the Romans called Saturnalia. It was their preeminent holiday, a midwinter celebration of the birthday of their sun god, Saturnus. Church leaders decided that in order to alter pagan beliefs, they had only to superimpose the birth of the Christ child on the pagan celebration. So, they instituted the Mass of Christ or Cristes Maesse in Old English — Christmas.

In fact, there are an abundance of pagan midwinter festivals from cultures and religions the world over.

Special sanctity was attached to the period of the winter solstice in most traditional societies of Europe even before the introduction of Christianity in the first millennium A.D. The cult of the tree was especially prevalent among the early Celtic and Nordic peoples of Europe. Centuries ago in Great Britain, the Druids used holly and mistletoe as well as evergreens as symbols of eternal life during mysterious winter solstice rituals. They would also place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. According to the Roman sources, the Celts of Gaul and Britain worshipped in groves of trees. When Europeans adopted Christian traditions, they created a blend of their winter solstice celebrations with that of the Catholic Church.

So, the roots of Christmas and its symbolic trappings lie deep in pagan cultural traditions, practices and beliefs, not in Christianity at all. This admixture of traditions — part Christian, part pagan — has created the hodgepodge holiday we know today.

For those reasons, many Latter-day Saints disapprove of the “worldly” trappings of Christmas. But that distaste may not be justified.

In an astonishing irony, a close look shows us that the iconography of latter-day temples — the Salt Lake Temple being the quintessential example — echoes the traditional, symbolic trappings from hoary antiquity that are now part of our Christmas celebration, validating symbols like Santa Claus and the Christmas tree.

The basis for this claim becomes clear when we look for indications of our Christmas traditions in numerous ancient cultures and then connect them with the symbolism found on the exterior walls of the temple in Salt Lake City.

So, let’s review the origins and history of today’s Christmas.

The controversial Gerald Massey, in two large works (The Natural Genesis and Ancient Egypt), claimed that the priest-astronomers of ancient Egypt first formulated the religion and mythology of a polar god, which tradition then spread from Egypt to the rest of the world. This may have been the starting point for our Santa Claus, a magical individual who lives at the North Pole. Additionally, ancient Egyptians treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.

Later, the Greeks memorialized the winter solstice with Kronia, a festival recalling the Golden Age, ruled by Kronos, another polar god and the father of Zeus.

Following the Greeks, the Romans adopted the same festival, the predecessor of modern Christmas-tide, renamed it Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, their father-god and equivalent of the Greek’s Kronos. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness and lamps to light one's journey through life. They decorated their trees with bits of metal and candles in honor of their sun god.

Trees — especially the conifer or evergreen — were objects of sacred significance in many ancient cultures. The Norse religion involved worship in sacred groves, which were trees planted to simulate the walls of a temple. This connects the tree to temple building traditions. Indeed, nearly all temples, ancient and modern, are adorned with gardens, as is the case on Temple Square.

The Canaanites, too, had sacred groves for worship, and the disobedient nation of Israel adopted this form of worship at the outset of their wanderings out of Palestine.

"For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree." (1 Kings 14:23. See also 2 Kings 17:9, 10.)

"Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols." (Ezekiel 6:13.)

We learn also that Israel’s neighbors practiced a custom startlingly similar to our practice of putting up Christmas trees. "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4.)

This passage also alludes to the belief in ancient cultures that the tree was symbolic of something cosmological or sky-based. The mention of the "signs of heaven" in the above verse is our clue. As with so many ancient religious or sacred symbols, the "celestial" or "heavenly" tree was an integral part of archaic cultures' star worship.

In Norse mythology, the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, connects the underworld and heaven with its roots and boughs. It’s also called the World Tree, which many ancient cultural traditions remember and reverence, that links heaven and Earth and shelters all the world. The mythical world tree was said to grow from the Earth’s pole and spread its branches among the stars. This "celestial tree" or "tree of life" — a term familiar to Latter-day Saints — was central to astral worship, as Jeremiah pointed out. It’s also the reason we put a star at the top of our Christmas tree.

To Norsemen, sprigs of evergreen holly symbolized the revival of the sun god Balder, who was originally the familiar Baal, sky god of the Old Testament.

