CHAPTER VII
SIGNS OF THE COMING MANIFESTATION IN THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE HEAVENS
"With regard to the spiritual influence of the stars, though this influence of starsin the human world may appear strange, still, if you reflect deeply upon thissubject, you will not be so much surprised at it...I mean that this limitlessuniverse is like the human body, all the members of which are connected and linkedwith one another with the greatest strength...the parts of this infinite universe have their members and elements connected with one another, and influence one anotherspiritually and materially." Abdu’l-Baha in Some Answered Questions, LXIX
Christians often speak of the ‘star’ which appeared in the heavens prior to the appearance His Holiness Jesus Christ. I cannot recall ever hearing any Baha’i speak of the Signs om the visible heaven that heralded the appearances of the Bab and Baha’u’llah , although one did speak of a comet, which is not an unusual event, and as you see in the quotation below, Baha’u’llah speaks of a ‘star’ being discovered. Three major planets in the solar system were discovered during this time, with a most astonishing relationship, as we shall see. In the Kitab-i-Iqan (pp. 61-66) Baha’u’llah discussed at length the question of ‘stars’ appearing in the visible and invisible heavens prior to the coming of a Manifestation.
:And now, concerning His words: ‘ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in the heaven,’ by these words is meant that when the sun of the heavenly teachings hath been eclipsed, the stars of the divinely-established laws have fallen, and the moon of true knowledge—the educator of mankind—hath been obscured: when the standards of guidance and felicity have been reversed, and the morn of truth and righteousness hath sunk in night, then shall the sign of the Son of man appear in heaven. By ‘heaven’ is meant the visible heaven. inasmuch as when the hour draweth nigh on which the Day-Star of the heaven of justice shall be made manifest, and the Ark of divine guidance shall sail upon the sea of glory, a star shall appear in the heaven, heralding unto its people the advent of that most great light. In like manner, in the invisible heaven a star shall be made manifest who, unto the peoples of the earth, shall act as a harbinger of the break of that true and exalted Morn. These twofold signs, in the visible and invisible heaven, have announced the revelation of each of the Prophets of God, as is commonly believed.’
‘Among the Prophets was Abraham, the Friend of God. Ere He manifested Himself, Nimrod dreamed a dream. Thereupon, he summoned the soothsayers, who informed him of a star in the heaven. Likewise there appeared a herald who announced throughout the land the coming of Abraham. ‘
After Him came Moses. He Who held converse with God. The soothsayers of His time warned Pharaoh in these terms: ‘A star hath risen in the heaven, and lo! it foreshadoweth the conception of a Child Who holdeth your fate and the fate of your people in His hand.’ In like manner, there appeared a sage, who, in the darkness of the night, brought tidings of joy unto the people of Israel, imparting consolation to their souls, and assurance to their hearts. To this testify the records of the sacred books...In like manner, when the hour of the Revelation of Jesus drew nigh, a few of the Magi, aware that the star of Jesus had appeared in heaven, sought and followed it, till they came unto the city which was the seat of the Kingdom of Herod. The sway of his sovereignty in those days embraced the whole of that land.’
‘These Magi said: ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship Him!’ When they had searched, they found out that in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, the Child had been born. This was the signthat was manifested in the visible heaven. As to the sign in the invisible heaven—it was Yahya, son of Zachariah, who gave the people the tidings of the Manifestation of Jesus...Moreover, in the heavenly Scriptures it is written: ‘John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ By John is meant Yahya."
" Likewise, ere the beauty of Muhammad was unveiled, the signs of the visible heaven were made manifest. As to the signs of the invisible heaven, there appeared four men who successively announced unto the people the joyful tidings of the divine Luminary..."
" And now concerning this wondrous and most exalted Cause. Know thou verily that many an astronomer hath announced the appearance of its star in the visible heaven. Likewise, there appeared on earth Ahmad and Kazim, those twin resplendent lights—may God sanctify their resting place!"
