3-Step Guide to Market Timing via Astro Cycles | Bradley F. Cowan

If you have ever been curious about how planetary cycles can be used to forecast market trends, but gave up after looking at the astrology books, you are not alone. All those strange symbols and terminology like orbs, houses, rulerships, and transits can be very intimidating. And most people do not want to spend years getting a PhD in Astrology to find a reliable indicator of trend duration.

Figure 1: DJIA Weekly Performance Relative to 30° Heliocentric Saturn-Uranus Movements.

Commencing from the June 13, 1949, major market low.

Like most traders using astro techniques, I started with the classical approach, but soon discovered that by applying a few simple rules you can forecast the timing of market turns quite accurately without needing to know all the details of astrology textbooks. Simply stated, all you need to do is follow a 3-step process:

 

1. Find a clearly identifiable top or bottom on a chart. 
2. Find locations of planets on that date. (Software does this for you.) 
3. Make time projections by adding multiples of 30 degrees to locations in (2). (Software does this for you.) 

Where this technique differs from classical Astrology is that I do not care what the angles between the planets are at the tops or bottoms, just the distance they travel between two turning points. Classical Astrology tells us to expect changes when two planets are at certain predefined angles of separation. Traditionally, these are 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 180 degrees. But it seemed a bit arrogant to me to be telling God that he should do something on our schedule. So I looked instead at what the market was telling us, at where the planets are at the tops and bottoms and use THAT angle as our starting point, regardless of its value.

It's really a simple process that I have successfully applied to my trading for more than 20 years. As an example, we will look at a compressed weekly chart of the DJIA from 1949 to 1975, shown in Figure 1. Applying the 3-step process:

■ Step 1: Find a major bottom or top. Anytime after 1950 the bottom in 1949 [June 13, 1949] would have been easy to identify as a major bottom, so that will be used as our starting point.
■ Step 2: Find the locations of the planets at the date in Step 1 [On June 13, 1949, Saturn was at 156.72° and Uranus at 90.62° heliocentric ecliptic longitude, placing them 66.10° apart.] A book called an ephemeris can be used to find the locations of the planets, or there are several software programs that will do the same much faster. All calculations, projections, and charts in this article were made using the software CycleTimer. Because this is a long-term weekly chart, the major cycles will correspond with the 3 slower moving outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. If we were working with a daily chart then the faster inner planets, Mars, Venus, Mercury would be used. Experience has taught that most markets have a strong cycle closely correlated with the heliocentric (viewed from the sun) movement of Saturn relative to Uranus. CycleTimer shows that at the bottom in 1949 the location of Saturn was 66 degrees from Uranus, so that is the cycle origin from which our future cycle dates are projected.
■ Step 3: Add 30, 60, 90, etc. degrees to the location in Step 2 (66 degrees). Adding 30-degree increments to 66 produces 96, 126, 156, etc. [see table below]. CycleTimer calculates and plots in Figure 1 the dates that Saturn and Uranus were separated by these angles. Six instances of this cycle are shown, or a full 180 degrees. You can see that this cycle closely corresponded with major bottoms at every instance.

Classical Astrological techniques do not identify this cycle because it does not coincide with their predefined angles of 60, 90, 120, and 150 degrees. To improve the probability that your cycles projected into the future are accurate, be sure that at least three instances have occurred in your historical data, not including the starting point. If you have less than three occurrences of the cycle move your starting point back in time until you have at least three. And more importantly, be sure that you have no more than one or two "false positives", that is, a cycle that arrives with no significant trend change. If you follow these rules you will have a high probability that your projected cycle dates will be correct and you can expect a reversal of trend very near that date.

 

Figure 2.A:  90-Degrees heliocentric movements of Mars relative to Uranus in DJIA (weekly bars).

 

Figure 2 shows an example of how I used this 3-step technique to make a real-time forecast in October 2001 for a trend reversal in February 8. Part A (above) is a copy of the chart I posted on the discussion group at HarmonicTiming.com in October 2001 and is available in their archives. Part B (below) shows how the forecast turned out. This cycle uses heliocentric 90-degree movements of Mars relative to Uranus. 

