The Lapis Lazuli then, is the stone of the eleventh division of the Breastplate and on it was engraved the name Joseph.
The Twelfth Stone of the Breastplate
Regarding the classification which places Jashpeh in the twelfth division of the Breastplate much controversy has arisen, and the consensus of opinion is against it.
Dr. Emil Hirsch holds the opinion that Jahalom should replace JASHPEH, and in this surmise he is by no means alone. Astrologically Jashpeh has nothing in common with the last sign of the Zodiac—Pisces—the colour of which is given as “glistening white” by the Midrash Bemidbah. It has been more minutely described as “a white glistening colour like a fish just taken out of the water” by William Lilly and Dr. Simmonite. There is little doubt that the stone was of a white glistening colour. YAHALOM is rendered as Diamond by the translations of the Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, by Mr. Cattelle, Dr. Ginzberg and others; but although the Diamond is mentioned by Pliny, it could not have found a place among the stones of the Breastplate as they were large stones all engraved with tribal names. To this treatment the diamond is not adapted. The YAHALOM is without doubt white crystal which is of a glistening colour and traditionally associated with the twelfth sign of the Zodiac.
Diodorus writes that an artist named Satyreius cut on a small crystal a most exquisite and lifelike portrait of Queen Arsinoe, the beauty of the work amply excusing the miniature stone on which it was engraved. It is related that Nero, his star falling, in his rage against the world and mankind, smashed to pieces two costly crystal cyphi or bowls on which Homeric subjects were wonderfully engraved. Articles in crystal still exist to demonstrate its extensive use by ancient nations. Fauno, in his 1553 edition of “Roman Antiquities,” mentions that during the building of a chapel of the King of France in St. Peter’s, the marble coffin of Maria, wife of the Emperor Honorius, was discovered. Little remained of the body, but the jewels of the Empress were there, and amongst them were a talismanic plate of gold engraved with the names of the Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel), in Greek letters, about thirty vases and other articles in crystal, and an exquisite Nautilus shell lamp of pure crystal mounted on gold—no doubt the special charm of the Empress. The sign Pisces, the sign of “the fish with the glittering tails,” is symbolically represented by two fishes, which ancient story tells us were Venus and Cupid thus metamorphosed to escape the giant Typhon in his fury. In Babylonian story it is told that the fish-god Oannes—the Dagon of the Book of Samuel—came out of the Erythraean Sea “which borders upon Babylonia” to teach men how to live, to make laws, to worship, to soften their manners and to humanize their lives. Thus, the fish-god was the teacher of the hidden mysteries, and the sign Pisces has always been associated with occult science and hidden things. Mummified fish have been found in the Egyptian tombs, and Clermont Ganneau describes a pair of fish-gods keeping watch over a mummy. Isis as the Great Mother is symbolized with a fish on her head. The old Egyptian town of Esna, nearly 500 miles from Cairo, was called by the Greeks Latopolis on account of the worship of the Latus fish by the inhabitants, and an interesting old Zodiac can still be seen there amongst the famous ruins. The Babylonians accepted the fish as the symbol of the Resurrection, and the ninth chapter of the Book of Luke describes how 5000 people were fed by 5 loaves of bread (symbolical of Virgo) and two small fishes (symbolical of Pisces), a connection clear enough to the student of the mysteries. The fish was the symbol of the Messiah, and was adopted by the early Christians as the sign of Christ. The Roman Catholic church today has its fish days, and the Piscina is the basin that holds the Holy Water.
The tribe of Joseph is the tribe of the twelfth division of the Breastplate and the twelfth zodiacal sign, Pisces. Joseph in the Book of Genesis is the inspired prophet who reads the meaning of the famous symbolic dreams of The Butler, The Baker and The Pharaoh; who has his divining cup, and who was named by the Pharaoh, ZAPHENATH-PA’NEACH, which has been translated as “Saviour of the World” by one writer, but more nearly as “God, the Living One has spoken” by Dr. Dummelow, and as “God spake and he came into Life,” by Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge.
According to Talmudic story it was this Pharaoh who said that he saw the colours of rulership about Joseph. Joseph and his brethren are symbolical of the complete Zodiac. JOSHUA is the Son of the Fish (NUN the Hebrew word for “fish” is probably connected with the Egyptian NAR), and Jesus has his fishermen, “fishers of men.” The sign Pisces is the sign of hidden secrets and is mystically symbolized by a key. On the external plane it is the sign of increase, in which is concealed the mandate “Increase and multiply.”
The connection of the sign Pisces with the twelfth division of the Breastplate is, as in the previous cases, beyond argument. The stone is the glistening crystal on which was engraved the name of the tribe of Benjamin.
In reference to Joseph’s Dream of the Sun, Moon and Eleven Stars which made obeisance to him, Philo Judaeus says: