"The Planets are Evil"
A Look at a Fringe yet Ancient Belief
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The Ancient Belief that the Planets are Evil
The Interpreter
During my first deployment to Afghanistan, one night I was standing on a ridge with my Afghan-American translator. We were gazing up at even higher mountains in the distance. A ruin was barely visible. That decrepit wall and husk of a building were once an observatory of the Ghaznavid Empire.
The Ghaznavids were ethnic Turkic but culturally Persian, ruling an empire around A.D. 1000 from western Iran to parts of India, with the capital in modern day Afghanistan. The empire’s most famous scientist, al-Biruni, is considered the founder of modern geodesy - the science of measuring the Earth - and the first astronomer to combine Indian, Islamic, and Greek astronomical thought into one. In his writings, he wrote how the science of astronomy was separate from the superstition of astrology; and his work helped perfect how praying Muslims worldwide determined the direction to Mecca.
So when I asked my interpreter what the local names for the constellations were, I was surprised that the response I got was, “No. We don’t look at the stars. That’s old women stuff.” When I inquired what he meant, he explained to me that “old women” would look at the stars to tell fortunes. The empire of science had fallen into the realm of superstition. It was another point of the decay of Afghanistan.
However, I later found out that some ancient cultures had beliefs beyond astrology about evil in the sky. Some of those cultures survive to this day, whether in their original group or through fringe theories. Among these beliefs is the idea that the planets themselves are evil.
The Ancient Israelites and the books of Enoch’s Prison Planets
The Book of Enoch has been surging in popularity with those who have overlapping interests in UFOs and fundamentalist Protestantism. These people believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, the Bible being eternal as a living corpus vice an agreed upon canon, and ancient aliens-like ideas of human and alien/fallen angel hybrids.
The book - which only the Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox claim as scripture and even then not in a literal form - itself dates from around 200 BC, though it claims to be thousands upon thousands of years old and written by the great-grandfather of Noah, the ark builder. One of the first parts of the book deal with fallen angels having children with humans, making a race known as Nephilim, who were described in the Book of Genesis as “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4, Revised Standard Version).
Despite modern fringe groups’ significant focus on the Nephilim, the Book of Enoch includes astronomical statements. According to the book, God arranged the stars in constellations, overseen by celestial beings who direct their movement across the heavens. God uses the angel-led stars to mark time. Everything in the heavens that is ordered is godly.
Not so the planets, which ancients realized were something else because they moved differently from the “other” stars. The Book of Enoch’s author did not like how planets broke the orderly universe. These seven stars - the seven visible planets - are described in the book’s chapter 18.
I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, The angel said: ‘This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) for ten thousand years.’
The Book of Enoch depicts the planets as prisons for fallen angels and also a spiritual creature and/or angel itself that has sinned against God.
This ancient belief that the planets are either prisons for fallen angels or a sort of fallen angel itself has made its way to TikTok.
Interestingly enough, there is a Second Book of Enoch, written around AD 800. It features a classical understanding of the solar system and universe, to the point that God in the book uses the names of Roman gods for the planets. Meanwhile, the book lacks mention of the Nephilim. No modern day conspiracy theories seem based on the Second Book of Enoch.
The Mandaeans and the Evil Holy Spirit’s Children
From the swamps of southern Iraq to the diaspora in Australia, Sweden, and the United States, there is an ethnic group known as the Mandaeans. While there are competing theories of their origin, the leading one involves a group leaving Judah around AD 50 and settling in Iraq.
Their religion is fascinating as it is the closest living Gnostic rival to orthodox Christianity. The religion honors Adam, Noah, and John the Baptist as prophets. Abraham, the founder of the Jewish people, is viewed as a Mandaean priest who became a false prophet because of his claims that God commanded circumcision. However, the true hatred in the religion is aimed at Jesus. Mandaeans view Jesus as a person who tried to worm his way into the divine’s favor after the universe’s true evil seduced him. Mandaeans further claim John the Baptist denounced Jesus, and since then there has been a rivalry between the faiths.
In Mandaeism, God is referred to as the Hayyi Rabbi, aka The Great Life or King of Light. However, in the vast league of evil there is Ruha d-Qudsha - literally “Holy Spirit” - who is a female spirit who uses false prophets such as Jesus to lead people astray. Ruha also started mankind’s fall by seducing Adam in the Garden of Evil.