 

Figure 2.B: Daily chart shows the forecast based on Mars-Uranus cycle was accurate to the day.

  

Following the 3-step process and using a cycle start date at the low of November 1997, produces a cycle where all eight recurrences coincided with significant market turns. Therefore, there was a high probability that the next recurrence in the future would also mark a turn. Figure 2.B shows what happened. On February 8 the DJIA bottomed and began an advance of 1100 points, or 11%, in one month. This is another cycle that classical Astrologers would have missed because the angles between Mars and Uranus for this cycle are 7, 83, 173 degrees, which are not any of the classical predefined angles.

Nesting Cycles Amplify Their Net Effect

When you gain more experience using this technique you will be able to watch more than one cycle at a time, which makes sense because there are more than two planets in the Solar System. These multiple cycles can either interfere with each other if they arrive at different times, or reinforce each other if they arrive at the same time. If two or more cycles bottom closely together (nest) they reinforce each other and their net effect is amplified. This results in a sharp panicky sell off followed by a quick recovery producing a "V" or "trauma" bottom.

 

Figure 3: Two cycles arriving simultaneously allowed this forecast to be made one year in advance.

 

Figure 3 shows how I used the technique of nesting cycles to accurately forecast almost one year in advance the June-July 2002 sell off and bottom in stocks. This chart was also posted in the discussion group at HarmonicTiming.com in October 2001 and is available in their archives. To keep the technique simple the cycle start dates were taken out of the textbook Four-Dimensional Stock Market Structures And Cycles and extrapolated into the future using CycleTimer software. The entire projection process took less than one minute.

The Saturn-Uranus cycle we studied earlier during the 1949-1975 period is again used with the origin set at the major low of November 1994. The second cycle is another that has historically produced reliable results, the movement of Jupiter relative to Uranus, or the Jupiter-Uranus cycle. The crash low of October 1987 was used for the origin of the Jupiter-Uranus cycle because it has produced a cycle that has repeated dependably for the last 15 years. When CycleTimer projected these two cycles into the future it showed them nesting (arriving at the same time) in late June-July producing a warning that this was a very high-risk time. The position trader would liquidate any remaining long positions he had before this high-risk time arrived and wait out the storm [...].

Works For Daytrading Too

Daytraders can use the same 3-step technique on intraday data. The major difference between intraday timing and end-of-day is that intraday uses the rotation of the Earth instead of the orbits of the planets. This increases the complexity a little bit because you not only want to watch the smaller cycles but the larger ones as well. A few small cycles arriving intraday will not affect the market much if it is in a strong trend caused by a large cycle. So work with the larger cycles first before moving into intraday. Future articles will focus on intraday timing techniques [which were never published]. 

 

Quoted from:

Bradley F. Cowan (2003) - Astro Cycles Provide a New Approach to an Old Science. 

In: Traders World Magazine, Spring, 2003 (Issue #35).  

 

30-Degrees heliocentric movements of Saturn relative to Uranus from June 13, 1949 through February 8, 2049. [Note: This calculation of the 30-degree heliocentric ecliptic longitude separations differ from the dates and values provided by Cowan.] 

 

Cowan's cube projection methodology.

See also:

Bradley F. Cowan’s Forecasting Record 2015-2025. 

Bradley F. Cowan (February 12, 2026) - Heliocentric Uranus Cycle and American War (2026-2033).

Bradley F. Cowan (2009) - Pentagonal Time Cycle Theory. 

Bradley F. Cowan (1993) - Four Dimensional Stock Market Structures and Cycles. Volumes I & II. 

Malcolm G. Bucholtz (December 21, 2025) - My Conversion to Heliocentric Financial Astrology.
Malcolm G. Bucholtz (September 20, 2025) - Heliocentric Planetary Events and Financial Markets.

S&P 500: Hurst 10-Day Cycle Low Set to Hit Friday's CPI News Release

S&P 500 (3 hour candles): 10-Day cycle (currently ≈7.6 days) low due Friday, February 13 (CPI News Release).

 

 Nicolas Savino update, February 12.

