I am very connected to the zodiac and was wondering if there is a link between the stars and the timing of Passover. I have also noticed that the Seder always coincides with the full moon. What is the significance of all this?
Answer:
There is indeed deep astrological significance to the date of Passover. We celebrate the festival of freedom on the 15th of the Jewish month of Nissan, the night the Israelites were freed from Egypt. This is the full moon of the month of Aries, the ram.
The Egyptians worshipped the ram as a god. Aries is the leader of the star signs, the first and most powerful, and the Egyptians saw themselves as the leaders of the world, receiving their strength and fortitude from their god, the ram.
So the strongest time for the Egyptians would have been the month of Aries, when their god is ascendant, and the strongest day of that month would be its full moon.
Egyptian power would reach its zenith on the 15th of Nissan, and that is exactly when the Israelites left Egypt. Aries was rendered impotent at its very moment of strength.
But there's more. The Israelites ate a festive meal on the night before the exodus, and the main course was lamb roasted on a spit. They were openly eating the Egyptian deity—the ram—in front of the Egyptians, under the full moon of the strongest month, and they got away with it.
The message is unmistakable. The world is not run by capricious forces and amoral star signs. There is a G‑d who rules heaven and earth, who cares for the innocent and exacts justice upon the corrupt. To the stars, our actions make no difference. To G‑d, our actions matter tremendously. The zodiac demands nothing from us. G‑d, however, demands we live a life of goodness.1
The Israelites themselves didn't always get this message. After the Exodus, some in the Israelite camp suggested that while the ram of Egypt (Aries) had indeed been trumped, it was not G‑d's doing, rather the next star sign, Taurus the bull, who had beaten Aries. And so they built the Golden Calf—an idol honoring Taurus. It's tempting to fall back on idolatrous beliefs because they relieve us of responsibility. But they also rob us of our freedom.2
Passover celebrates not only the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery, but also freedom from being bound by destiny. Our lives are not subject to the impersonal forces of the zodiac. We are free to rise above the limitations of fate and conquer our birth signs. Your fortunes may predict one course for your life, but you are free to create another. This idea was brought home on the night of the full moon of Aries.
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