Ruha entered an incestuous union with her demon son who rules the underworld and gave birth to the planets. The planets form her entourage and are demons that govern the days of the week, impose fate, death, and astrological influences on man.
The Mandaean solar system is below
Sun - Rules Sundays - Mixed, long story horribly shortened is the Sun is a representation of Hayyi Rabbi’s life-giving light, but the Jewish God also made a physical sun to compete with Hayyi Rabbi.
Moon - Rules Mondays - Miscarriages, abnormal births, and imperfections.
Mars - Rules Tuesdays - War.
Mercury - Rules Wednesdays - Knowledege, supports Jesus.
Jupiter - Rules Thursday - Malevolent authority.
Venus (sometimes Ruha herself, sometimes her daughter Libat) - Rules Fridays - Evil seduction.
Saturn - Rules Saturdays - Restrictive fate, supports Jews.
Esoteric Christianity: Christianity Plus Magic Equals Evil Planets
There is a trend among some Christians to hold esoteric beliefs. These people combine traditional Christianity with a grab bag of ideas ranging from ancient magic to astrology to mystical Judaism and much more. As there is no one Esoteric Christian set of beliefs, I will sum up a particular set as stated by an Esoteric Christian who uses the pen name Ioannis Goldmouth.
In Goldmouth’s cosmology, planets are not merely inert celestial bodies but can be potentially malevolent entities intertwined with ancient cosmology, divine order, and demonic influences.
CORRECTION: I will keep the above statement as a record of where I am wrong. Goldmouth was kind enough to offer this correction to my statement. “Although I will say that my article was slightly misrepresented. I do not believe the stars or planets themselves are necessarily malevolent deities. I believe the stars themselves are physical conduits for both good and bad spirits, sort of like an “angelic ZIP code.” I believe that all of creation, including the celestial bodies, is inherently good because God created it. In fact, the Church actually condemns the notion that the stars and planets are imprisoned spirits as a heresy.
He writes how in ancient Greek thought, planets embodied harmonious orbits that mirrored divine reason and mathematical laws; they served as “secondary gods” or living creatures with souls, crafted by the divine to bridge the earthly realm with higher divine spheres.
In Christianity, these planets form part of the host of heaven, conscious beings capable of willful obedience to God, as evidenced by biblical events like the Sun and Moon halting during Joshua’s battle, aligning with Orthodox interpretations of them as celestial intelligences akin to angels.
However, in the medieval magic book known as the Testament of Solomon, where demons like Onoskelis are linked to planets such as Saturn, planets can be intermediaries for spiritual entities, with occult rituals done according to planetary orbits to summon demons.
Extending the present, Goldsmith ties this in with UFOs and “aliens,” stating phenomena like falling stars or orbs are demonic manifestations tied to these planet spirits. Goldsmith states Christians should be vigilant against “aliens” coming from planets that are ruled by demons.
Podcast Update
This past weekend I interviewed fellow science fiction author Schalk Holloway about the recent waves of End Times prophesies. While critical thinking skills were used in taking down the false prophets of doom, it goes heavily into a Christian point of view - me being a Catholic and Schalk being active in a Pentecostal network in South Africa. I didn’t send it out via email because it is more religious than science fiction, but for those interested you can watch or listen below.
Other Independent Book Promotions
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Unit Next Time
Next time, I will start the two part short story series based on this topic: Captain Bolide and the Evil Planet!
As always, please leave a comment with any questions, reviews, thoughts, whatever about Fallen, Risen, Dormition, An Odd Pilgrimage, The Savannah Paranormal Detective Agency or whatever else I have discussed. I promise to reply!
I wasn't aware of this type of... "creencias", sorry 🤭.
Very interesting article! Although I will say that my article was slightly misrepresented. I do not believe the stars or planets themselves are necessarily malevolent deities. I believe the stars themselves are physical conduits for both good and bad spirits, sort of like an “angelic ZIP code.” I believe that all of creation, including the celestial bodies, is inherently good because God created it. In fact, the Church actually condemns the notion that the stars and planets are imprisoned spirits as a heresy.