Astrology, History and Religion: Three Kings Day
January 6, 2008
The Journey of the Magi by James Tissot.
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.”
Today is known as Three Kings Day, the day when “wise men” as identified in the King James version of the Bible, found the Christ child and honored him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Yet who were these Kings?
The accounts of Jesus of Nazareth’s birth and death were at first an oral record, written as second hand accounts as the founders of the Christianity passed onto the next world, and sanitized for general consumption of the faithful during a succession of purges of text that did not conform with the clergy’s view of Christ’s role on earth. As a result, reading the bible can be a surreal experience, where people and events are dragged in, sometimes incongruously, used as a prop to highlight an event or extol a particular view or virtue, than dropped suddenly, never to be mentioned again. This “say what?” flavor of the most important book in the Christian world only highlights that there are important gaps in the recounting of biblical history. There was a whole world of religious and intellectual thought that existed before the birth of Christ, but somehow was conveniently sanitized from Christian records. The bits and pieces that were left provides a keyhole into the world of which Christ was born. One such bit is the story of the Magi.
According to most forms of Christianity, the Magi were the first religious figures to worship Christ, and for this reason the story of the Magi is particularly respected and popular among many Christians. The visit of the Magi is commemorated by Catholics and other Christian churches (but not the Eastern Orthodox) on the observance of Epiphany, January 6. The Eastern Orthodox celebrate it on December 25. This visit is frequently treated in Christian art and literature as The Adoration of the Magi.
The word Magi is a Latinization of the plural of the Greek word magos (μαγος pl. μαγοι), itself from Old Persian maguŝ from the Avestan moγu. The term is a specific occupational title referring to the priestly caste of Zoroastrianism.[citation needed] As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time a highly regarded science. Their religious practices and use of astrological sciences caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic. Translated in the King James Version as wise men, the same word is given as sorcerer and sorcery when describing “Elymas the sorcerer” in Acts 13:6-11, and Simon Magus, considered a heretic by the early Church, in Acts 8:9-13.
The Magi are described as having followed a star to Bethlehem, which thus traditionally became known as the Star of Bethlehem. Since at least Kepler’s time there have been many attempts to link it to an astronomical event, with the most commonly cited being a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC, fitting in with Matthew’s chronology pointing to Jesus being born before 4 BC, and unlike Luke’s which points to AD 6.[16] Although traditionally the Magi, coming from the east (apo anatolón, απο ανατολων), are described as having seen a star in the east (ton astera en te anatole, τον αστερα εν τη ανατολη), the Greek word in question is anatole, which many scholars feel more accurately translates as a star rising in the morning, meaning a heliacal rising.[17] The star was just above the horizon but hidden by the brightness of the sun. In the opinion of Konradin Ferrari d’Occhieppo[18] it was more than just a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC. The star Jupiter (royal star in Babylon) had met Saturn in the sign of Pisces (which lays in the western sky) for the first time in 854 years.[19]
There are many theories on the birth date of Jesus which different astrologers argue. What many do not dispute now, is that it was astrologers who recognized the birth of the herald of the Piscean age, found him and honored him. It was a measure of the strength of the art of astrology and its power. It highlights the measure of awesome responsibility of those that parse the stars have to use their art well. Against all the intent of Christian orthodoxy, Three Kings Day accidently dignifies astrologers and the work we do.
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