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Planetary Set TimesLet
us begin by relating the set times of all of the major planets
to the set time of the earth (the day) as described in Abraham's
Third Truth and also to the year, which Abraham's First Truth
tells us is tied to the revolutions of Kolob. Thus, if we measure
the set times of other planets in terms of the earth's day and
year, then they will also be tied to the reckoning of the Lord's
time on Kolob. This is a very important point which has not occurred
to modern astronomers. Anciently, unenlightened men thought that
the earth was the center of the universe. Now scientists have
discovered that we are far from the center of our galaxy, so it
would never occur to modern astronomers to consider the possibility
that our solar system was designed with the earth's mean solar
day as a fundamental unit of time. But Abraham was shown that
even though the center of the order of stars to which we belong
is very distant from us (Abr. 3:3), yet the earth's day and year
were set up according to celestial measures and hence might well
serve as fundamental units for the solar system.
Synodic or Sidereal?There
are two principal orbital periods for each of the planets which
are candidates to be called the "set time" for that planet. The
first is the "sidereal" period, which is the one usually listed
in astronomy books as the orbital period. The sidereal period
is relative to the stars, meaning the average interval between
successive orbital passings of the planet near the same star.
The other period is called the "synodic" period. It is the period
as seen from the earth relative to the sun rather than to
a star. For example, it is the interval between successive risings
of the planet with the sun. Astronomers tend to ignore the synodic
period because it is earth-based. It just hasn't appeared to be
of fundamental importance as does the sidereal period, which is
the same as the period of the planet orbiting the sun, independent
of the earth.
These two periods can be very different. For example, consider the planet Venus. It orbits the sun 13 times while the earth orbits the sun 8 times, that is, in 8 years. Thus, it's sidereal period is 8/13 of a year, or about 225 days. But suppose we ask, "How many times will Venus appear to rise with the sun in those 8 years?" The answer is that as we orbit the sun 8 times, Venus must pass us 5 times in order for it to finish its 13 orbits. Thus, it will appear on earth that Venus passes the sun 5 times in 8 years and its synodic period is 8/5 of a year, or about 584 days. In case you don't understanding that reasoning, the main point is that the sidereal period of 225 days is very different from its synodic period of 584 days.
Which planetary period makes the most sense to be what the Lord called the "set time" for each planet? There are reasons for choosing either, so we need to consider this point. The planets can be divided into two groups: the inner and the outer planets. The planets Mercury and Venus are nearer to the sun than is the earth and hence are called "inner" planets. Because they must always stay near the sun, they can only be seen shortly after sunset or before sunrise. Hence, they are both called evening and morning "stars." (Note that throughout the Book of Abraham and also in this paper, the words "star" and "planet" are used almost interchangeably). Venus often can be seen in the twilight before stars are even visible. Thus, for the inner planets, as for the moon, the synodic period relative to the sun seems to be the more important, and will be used for their set times. On the other hand, it can be argued that the more important period for the outer planets is the sidereal period because they are usually only visible at night when the stars are visible. The way the "star clock" works is that the principal stars in each of the twelve zodiac constellations are like the twelve numbers on the face of a clock, and the planets are like "hands" on the clock face which move around the clock at different rates to tell time. Thus, the more important period for those planets is that relative to the stars, so it seems more likely that the "set time" of the outer planets is their sidereal period. Before considering each of the planets in order, we need to say a word about the celestial yardsticks used to design the solar system intervals. As stated above, the earth's average solar day is taken to be the basic unit. The 7-day week seems to be the principal yardstick of Abraham's Second Truth, concerning the sun-earth-moon system for two reasons. First, both the lunar month and the solar year come out nearly even in weeks, and second, the Enoch and Hebrew calendars are both based on the week. But other intervals appear to be those used when the Lord "laid the foundations of the earth" and of the heavens (Job 38:4).