 

See also:

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (January 27, 2026) - February Stock Market Performance in Midterm Election Years.

Russia and Western Man | Walter Schubart

Walter Schubart (1897–1942), a German jurist and cultural philosopher, occupied a singular position in the intellectual history of the mid-twentieth century. Forced to emigrate from Germany to Riga, Latvia, in 1933 to escape the rising tide of National Socialism, he experienced a profound cultural and spiritual transformation, eventually converting to Russian Orthodoxy and marrying a Russian woman. This intimate immersion into the Slavic spirit, combined with his academic post at the Latvian State University, allowed him to write with a depth that transcended mere observation, culminating in his 1938 masterpiece, "Russia and Western Man." Although he perished in a Soviet labor camp in 1942, his philosophy remains a cornerstone for understanding the metaphysical divide between the West and the East. In this work, Schubart presents a cultural-philosophical analysis based on "aeonic prototypes"—spiritual forms that determine the character of different eras—primarily contrasting the Promethean man of the West with the Messianic or Saintly man of the East.

 

» Our destiny is universality, won not by the sword, but by the strength

of brotherhood and our fraternal aspiration to reunite mankind. «
Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1880. 

 

The Messianic Soul and the Character of the Russian Man

Schubart characterizes the Russian soul through its inherent drive toward spiritual unity and the archetype of the Messianic man. Unlike the Westerner, the Russian finds their greatest happiness in sacrifice, perpetually striving toward an all-embracing unity that seeks to embody the concept of universal humanity in flesh and blood. This soul seeks not to complete itself or to take from others, but to give and to offer itself lavishly, aiming for the bliss of becoming immersed in the "All" (p. 182). This spiritual orientation is underpinned by a profound humility that the Western mind often confuses with humiliation. For the Russian, humility is an essential step toward freedom because it relates the individual to God, whereas the European, bound by earthly perceptions, sees it as the mark of a slave (p. 153).

 

Furthermore, the Russian’s relationship to time is dictated by a sense of eternity that precludes the frantic pace of the West. Because the Russian feels themselves to be an eternal being, they are never troubled by the consuming fear of missing out or the pressure of a daily workload; they believe they have unlimited time. This allows Russian life to flow leisurely in a state where the "pure present" belongs to the individual (p. 151). This internal landscape fosters a sense of brotherly love where humans are united by their shared humanity rather than by common political or economic aims. Schubart notes that while Europeans are united by common goals, Russians are united by their souls, serving their fellow men directly out of love rather than a cold sense of duty (p. 176).

 

» Up to now, Europe has been Russia's misfortune—may the future prove Russia to be Europe's salvation! «
Walter Schubart (p. 275). 

 

The Promethean Spirit and the Will of Western Man

In stark contrast, Schubart defines the Westerner as the Promethean man, an individual driven by a primitive fear that necessitates a will to power and the imposition of order upon a world viewed as chaos. For this heroic type, the world is a landscape into which it is his mission to bring form, and he himself supplies the universe with its only purpose (p. 14). To combat the internal specter of fear, the Promethean man relies on a domineering intellect that demands an icy clarity, treating emotions like well-behaved horses to be held in traces and refusing to tolerate daydreams or emotional suspension (p. 16).

 

This mindset views religious knowledge as a lower form of understanding and instead praises technology as the ultimate tool to eliminate chance and miracle from the world. Promethean man attempts to reduce the irrational to the comprehensive, seeking to fathom the secrets of nature primarily to rule the world. Consequently, generations have emerged in the West who are ashamed of the idea of God and regard the development of atheism as a sign of progress.

 

» The Englishman desires to exploit his neighbor, the Frenchman to impress him, 

the German to command him—only the Russian desires nothing from him. «
Walter Schubart (p. 299). 