" From all that We have stated it hath become clear and manifest that before the revelation of each of the Mirrors reflecting the divine Essence, the signs heralding their advent must needs be revealed in the visible heaven as well as in the invisible, wherein is the seat of the sun of knowledge, of the moon of wisdom, and of the stars of understanding and utterance. The signs of the invisible heaven must needs be revealed in the person of that perfect man who, before each Manifestation appeareth, educateth, and prepareth the souls of men for the advent of the divine Luminary, the Light of the unity of God amongst men." Baha’u’llah in the Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 61-66
Carl Jung, the psychologist, observed that in creation there is a certain ‘synchronicity’ apparent in events, and this isespecially true of the signs in the visible heaven that occur at the time of the Manifestations of God. As Abdu’l-Baha said, this is because the entire universe is interrelated, physically and spiritually, it is the natural order of God’s creation.
Three new planets were discovered in the last 200 Years. and these planets have a special and a most extraordinary relationship. Before the coming of the Blessed Bab, in 1781, 63 years (7 x 9) before His Declaration, the planet Uranus was discovered. Before the advent of Baha’u’llah, the planet Neptune was discovered in 1846, 6 years before He began His Mission in 1852, and 19 years before His public announcement in Adrianople.. In 1930, the ninth planet of the solar system, Pluto, the planet of the final Manifestation of the Revelation of the Greatest Name, was discovered.
Although nothing in creation seems to have exact numerical relationships according to our human system of mathematics, the numerical relationships of these three planets are almost exact even by that system. As you will see, the numbers 9 and 19 which are apparently so important in God’s Cause, come up repeatedly in these relationships between the three planets.
URANUS, the planet of the Bab, is 19 astronomical units from the Sun (an astronomical unit is the distance of the Earth from the Sun). URANUS revolves around the Sun every 9.15 x 9.15 years.
NEPTUNE, the planet of Baha’u’llah, and URANUS go into conjunction every 9 x 19 years(171 years), and the last conjunction occurred in 1993 (which is composed of the numbers 19, 9 and 3 which are significant in this Cause). This conjunction began on the 100th anniversary of the Ascension of Baha’u’llah (May 1992) and reached full conjunction in January 1993.
PLUTO, the planet of the third Letter of the Greatest name, is the ninth planet of our solar system (as far as we know at present). As we have seen, nine is symbolic of Divine perfection and the completion of the Greatest Name. The orbit of PLUTO is 13x19 years.
The 1-2-3 relationship of the orbits of these three planets is unique in our solar system. The orbit of URANUS takes about 84 years to complete, that of NEPTUNE takes twice that time, and the orbit of PLUTO takes three times as long. The NEPTUNE-PLUTO conjunctions occur every 492 years, (about 26x19) and the last conjunction occurred in 1892. the Year of the Ascension of Baha’u’llah
PLUTO went inside the orbit of NEPTUNE in 1979 and will remain there until the completion of 19 years, having reached its closest point to the Sun in 1989, and then re-emerging from inside the orbit of NEPTUNE just 9 years later! PLUTO was at its aphelion in 1865, which is the time (according to E.G. Browne) of the first public declaration of the Mission of Baha’u’llah in Adrianople.
The prophecy of Siyyid Kazim (from the Traditions of Muhammad and the Imams) which foretells the coming of the Manifestations of the Bab and 8aha’u’llah, tells us that after Baha’u’llah (Husayn in the prophecy), comes the time of Ali. Since Ali was the successor of Muhammad, this refers to the time of Abdu’l-Baha. Then, after the time of Abdu’l-Baha, it speaks of a time of 40 ‘nights’. In spiritual terms, the word ‘night’ indicates a time without a Sign of God being known to mankind on earth, and since this did not occur until the passing of Shoghi Effendi, that 40 year period begins in 1957, and ends in 1997. Muhammad refers to this period as a time when the Devil is let loose on earth. PLUTO emerges from inside the orbit of NEPTUNE in 1998, immediately following the end of the 40 years. AT THAT TIME, ACCORDING TO BOTH MUSLIM HADITH AND SIYYID KAZIM’S PROPHECY, MUHAMMADWILL APPEAR AND RESCUE THE FAITHFUL. Of course this refers to the return of the Holy Spirit in a Manifestation of God. These prophecies are fully in accord with those of Baha’u’llah, which we will discuss in more detail later. (See diagram in Appendix showing the orbit of Pluto)
"Oppression will envelop the world, and following a universal convulsion the sun of justice will rise from the horizon of the unseen realm." Baha’u’llah cited in Promised Day is Come, p. 121, 1976 India ed.
"...when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which will cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then and only then will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody." Baha’u’llah in Gleanings, p.118