The Vientena, Trecena and NovenaAbraham's
Third law, which concerns the rest of the solar system, seems
to use other units of time measure than the week. The basic unit
is still the earth's day, but there are three other yardsticks
apparently used for the orbital periods of the planets. Two of
them we have encountered in my earlier articles: the 13-day trecena
and the 20-day vientena of the Native American calendar.[2]
Now it is time to introduce another needed piece of their calendrical
system. The 13-day count was said to refer to the thirteen "Lords
of the Day" but there was also a lesser known 9-day count for
the nine "Lords of the Night" called the novena.[3]
Each day in the novena is assigned a number from 1 to 9 in repeating
succession, similar to how the week can be thought of as an continuous
repetition of days numbered from 1 to 7. These 9 "lords" may have
originally referred to the Moon, Mercury,Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, even as our seven-day week is associated
with the first seven in that series.[4]
Pluto, the other so-called planet, is one of several small bodies
in the solar system which is not a "major planet" and does not
appear to be part of the Lord's timepiece. But even though Neptune
is not visible to the unaided eye, it is definitely one of the
hands on the great celestial clock.
The Merc
All
three of the intervals of the vientena, trecena and novena are
apparently fundamental to the design of the solar system. Moveover,
there are three larger intervals formed by taking pairs of these
three fundamental day counts, two of which are clearly important
in solar system design. The trecena and vientena have their first
days coincide every 13 x 20 = 260 days, forming the sacred round,
which has been discussed at length in my articles relating to
holy days. In this article we will see that several solar system
periods come out even when measured in sacred rounds. Another
important unit is formed when the novena and trecena counts both
begin on the same day. To my knowledge, that 9 x 13 = 117-day
period has not yet been recognized, so I will call it the "merc"
for reasons which will become clear in the next section. It appears
be even more important that the Sacred Round in solar system measurements.
The third period of 9 x 20 = 180 days is doubled to form the 360-day
"prophetic year" of the Mayan long-count,[5]
which does currently not appear to me to be part of solar system
design.
Work in Progress. It is important to note that this entire subject is one of current research and discovery. I have delayed some two decades to publish parts of what is in this article, awaiting further confirmations. The work on Mercury and Venus is now becoming mature, but I have barely scratched the surface for the outer planets. One note that occurs to me as I write this article is that the 9-day count may be more important for the sidereal (night) periods and the 13-day count may be more important for the synodic (day) periods. In fact, I am not even sure of when the first day of a novena occurs, so I tentatively adopt the same one used by the Mayans.[6] Now let us look at each of the planets in order to see how their set times form a set of interlocking intervals, designed according to these yardsticks of the merc and the sacred round. One Planet Above AnotherLet
us now proceed to consider each of the proposed planetary set
times, in order of increasing length, "one planet above another,"
as the Lord told Abraham (Abr. 3:9).
MercuryAfter
the moon, the next shortest planetary period in our solar system
is that of the planet Mercury. The average synodic period of Mercury
over historical times is nearly 116 earth days (115.87754 days[7]),
which is here proposed to be the "set time" of Mercury. It is
because this period nearly equals the above described period of
117-days that I dubbed it the "merc." We will see that in many
ways, the merc is the fundamental unit of time for the solar system.
Because I have already discussed the role of Mercury in some details in my articles, just one example should make it clear that the Lord is using the merc as a unit of measure. The date proposed in my articles for the birth of Christ is Wed 5 Apr 1 BC pm* (after sunset), and for his resurrection is Sun 3 Apr AD 33 am* (before sunrise).[8] That interval between what are arguably the two most important dates in the history of mankind is 12,051 days. In my earlier papers, I have discussed how that interval is equal to exactly 104 cycles of the planet Mercury (104 x 115.8775 = 12,051.26). On the Mercury calendar, both the Savior's birth and Resurrection occurred on the holy day "1 Creation," which is the first day of the Mercury cycle.[9] What has this got to do with the merc? That interval happens also to be exactly equal to 103 mercs (103 x 117 = 12,051). First, this is offered as an indication that the Lord is using the merc as an interval of time measurement. Moreover, it also demonstrates how an interval which is only approximate (such as one Mercury cycle differing by more than a day from a merc) can be made to fit precisely to the very day by dropping or adding an entire cycle when needed (103 mercs = 104 cycles). Venus
The
average synodic period of Venus is its evening and morning star
cycle of nearly 584 days (583.92166 days). Five mercs is equal
to 5 x 117 = 585 days, so, like Mercury, its cycle only differs
from an exact number of mercs by slightly more than a day. Is
that a significant coincidence? After all, we noted in last month's
article that sometimes the ratio of planetary periods occur in
whole numbers, caused by the gravitational effects of one planet
on another.[10]
But that is not the case here. These are the synodic periods
as viewed from the earth, not the periods of revolution
around the sun. Those sun-centered periods are not in any simple
ratio.[11]
Thus, as stated in the last article, the system was designed to
be viewed from the earth, and the simple ratios don't appear in
the sun-centered numbers. Thus, as we see that the set time of
each planet can be measured in whole numbers of mercs or sacred
rounds, it is important to remember that modern astronomers assume
that these periods are essentially random, so the response of
the atheist must be that it is just by chance that these values
come out so close to exact numbers.