 

The Cultural Conflict and the End of the European Period

The conflict between these two types manifests in their fundamental goals for culture and society. While the final goal of Western culture is middle-class comfort and the regulation of the world through rigid legal systems, the Russian culture is driven by an urge to sacrifice itself in a final dramatic scene (p. 143, 191). The Russian perspective lacks a Western legal sense, viewing law as something that should eventually be rendered superfluous by religion—a concept that the modern Westerner, who has made an idol of the state, fails to comprehend (p. 191). Similarly, the concept of property differs; while the Westerner’s heart beats faster at the sight of his possessions, the Russian often suffers twinges of conscience, feeling that property owns the person rather than the person owning the property (p. 194).

 

Schubart argues that the "European period" in Russia, which began with Peter the Great’s attempts to impose Western rationalism and state supremacy over the Church, has finally reached its conclusion. He posits that the Bolshevik Revolution ironically accelerated this end by liquidating the social upper class that acted as the primary carrier for Western influence. By barricading Russia from Europe, the revolutionary era forced the nation back upon itself, marking the beginning of an "Asiatic era" where Russia is striving to overcome the influence of Promethean culture on its soil (p. 13-14). This shift represents a return to the Russian roots that had been suppressed for two centuries by a "Western crust."

 

» The Russians, as indeed all Slavs, have the passion for freedom, not alone for freedom from the yoke of foreign domination, 
but freedom from the fetters of all transitory things. Here, the breadth of soul with its famous Russian generosity, shows itself
and stands out conspicuously in contrast with the middling pettiness of the West, and particularly of the Germans. «
Walter Schubart (p. 81). 

 

Russia as the Spiritual Salvation of the West

Schubart concludes his analysis with a vision of Russia acting as a spiritual salvation for a dying West. He asserts that the Western Promethean culture is in a state of terminal collapse, bearing the sign of death upon its brow as it sinks into a nihilistic abyss (p. 300). He believes that while Europe has been Russia’s misfortune in the past, the future may prove Russia to be Europe’s salvation as the "Man of the Millennium" is born from the synthesis of East and West (p. 300). The Russian mission, unlike the English national mission of world domination and practical aims, is one of redemption based on moral principles and the offering of a soul to a world that has become a spiritual desert (p. 219).

 

Ultimately, Schubart envisions the birth of a West-East world-culture that reconciles the organizational strength of the West with the spiritual depth of the East. He argues that the approaching collapse of Western culture is unavoidable, but that this destruction is merely the precursor to a resurrection. In his view, the twentieth century is an epoch of contradictions and decay, but also one of Messianic promise, where the Russian soul will provide the necessary spiritual renewal to save humanity from the mechanical void of Prometheanism (p. 299-300).

 

Reference: 

Walter Schubart (1938) - Russia and Western Man.

[Europa und die Seele des Ostens.]

See also:

Huang Jing and Sergey Karaganov (January 27, 2026) - Russia and China’s Role in Overseeing an ‘Orderly’ US Decline.

Sergey Karaganov (January 27, 2025) - Breaking Europe's Back: What Should Russia's Policy Toward the West Be.

Emmanuel Todd (2024) - The Defeat of the West. (La Défaite de l'Occident.)

Heliocentric Uranus Cycle and American War (2026-2033) | Bradley F. Cowan

Beyond its well-documented influence on financial markets, the heliocentric cycle of Uranus correlates with the periodicity of American wars. To demonstrate this, Bradley F. Cowan’s analysis utilizes the planet’s 84-year orbit—divided into 21-year quarters—anchoring it specifically to the heliocentric United States Natal Chart of July 4, 1776.

Heliocentric Uranus Squares and American War (1776–1962). 

While every 21-year quarter-cycle (90°) exerts pressure, it is the full 84-year return that manifests with particular violence. This periodicity suggests a generational rhythm: it appears to require four generations for the collective memory of war’s horrors to fade, thereby clearing the stage for a recurrence of major conflict.
 