Also in the Old Testament, trees are associated with the ancient Canaanite religion devoted to the mother goddess Asherah (Ashtoreth, Ishtar, "star"), which the Israelites, intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, sought to suppress. The cult celebrated Asherah and her consort Baal in high places, on the tops of hills and mountains, where altars dedicated to Baal and carved wooden poles or statues of Asherah (also translated as grove, or wood, or tree) were located.

The significance of trees in ancient Assyria, the acknowledged home of Ishtar or "star" worship, is shown in the numerous reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees. Sacred trees, or trees of life, were associated in Ancient Assyria with the worship of the god Enlil, yet another sky god.

So, our Christmas tree has a long and ancient tradition.

The evergreen Christmas tree also represents "World Tree" or "World Axis." The "Star of Guidance" that crowns the Christmas tree is also related to the North Star, Polaris. This natural compatibility of Christmas celebration with late December and beliefs about the evergreen tree, the North Pole, and the spirit called Father Winter, which survives in today’s Santa Claus, are evolutions of ancient tradition.

Notably, the six primary spires on the Salt Lake Temple are the symbolic equivalent of our Christmas tree. A round ball, the equivalent of a star on our tree, tops their conical shape.


Indeed, one of them bears an angel in place of the star, just as do many of our Christmas trees.


Just as the image of the star and the angel are interchangeable in ancient traditions, so too in modern Christmas tree decoration and temple iconography.

In Europe as well as in Asia, the Sacred Tree was considered to be the living image of the axis mundi or "Axis of the World," a figurative or imaginary still point or vertical shaft around which the world turns.

The North Star, Polaris, is the celestial placeholder for that sacred spot in the sky. It’s the only star in the sky that never moves. Throughout the night and year, all the stars move in circles around Polaris, called the pole star since it is located directly over the Earth’s north pole. As the night progresses, the stars will slowly move from east to west, circling around the pole star, due to the Earth’s rotation. Hence, all ancient cultures held that spot in the sky as sacred.

They also associated the pole star with the World Tree or Tree of Life and the central axis of the universe. In tradition, the top of the World Tree touched the North Star. This is the true meaning of the star on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that Santa makes his home at the North Pole in Christmas tradition.

In South Asia, traditions concerning the enchanted World Tree or World Axis have taken somewhat different forms. And yet, despite the differences, certain common patterns persist. The sacred tree, the vertical World Axis or stambha or stupa and the generous spirit from the far north are all features of pan-Indian culture that derive, most probably, from the same traditional sources as those of Western cultures.


The precedence of the cosmic center among the great ancient cultures has been noted and documented by many scholars. Almost a hundred years ago, William F. Warren, in his groundbreaking work, Paradise Found, identified the celestial pole as the home of the supreme god of ancient races. "The religions of all ancient nations ... associate the abode of the supreme God with the North Pole, the centre of heaven; or with the celestial space immediately surrounding it."

In a general survey of ancient language, symbolism, and mythology, John O’Neill (Night of the Gods) asserted that mankind’s oldest religions centered on a god of the celestial pole.

Latter-day Saints should note that, in keeping with ancient astral tradition, the constellation Ursa Major or Big Dipper, the traditional locator for the Pole Star, is depicted on the west wall of the Salt Lake Temple where it is positioned so as to ‘point’ to the northern sky and the polar star, Polaris.


Also seen immediately above these star stones are the Saturn Stones, circles with a ring.

This is no mere oddity or casual coincidence. As Nibley pointed out, the temple is an earthly replica of the heavens. It puts the uniquely modern temple squarely in the heart of ancient tradition — especially Christmas tradition. Certainly, it speaks to the reverence which modern temple builders placed on the star Polaris and its traditional role in ancient cultures worldwide.

Though it may seem completely odd to us, the Romans, who called themselves "Saturnians" and celebrated Saturnalia at the winter solstice, also placed their god Helios at the heavenly pole where Polaris now sits. In their pantheon, Helios was called the central sun, the axis of the celestial revolutions. But, Helios was also called Saturn.

All Greek astronomical traditions agreed that their god, Kronos, was originally the planet Saturn. What is now the sixth planet from the Sun stands at the center of the Greek paradise myth. According to their traditions, Kronos, the planet Saturn, ruled the heavens for a period, presiding over the Golden Age, then departed as the heavens fell into confusion.

