Featured Teachers of the Mazzaroth - Part 3

Frances Rolleston

As I shared in my prior two blogs, both Mazzaroth teachers Joseph Seiss and Ethelbert Bullinger credited a lady named Frances Rolleston as being the one who first introduced  them to the Mazzaroth. Thus, today, it is fitting that I do a special feature on Frances Rolleston herself (pictured below).

Frances Rolleston is known almost exclusively for her book Mazzaroth: the Constellations.  But she was not only a Bible student and teacher of  Biblical Astronomy, Ms. Rolleston was also caring Christian lady who did much to help the needy in her sphere of influence. 

Jane Poole, author of a biography on Frances Rolleston wrote the following about her:

What kind of woman perseveres for fifty years to produce one book? A woman convinced of its value to the world. Indeed, that book, Mazzaroth: The Constellations, has continued more than 150 years as an important resource on the names of the stars and their meanings... 

Frances Rolleston (was an) anti-slavery activist, pioneer of infant schools, painter, poet, linguist, and member of a prominent family. She rubbed shoulders with men of science and letters, kept abreast of developments in astronomy and geology, nursed cholera sufferers, and gave to the relief of famine victims so generously as to imperil her own financial well-being. She was a woman of compassion and intelligence who refused to fit into the role expected of a Victorian woman and who triumphed through faith and perseverance. 

After her passing, Frances' letters were collected and edited by her friend Caroline Dent. That rich resource is the source for (Rolleston's) life story.

Jane S. Poole, Frances Rolleston: British Lady, Scholar and Writer of Mazzaroth

Because of her tireless efforts to help the needy, a memorial fountain to Frances Rolleston was placed in Keswick in 1865, the year after death.

In her book, Frances explains how the ancients knew the constellations, and how they glorified God. She wrote:

Whatever age... these names (of the stars and constellations) are mentioned as of familiar objects, great works of God, which He alone can bring forth in their season. They were from of old, ancient even when spoken of in this most ancient record (the Bible). 

Sir W. Drummond writes in 1824: "The fact is certain, that at some remote period there were mathematicians and astronomers who knew that the sun is in the centre of our system, and that the earth, itself a planet, revolves round it," 

...He also says: "Origen tells us that it was asserted in the book of Enoch, that in the time of that patriarch (Enoch) the constellations were already named and divided." Origen is thought to allude to a book of Enoch, (but it is) not that (book of Enoch which is) now known as such.

From what I can find, it appears that Frances Rolleston was the first person, in more modern times, to resurrect the study of the stars. Indeed it also appears that since the time of Ptolemy's Amalagist, God's people had lost interest in the stars. Thus, the heavens seemed to be silent from the early AD's to the 1800's...  At which time, a humble, French woman brought the truth of the stars to light once again. And in so doing, she inspired the writing of two books, which came out in the late 1800's - one by Seiss, and the other by Bullinger.

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For more information about the Mazzaroth (God's constellation tapestry) and His Messages in the 48 original constellations, request your own copy of Shauna Manfredine's book, God's Amazing Star Secret (book trailer).

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In her presentation(s), Shauna shows the meaning of Psalm 19:1-4 and the original names of the stars based upon earth's first recorded language(s). She shows archaeological evidence of the original constellations and the amazing connection between the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 primary constellations. And she explains the Plan of Redemption in the original star and constellation names. More information...