The Gemini Conjunction: The US Natal Return

Gemini is the ruling sign of the United States, as defined by the planetary locations at the nation's birth. Historical analysis reveals that the most existential threats to the nation—those redefining its government and claiming the most lives—occur when Uranus returns to its natal position in Gemini. The sensitive sector for these events lies between 10° and 12° Gemini (70° to 72° from the heliocentric starting point of Aries)
 

■ Revolutionary War (The Natal Anchor): The cycle is anchored by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. At this founding moment, Uranus was positioned at 10° Gemini.
■ Civil War (First Return): One complete 84-year heliocentric cycle later, the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861 marked the start of the Civil War. Uranus had returned to 13° Gemini. The conflict concluded in 1865 as Uranus exited the sign.
■ World War II (Second Return): The second return (168 years after 1776) coincided with World War II. The war in Europe ended in 1945 precisely as Uranus reached 14° Gemini.
■ Pre-National History: Projecting the cycle backward, we see the pattern in the colonial era. The arrival of settlers in Jamestown in 1607 occurred with Uranus at 6° Gemini; the colony faced near-extinction in 1610 as Uranus hit 18°. One cycle later, King William's War (1689–1697) concluded as Uranus left Gemini.

The Quarters: Squares and Oppositions

While the conjunctions in Gemini mark existential crises, the quarter-cycles (squares and oppositions relative to the US chart) correlate with other forms of warfare.

■ The Sagittarius Opposition (180°): The sign of Sagittarius lies directly opposite the US natal Uranus. Transits here have coincided with "minor" wars. The War of 1812 ended when Uranus was at 6° Sagittarius, and the Spanish-American War concluded in 1898 with the planet at 5° Sagittarius.
■ The Squares (90°): Conflicts such as World War I and the Vietnam War occurred when Uranus formed a 90° square to the Gemini/Sagittarius axis. Notably, the 2003 invasion of Iraq occurred when Uranus returned to a similar heliocentric location (within approximately 1.33°) it occupied at the end of World War I—a point also approximately 166° opposite the Vietnam War era.

  

Uranus in Gemini: 2026–2033

The United States has just entered the sixth arrival of Uranus in Gemini since the Jamestown settlement, marking the third return since the nation's birth. Uranus commenced its transit through the sign of Gemini on February 10, 2026 (14:54 EST), and will conclude on March 2, 2033 (19:14 EST), attaining the critical 12° sensitive point on December 20, 2028 (20:47 EST).

 

Heliocentric Uranus Cycle and American War (1607–2033):

A Chronology of Gemini Transits.

 

As the US enters this window, it faces extreme internal polarization reminiscent of the 1860s, with citizens and elites increasingly divided and unwilling to entertain opposing views. Whether this 2026-to-2033 period manifests as permanent international war, renewed civil war, or both remains to be seen. 

 

Reference:
Bradley F. Cowan (1993) - Four Dimensional Stock Market Structures and Cycles. Volumes I & II (p. 209-210).

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons System (2026) - Astronomical Ephemeris for Uranus 1600-2100. 

 

 

Cycles of War, Bradley F. Cowan, 2022.

See also:
L. David Linsky (2023) - War and or Revolution in 2026. The 84 Year War Cycle.

Serge Bernard (2015) - The Fate of the USA: The 250 Year Empire Life Cycle. 

LCdr. David Williams (1982) - Financial Astrology.  

W.D. Gann (1950s) - Stock Market Course. 

Bradley Frank Cowan is a reclusive American financial theorist and professional trader who redefined market forecasting through multidimensional geometry. A former electrical engineer, Cowan achieved recognition in the 1990s for synthesizing Newtonian physics and heliocentric planetary mechanics into his proprietary Price-Time Vector (PTV™) framework. His seminal 1993 work, Four-Dimensional Stock Market Structures and Cycles, advanced the esoteric theories of W.D. Gann by mapping price action across non-linear spatial dimensions. Based in San Diego, California, Cowan operates Cycle-Trader, where he provides specialized curricula—including the Market Science series—to institutional and professional practitioners. By anchoring economic "Natural Law" to planetary periodicity, such as the 84-year Uranus return, he remains a foundational figure in high-level technical analysis, known for projecting global historical and financial turning points with mathematical precision.

50% DJIA Gain Possible from 2026 Low to 2027 High | Jeff Hirsch

Historical data going back to 1914 shows that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has typically fallen about 20% from its peak in the year following a presidential election to its trough during the subsequent midterm year. Weakness has been most persistent in Q2 and Q3 of Midterm years. Regardless of the precise level reached, the advance that normally follows is a very attractive entry point for position traders (see tab and chart below).