Eight Years.Venus, besides having nearly exactly five times the synodic period of Mercury, is also closely tied to the length of the year on earth. The relationship is very simple: there are almost exactly five Venus cycles every eight years. To show the accuracy, note that 8 x 365 days exactly equals 5 x 584 days. The period of eight years also realigns the moon. Thus, if a child is baptized on her eighth birthday on our Gregorian calendar, she will be "reborn" near her birthday on both the Hebrew Calendar, and also the Venus calendar. This relationship is shown in the illustration by gears with 25 teeth for the earth, and 40 for Venus. Forty Years. An excellent realignment interval of all three set times of Mercury, Venus, and the year occurs after forty years. Forty years of 365 days = 25 Venus cycles of 584 days and also completes 126 Mercury cycles. As noted in my previous articles, some of the periods of forty years mentioned in the scriptures apparently occurred when these cycles aligned with the holy days on the Hebrew Calendar.[12] The Venus Calendar. It might be constructive here to note how the cycles of Venus form a miniature of all history, because this again shows the design to the solar system. The period of Venus is about 583 11/12 days, so after 12 cycles, it comes out approximately even: 12 Venus cycles equals nearly exactly 7,007 days. Using the 13-day trecena as the unit of time for the Venus calendar, one can count 11 cycles of exactly five mercs (585 days) each followed by one cycle of 572 days, for a total of 7,007 days. That way, every cycle begins at the start of a trecena. A Miniature of History. It turns out that 7,007 days is exactly seven periods of 1,001 days, each of which is in turn divisible by 7 (1,001 = 7 x 143). Evidence for design is suggested when the intervals divide exactly into units which the Lord seems to prefer. For example, we have been told the temporal existence of the earth will be 7,000 years, or 7 days of the Lord (D&C 77:6). We also know that the Lord divides periods into 12 parts, such as 12 hours in a day (John 11:9) or 12 months in a year. We know that all of history is also divided into 12 "hours" and that we are living in the eleventh hour (Mat. 20:6-9, D.C. 33:3).[13] Thus, the earth's temporal history of 7,000 years is divided into 12 periods, just as are the cycles of Venus. This is the kind of order which argues most strongly that the solar system was created to be a precise timepiece. The atheist can continue to claim that all such alignments are chance coincidences, but such a posture becomes extremely unlikely, and much harder to believe than simply accepting that it was designed. Mars
The
sidereal period of Mars is 687 days (686.99576 days) and the synodic
period is 780 days (779.93651 days). As stated above, the set
time for the inner planets seems clearly to be the synodic period,
and for the outer planets to be the sidereal period. But Mars
is somewhat of a transitional planet, and there are arguments
that the set time of Mars could be either. For the purposes of
this article, and to show the design of the solar system and planetary
progression, let us use the synodic period as the set time of
Mars, but this is only a tentative proposal at this point.