Likewise, the Assyrians placed their central sun, Shamash, at the pole. But, they also asserted that Shamash was Saturn.

A stunning example of the polar Saturn is provided in Chinese astronomy, where the distant planet was called “the genie of the pivot” (Santa Claus?). Saturn was believed to have his station at the pole, according to the eminent authority on Chinese astronomy, Gustav Schlegel. In the words of Leopold deSaussure, Saturn was "the planet of the center, corresponding to the emperor on earth, thus to the polar star of heaven."

Finally, the Egyptian god Atum-Ra was said to be a central sun, standing atop the world pole. But, their traditions also depict Atum-Ra as Saturn.

As peculiar as this tradition of Saturn at the pole may appear to us, it has been acknowledged by more than one authority, including Leopold de Saussure. The principle also figured prominently in the recent work of the historian of science, Giorgio de Santillana and the ethnologist Hertha von Dechend, authors of Hamlet’s Mill. According to an ancient astronomical tradition, the authors suggest, Saturn originally ruled from the celestial pole.

It is also known that Latin poets remembered Saturn as god of "the steadfast star," the very phrase used for the pole star in virtually every ancient astronomy.

Manly P. Hall, noted authority on ancient belief systems wrote, "Saturn, the old man who lives at the north pole, and brings with him to the children of men a sprig of evergreen (the Christmas tree), is familiar to the little folks under the name of Santa Claus."

Santa Claus, descending yearly from his polar home to distribute gifts around the world, is a muffled echo of the Universal Monarch, Saturn, spreading miraculous good fortune. But while the earlier traditions place this sky god at the celestial pole, popular tradition now locates Santa Claus at the geographical pole — a telling example of originally celestial gods being brought down to earth.

The origin of Santa Claus imagery can be readily seen in Egyptian religious art. Atum/Ra, the god of the north, stands in his celestial boat, bark or ark, pulled across heaven by servants or souls.


The Egyptian image metamorphosed over time and across several ancient cultures to become, in Nordic cultures, the old man of the north, Santa Claus, pulled in a sleigh by reindeer.

It is at this point that these ancient traditions most specifically intersect with modern temple symbolism.

Most Saints know of the Sun Stones depicted on the Salt Lake Temple. Given the traditions of the Egyptians, Assyrians and the Romans, it seems likely that those Sun Stones, like the Big Dipper, were placed there in recognition of the ancient traditions, which declared that a "sun" was once positioned at the celestial pole.

Additionally, most Saints are unaware that there are Saturn Stones in the Salt Lake Temple. The original architectural renderings of the building by Truman O. Angel, clearly depicted a planet with two rings around it at the top of each south wall buttress.


Note that there is no such symbol on the Salt Lake Temple as it was finally erected, as we see it today. Instead, a repeated symbol (called a 'frieze' in architecture) of a circle with a ring around it (the traditional symbol for Saturn) was installed to replace the original icon. This circle frieze can be seen on the parapet stringcourse, immediately below the three towers at each end of the temple, and is still referred to in LDS literature and tradition as Saturn Stones.

Just as the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans worshiped a central sun that we, today, can identify from cross-cultural comparisons as Saturn, the various 'stones' on the Salt Lake Temple also celebrate that connection, once again correlating temple iconography with ancient, traditional symbolism that gave rise to our Christmas traditions.

It’s no stretch to see that modern prophets would employ the ancient, traditional symbolism of antiquity on a modern temple. The fact that they would properly use the traditional, sacred, religious icons from the past serves to strengthen Joseph Smith’s and Brigham Young’s claims to being prophets of God.

So, what should we make of Christmas with all its pagan symbolism and motifs? If modern prophets chose to memorialize the symbols of ancient traditions in latter-day temples, then who are we to reject those same symbols and traditions in our Christmas celebration?

© Anthony E. Larson, 2005

Revelation: Understanding John's Apocalypse

LDS scholars and church members alike fail to notice vital elements of John’s New Testament book, Revelation. They see it solely as a eschatological writing—a revelation of future tribulations to befall the world in a period of physical and political upheaval immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.