% Change in DJIA between Midterm year Low and High of following year, 1914-2023.

Within the Four-Year Presidential Cycle, the most favorable phase begins late in the Midterm year: The strongest consecutive two quarters historically run from Q4 of the Midterm year into the Q1 of the Pre-Election year, delivering average gains of 46.3% for the Dow.

 

  S&P 500 Midterm Election Year Seasonal Pattern, 1949-2024.

Q2 of the Pre-Election year is also notably strong—ranking as the third-best quarter of the Four-Year Presidential Cycle—effectively extending this high-performance window to three quarters, from Midterm Q4 2026 through Pre-Election Q2 2027. 

 

Reference:

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (February 11, 2026) - January Barometer Rules: 2026 Midterm Year Forecast Update (webinar). 

 

Q4 2026: Sweet Spot of the 4-Year Presidential Cycle.

Assuming the future will be but an averaged past (1973-2026).   

See also:

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (January 27, 2026) - February Stock Market Performance in Midterm Election Years. 

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (December 29, 2025) - 2026 Midterm Election Year Seasonal Patterns of US Indices. 

Bill Sarubbi (January 23, 2026) - 2026 Market Forecast: S&P 500, Crude, Notes, Gold, and Bitcoin.

Ned Davis Research (December 31, 2025) - 2026 S&P 500 Composite: Seasonal, Presidential, and Decennial Cycles.

Three Versions of Judas | Jorge Luis Borges

» There seemed a certainty in degradation. «
T. E. Lawrence: Seven Pillars of Wisdom, CIII.

In Asia Minor or in Alexandria, in the second century of our faith, when Basilides disseminated the idea that the cosmos was the reckless or evil improvisation of deficient angels, Nils Runeberg would have directed, with singular intellectual passion, one of the Gnostic conventicles. Dante would have assigned him, perhaps, a fiery grave; his name would extend the list of lesser heresiarchs, along with Satornilus and Carpocrates; some fragment of his preachings, embellished with invective, would survive in the apocryphal 'Liber adversus omnes haereses' or would have perished when the burning of a monastery library devoured the last copy of the 'Syntagma.' Instead, God afforded Runeberg the twentieth century and the university town of Lund. There, in 1904, he published the first edition of 'Kristus och Judas' and, in 1909, his major book, 'Den hemlige Frälsaren.' (Of the latter there is a German translation, made in 1912 by Emil Schering; it is called 'Der heimliche Heiland.')

 

» Was he not perhaps guilty of that dark crime? Would this not be 

the blasphemy against the Spirit, the one never to be forgiven? «

 

Before essaying an examination of the aforementioned works, it is necessary to repeat that Nils Runeberg, a member of the National Evangelical Union, was deeply religious. In the intellectual circles of Paris or even of Buenos Aires, a man of letters might well rediscover Runeberg’s theses; these theses, set forth in such circles, would be frivolous and useless exercises in negligence or blasphemy. For Runeberg, they were the key to one of the central mysteries of theology; they were the subject of meditation and analysis, of historical and philological controversy, of pride, of jubilation and of terror. They justified and wrecked his life. Those who read this article should also consider that it registers only Runeberg’s conclusions, not his dialectic or his proof. Someone may observe that the conclusion no doubt preceded the “proof.” Who would resign himself to seeking proof of something he did not believe or whose preachment did not matter to him?