The synodic period of Mars is nearly exactly three sacred rounds of 260 days (3 x 260 = 780), which fact argues strongly for the set time of Mars to be the synodic period. An even the slight discrepancy eventually comes out to be exact. That is, the set time is 779 59/63 days, so after 7 x 9 years, the orbital period comes out to be exact in days. The synodic period of Mars is in a 4:3 ratio with Venus. When the 585-day approximation to Venus' synodic period is used, then it is exact: 3 x 780 = 4 x 585 = 2,340 days. This also is exactly the period on the Mayan calendar when the cycles of the vientena, trecena and novena all realign: 20 x 13 x 9 = 2,340 days. These coincidences add greatly to the arguments for the design of the solar system, as well as supporting the Mayan belief that the solar system was created according to the calendar and not the other way around. JupiterThe
sidereal period of the planet Jupiter is nearly 12 years (11.86
years = 4,332.8486 days). Similarly, the earth's year is about
12 lunar months. The ancient sky was divided into twelve zodiac
constellations, which are like the 12 numbers in fixed positions
on the face of clock. The planets move clockwise in the circle
of these constellations and can be thought of as hands of a clock.
Even as the sun spends about one month in each zodiac constellation,
so also does Jupiter spend about one year in each.
The set time of Jupiter is within four days of being exactly 37 mercs (37 x 117 = 4,329 days). Again, that is surprisingly close to an exact number of mercs for such a large orbit. But the orbital period also comes out even more exactly in sacred rounds: 50 x 260 = 13,000 days, which is three orbits of Jupiter of 4,333.33 days each. So the orbit can be thought of as measure both in mercs and sacred rounds. The merc is an ideal unit for tracking Jupiter. Jupiter's period is a little less than 12 years, so Jupiter spends a little less than a year in each zodiac constellation. Three mercs = 3 x 117 = 351 days, which is also a little less than a year. Thus one could create a calendar on which Jupiter moves to the next constellation in intervals of three mercs. After one full cycle of Jupiter around the twelve constellations of the zodiac, it would have taken 12 x 3 = 36 mercs. At that time one more merc could be inserted for a total of 37 mercs which corrects it to within four days. So the merc is especially well suited to track Jupiter's orbit. Saturn
The sidereal period of Saturn is about 29.5 years (10,764.44 days). As already mentioned in other articles, the Lord has explicitly stated that he sometimes counts one day to a year.[14] The moon's cycle of phases takes approximately 29.5 days, and the orbital period of Saturn is about 29.5 years. Thus, Saturn is counting in years as the moon is counting in days, in the same way that the Lord says he reckons. Taken by itself, it appears to be a chance coincidence, because there is no obvious reason that the moon should be calendrically related to Saturn. The argument against this merely being chance is that there is a long series of such coincidences that form a pattern. The orbital period of Saturn is almost exactly 92 mercs (92 x 117 = 10,764). I shall not attempt to calculate the odds against all these periods being measured so well in mercs, but by this time it appears to be out of the question that it is caused by blind chance.
Uranus
The
sidereal period of Uranus is within 6 days of 118 sacred rounds
(118 x 260 = 30,680). So again, this long period is within a few
days of being an exact number of sacred rounds. But there is something
special about this parti cular
number of sacred rounds.
Years in Sacred Rounds. One can ask, "What number of years most nearly equals an exact number of sacred rounds?" The answer is that 42 years very nearly equals 59 sacred rounds (42 x 365.2425 = 15,340.185 days and 59 x 260 = 15,340 days). Twice that is 84 years, so if one approximates the orbit period of Uranus to be exactly 118 sacred rounds, then one automatically is counting by exactly 84-year periods. Thus we see that even the year comes out even in sacred rounds, and that happens when it exactly matches the orbit of another planet. By this time it is hopefully clear to the reader that both the sacred round and the merc we used in designing the solar system. NeptuneWhen
I began this research it was not obvious to me whether the planet
Neptune should be included as a hand on the celestial clock, because
it is not visible to the unaided eye. But as the work progressed,
it became clear it is to be included. For example, the sidereal
period of Neptune is 164.8 years, or 60,189.4 days. That again
follows the pattern because 60,190 days equals exactly 231.5 sacred
rounds. Thus, Neptune follows the same pattern as the other planets,
in that ALL of the set times are nearly whole number multiples
of only two sacred units of measure, the sacred round and the
merc. The results, with the amazingly small errors are summarized
in Table 1.
