The Scales of Justice

After the harvest the sun moves from Virgo into Libra, the Scales. (September). These are the "Scales of Justice." The harvest has been gathered, it is now time to sell the harvest. Scales are used in buying and selling the harvest. At the end of harvest time, when there is nothing left to sell, the money changers pack up and leave. The Bible says, “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers.” (Mark 11:12-19; Matthew 21:12) Jesus, the sun, representing the passage of time, moves out of Libra, the Scales of Justice, and the money changers pack up and leave, because the season has passed and they are finished selling the harvest.

As we enter the season of Autumn the leaves fall from the trees and the trees appear to wither. It is at this point in the story that Jesus is said to curse the fig tree and make it wither, a story which makes no sense if Jesus were a real person, but it makes perfect sense when understood as an allegory. It is simply Autumn, and Jesus, the sun, who makes the seasons pass, causes the leaves to fall from the trees (Mark 11:20-25; Matthew 21:18-22)

In the Jesus story we then have the Last Supper, where Jesus and his twelve disciples, a reference to the twelve zodiac months of the year, recline and eat the harvest. (Mark 14:12-26; Matthew 26:17-30; Luke 22:7-38) This is the natural time of year to have a huge feast. In America we celebrate Thanksgiving and have a huge feast of food. We eat the flesh of the fruit—figuratively the flesh of Jesus, who personifies the sun which make the fruit grow; and we drink wine—the blood of the grapes, figuratively the blood of Jesus, who personifies the sun which made the grapes grow. Without this food we would perish.

Note that food and drink are literally the elements which sustains life. When we participate in the Communion ritual in church we eat bread, figuratively the body of Jesus, and drink wine (or grape juice), figuratively the blood of Jesus, because food and drink are literally the elements which sustains life. It is the sun which makes plants grow so we can have food to eat and wine to drink. We personify the sun as Jesus and then give thanks to Jesus (the sun) for our food and drink. The harvest is our salvation.

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