The first edition of 'Kristus och Judas' bears the following categorical epigraph, whose meaning, years later, Nils Runeberg himself would monstrously expand: “Not one, but all of the things attributed by tradition to Judas Iscariot are false” (De Quincey, 1857). Preceded by a German, De Quincey speculated that Judas reported Jesus to the authorities in order to force him to reveal his divinity and thus ignite a vast rebellion against the tyranny of Rome; Runeberg suggests a vindication of a metaphysical sort. Skillfully, he begins by stressing the superfluity of Judas’ act. He observes (as does Robertson) that in order to identify a teacher who preached daily in the synagogue and worked miracles before gatherings of thousands of men, betrayal by an apostle is unnecessary. This, nevertheless, occurred. To suppose an error in the 'Scriptures' is intolerable; no less intolerable is to admit an accidental happening in the most precious event in world history. Ergo, Judas’ betrayal was not accidental; it was a preordained fact which has its mysterious place in the economy of redemption. Runeberg continues: The Word, when it was made flesh, passed from ubiquity to space, from eternity to history, from limitless satisfaction to change and death; in order to correspond to such a sacrifice, it was necessary that one man, in representation of all men, make a sacrifice of condign nature. Judas Iscariot was that man. Judas, alone among the apostles, sensed the secret divinity and terrible intent of Jesus. The Word had been lowered to mortal condition; Judas, a disciple of the Word, could lower himself to become an informer (the worst crime in all infamy) and reside amidst the perpetual fires of Hell. The lower order is a mirror of the higher; the forms of earth correspond to the forms of Heaven; the spots on one’s skin are a chart of the incorruptible constellations; Judas in some way reflects Jesus. Hence the thirty pieces of silver and the kiss; hence the suicide, in order to merit Reprobation even more. Thus Nils Runeberg elucidated the enigma of Judas.

When God created Adam and ordered the angels to prostrate in respect, all obeyed except Iblis (Satan). He refused

due to arrogance and pride, claiming superiority for he was created from fire while Adam was made from clay.

The Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Baqarah (2:30-34) and Surah Al-A'raf (7:11-12).

 

Theologians of all confessions refuted him. Lars Peter Engström accused him of being unaware of, or omitting, the hypostatic union; Axel Borelius, of renewing the heresy of the Docetists, who denied that Jesus was human; the rigid Bishop of Lund, of contradicting the third verse of the twenty-second chapter of the gospel of St. Luke.

These varied anathemas had their influence on Runeberg, who partially rewrote the rejected book and modified its doctrine. He left the theological ground to his adversaries and set forth oblique arguments of a moral order. He admitted that Jesus, “who had at his disposal all the considerable resources which Omnipotence may offer,” did not need a man to redeem all men. He then refuted those who maintain we know nothing of the inexplicable traitor; we know, he said, that he was one of the apostles, one of those chosen to announce the kingdom of heaven, to cure the sick, to clean lepers, to raise the dead and cast out demons (Matthew 10:7-8; Luke 9:1). A man whom the Redeemer has thus distinguished merits the best interpretation we can give of his acts. To attribute his crime to greed (as some have done, citing John 12:6) is to resign oneself to the basest motive. Nils Runeberg proposes the opposite motive: a hyperbolic and even unlimited asceticism. The ascetic, for the greater glory of God, vilifies and mortifies his flesh; Judas did the same with his spirit. He renounced honor, morality, peace and the kingdom of heaven, just as others, less heroically, renounce pleasure.[1] With terrible lucidity he premeditated his sins. In adultery there is usually tenderness and abnegation; in homicide, courage; in profanity and blasphemy, a certain satanic luster. Judas chose those sins untouched by any virtue: violation of trust (John 12:6) and betrayal. He acted with enormous humility, he believed himself unworthy of being good. Paul has written:

“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (Corinthians 1:31); Judas sought Hell, because the happiness of the Lord was enough for him. He thought that happiness, like morality, is a divine attribute and should not be usurped by humans.[2]

 