Table 1. Planetary "Set Times." All are nearly whole number multiples of either the sacred round of 260 days, or the merc or 117 days. ConjunctionsYesterday,
on Easter Sunday, I was reviewing this article and attempted to
drop Neptune from the presentation, claiming that more research
was necessary. The reason was that I could see no obvious use
for it such as the other planets have. That is, Jupiter moves
through one constellation per year, Saturn counts years as the
moon counts days, and Uranus marks sabbatical years. But as I
tried to delete that section, suddenly my head was flooded with
ideas, one of which I cannot refrain from including.
There is an entire field which I have ignored up until this point, and that is the importance of conjunctions. A conjunction means that two objects are near each other in the sky, such as when a planet passes another planet or a star. In the case of considering planets to be hands on a clock, it means that two of the hands are aligned, pointing in the same direction. On our usual clock, the most important time that occurs is at noon and midnight, because both hands are also pointing at a number. But at the ten other places on the clock where the two hands align, they are not pointing to an exact number, but in between. Thus, I had felt that the times of aligning hands was less important than when they align with a number. I have been postponing any research on conjunctions, but that has just been changed because of Neptune. Uranus-Neptune
One
can calculate that conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune will occur
on the average every 171.393 years (62,599.5 days) [15]
Three reasons suggest that these conjunctions might have been
designed for time reckoning. First, there was a conjunction between
them right at Regulus, the "12 o'clock star,"[16]
just before the "Beginning of Mortality" of the earth.[17]
If that doesn't sound like the two big clock hands at midnight
I don't know what does. Secondly, such a conjunction at that place
is very rare indeed. That is because Neptune has an orbit requiring
164.8 years to get back to that place, in which time Uranus will
have nearly completed two orbits (168 years). Thus they will meet
only a little further away (after 171.4 years), so the place of
the conjunction will still be in the constellation of Leo. It
takes 4,285 years for the conjunctions to cycle through the entire
zodiac to return to Regulus. Thus, these two hands together form
a great long-term time marker. And third, the period between conjunctions
again comes out even in mercs (535 x 117 = 62,595). Thus, one
can reckon by these conjunctions to the very day by counting 535
mercs, and that will have sufficient accuracy for 7,000 years
not to need correction. If the reader is not impressed that the
interval comes out nearly even in mercs, then I suggest an exercise
for the atheist student: Design a clock where not only the periods
for each hand are whole numbers but also the interval of the hands
aligning.
This discovery opens up the field of conjunctions between other planets, and I cannot now refrain from at least a preliminary investigation. After all, if this conjunction interval really was designed, then conjunctions between some other planets should follow the same pattern and also come out even in celestial time units. Jupiter-SaturnJupiter-Saturn
conjunctions have long been considered important time markers.
The period between such conjunctions is about 19.85 years (7,251.81
days).[18]
Checking to see if this period comes out even in celestial units
yields the amazing result that it again does so in mercs: 62 x
117 = 7,254. To me, this makes it clear that the system was designed
with conjunctions of the planets in mind.
Mars-Jupiter
Now I have to check Mars-Jupiter conjunctions and sure enough, we have another winner. They occur every 816.45 days,[19] and 819 days is equal to 7 mercs (7 x 117 = 819). The period of 819 days was already known to me as the period when the 7-day week realigns with the novena and trecena (819 = 7 x 9 x 13), but it had never occurred to me that this period might equal the interval between Mars-Jupiter conjunctions. Table 2 summarizes these results.
ConclusionAbraham's
Third Truth states that the set times of the planets form a succession
of increasing periods which were designed to reckon time. The
results of this article show that the periods of the planets all
are nearly whole numbers of either of two different celestial
measures: the sacred round of 260 days or the "merc," defined
herein to be 117 days. Both of those units are derived from the
Native American calendar. Moreover, it was also discovered that
at least three pairs of planets have conjunction intervals of
whole numbers of mercs. Until now it has been assumed by astronomers
that these periods have been essentially random numbers. To have
so many of them be multiples of the merc and sacred round strongly
indicates that the solar system was designed to reckon time. Moreover,
the Native American tradition is vindicated that the solar system
was designed to fit their calendar rather than vice versa. Future
astronomers may come to view the Book of Abraham as unlocking
the key to the design of the solar system.
Notes
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