While it is certainly all that, there is much more to discover. With the aid of a new perspective, the mystery of that book vanishes. Revelation becomes a pivotal document, a virtual 'Rosetta Stone’ of the cultural traditions common to 1st century Mediterranean and Middle Eastern peoples.

Let’s look at a summary of the situation that led to John’s vision. Christianity's early leaders, most notably the Apostle Paul, had expanded their missionary efforts far beyond Palestine and its roots in Judaism. Thanks to a revelation given to Peter, they initiated a campaign to win converts from non-Jewish or 'gentile' cultural groups, including Romans, Greeks, Egyptians and Babylonians.

This put the fledgling church on the horns of a dilemma. Gentile religious and cultural traditions were very different from those of Judaism and Christianity. For example, the gentiles believed in a multiplicity of gods while Christianity taught of only one God. This and many other fundamental differences made proselytism difficult for the newly born religion. Yet, if the new church were to survive and flourish, it had to win converts.

What was needed was a strategy to find connections, common ground with the religious traditions of their 'pagan' neighbors to make Christianity more palatable.

John's Revelation was part of that strategy. His vision was an attempt to reconcile the cultural and religious traditions of the Gentiles with that of the Jews, melding them into a new, common tradition for the Christian church that would allow it to appeal to both communities.

Evidence for this is found in several examples of Revelation imagery, which are also found in ancient sources that predate John's writing, demonstrating the 'borrowing' nature of his account.
In Revelation, chapter 13, we read of a rather remarkable beast. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast." (Revelation 13:1-3.)

When we consult sources outside the Bible and Israelite tradition, we find that this story is a rhetorical rendition of a Babylonian tradition. It depicts the epic myth of the celestial battle between the beast, Tiamat and the thunderbolt god, Marduk, as depicted in Babylonian fine art.

To assure the reader that this illustration and John’s depiction stem from the same, identical tradition, note the specific features of the beast: looks like a leopard, feet of a bear and a lion’s head or mouth. The wings on both Tiamat and Marduk represent their power to move about in the heavens as do the winged birds.

Astoundingly, we also see this beast — wounded head and all — depicted in Mesopotamian cylinder seal art hundreds of years before John described seeing it in vision.

This Babylonian ostracon clearly shows the multi-headed leopard form (note the spots) of the beast, as John described it - including the slash mark of Marduk’s sword across one of the heads.

After comparing these two examples of Babylonian art to the Revelation narrative, there can be little doubt that they both stem from the same mythical tradition of the battle between Marduk and Tiamat. This discovery allows for only one of two conclusions: Either this is a rather remarkable coincidence, or it is an instance of borrowing from older, pagan tradition by John. As we shall see from the next example, it was most likely a borrowing.

In his epic vision, John also reported seeing four other beasts in heaven. "And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle." (Revelation 4:7.)

These four are also seen everywhere in the Egyptian tradition that long predates John. Named after Canopus, an area in the Nile delta region, these jars were funerary furniture used to house various organs of the deceased during internment rites. The four creatures depicted on lids of these Canopic jars were said to be the sons of Horus. They are also found in the Joseph Smith papyri.

The Egyptians employed the heads of a baboon and a jackal rather than the Israelite designation of a calf (ox) and lion. This variation is typical from culture to culture and across time, just as the names of the same gods varied. But there is no mistaking that the four creatures seen in prophetic vision also adorned the burial art of Egyptians for many centuries before John penned his Apocalypse.

These two examples amply demonstrate John’s borrowing of pagan tradition and imagery for his own vision. As it turns out, almost all the imagery in Revelation can be traced to common religious traditions of that day and time.

This is a remarkable discovery.

John created an admixture of ancient cultural motifs and Christian beliefs that would give the ring of familiarity to doctrines of the early Christian church among any of his ‘gentile’ contemporaries—a calculated attempt to give Christianity the proper traditional underpinnings necessary to validate any religion, thus making it more acceptable to a much wider audience.

Given this alternative view, we can now see John’s vision with new eyes. Here is the answer to the riddle that is Revelation: The multitude of pagan gods became mythic characters and images in John’s vision—the strange beasts, creatures, kings, women and other icons—in a revised series of sacred dramas, each one calculated to show Christ’s place in those traditions.

© Anthony E. Larson, 2006