Many have discovered, post factum, that in Runeberg’s justifiable beginning lies his extravagant end and that 'Den hemlige Frälsaren' is a mere perversion or exasperation of 'Kristus och Judas.' Toward the end of 1907, Runeberg completed and corrected the manuscript text; almost two years went by without his sending it to the printer. In October 1909, the book appeared with a prologue (tepid to the point of being enigmatic) by the Danish Hebraist Erik Erfjord and with this perfidious epigraph: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10). The general argument is not complex, though the conclusion is monstrous. God, argues Nils Runeberg, lowered Himself to become a man for the redemption of mankind; we may conjecture that His sacrifice was perfect, not invalidated or attenuated by any omission. To limit what He underwent to the agony of one afternoon on the cross is blasphemous.[3] To maintain he was a man and incapable of sin involves a contradiction; the attributes of impeccabilitas and of humanitas are not compatible. Kemnitz admits that the Redeemer could feel fatigue, cold, embarrassment, hunger and thirst; we may also admit that he could sin and go astray. The famous text “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:2-3) is, for many, a future vision of the Saviour at the moment of his death; for others (for example, for Hans Lassen Martensen), a refutation of the beauty which vulgar opinion attributes to Christ; for Runeberg, the punctual prophesy not of a moment but of the whole atrocious future, in time and in eternity, of the Word made flesh. God made Himself totally a man but a man to the point of infamy, a man to the point of reprobation and the abyss. To save us, He could have chosen any of the destinies which make up the complex web of history; He could have been Alexander or Pythagoras or Rurik or Jesus; He chose the vilest destiny of all: He was Judas.

In vain the bookshops of Stockholm and Lund proposed this revelation to the public. The incredulous considered it, a priori, an insipid and laborious theological game, the theologians scorned it. Runeberg sensed in this ecumenical indifference an almost miraculous confirmation. God had ordained this indifference; God did not want His terrible secret divulged on earth. Runeberg understood that the hour had not yet arrived. He felt that ancient and divine maledictions were converging upon him; he remembered Elijah and Moses, who on the mountain top covered their faces in order not to see God; Isaiah, who was terrified when he saw the One whose glory fills the earth; Saul, whose eyes were struck blind on the road to Damascus; the rabbi Simeon ben Azzai, who saw Paradise and died; the famous sorcerer John of Viterbo, who became mad when he saw the Trinity; the Midrashim, who abhor the impious who utter the Shem Hamephorash, the Secret Name of God. Was he not perhaps guilty of that dark crime? Would this not be the blasphemy against the Spirit, the one never to be forgiven (Matthew 12:31)? Valerius Soranus died for having divulged the hidden name of Rome; what infinite punishment would be his for having discovered and divulged the horrible name of God?

Drunk with insomnia and vertiginous dialectic, Nils Runeberg wandered through the streets of Malmo, begging at the top of his voice that he be granted the grace of joining his Redeemer in Hell.

He died of a ruptured aneurysm on the first of March, 1912. The heresiologists will perhaps remember him; to the concept of the Son, which seemed exhausted, he added the complexities of evil and misfortune.

[1] Borelius inquires mockingly: “Why didn’t he renounce his renunciation? Or renounce the idea of renouncing his renunciation?”

[2] Euclides da Cunha, in a book unknown to Runeberg, notes that for the heresiarch of Canudos, Antonio Conselheiro, virtue “was almost an impiety.” The Argentine reader will recall analogous passages in the work of Almafuerte. In the symbolist sheet 'Sju insegel,' Runeberg published an assiduous descriptive poem, 'The Secret Waters;' the first stanzas narrate the events of a tumultuous day; the last, the discovery of a glacial pond; the poet suggests that the permanence of those silent waters corrects our useless violence and in some way allows and absolves it. The poem ends as follows: “The waters of the forest are good; we can be evil and suffer.”

[3] Maurice Abramowicz observes: “Jesus, d’après ce scandinave, a toujours le beau rôle; ses déboires, grâce à la science des typographes, jouissent d’une réputation polyglotte; sa résidence de trente-trois ans parmi les humains ne fut, en somrne, qu’une villégiature” Erfjord, in the third appendix to the 'Christelige Dogmatik,' refutes this passage. He notes that the crucifixion of God has not ceased, for what has happened once in time is repeated ceaselessly in eternity. Judas, now, goes on receiving his pieces of silver, goes on kissing Christ, goes on throwing the coins into the temple, goes on making a noose in the rope on the field of blood. (Erfjord, in order to justify this affirmation, invokes the last chapter of the first volume of Jaromir Hladik’s 'Vindication of Eternity.')

Reference:

Jorge Luis Borges (1944) - Three Versions of Judas.

[Tres versiones de Judas.]

 Jorge Luis Borges (1899 –1986).