The Feast of the Epithany - my favorite

“Epiphany: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning…” (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary). The word stems from Greek for "to manifest" or "to show". So the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ - and the Magi were the ones who through their knowledge of the stars realized that the signs in the sky pointed to the birth of a Divine King.

In the gospels, the story of the Magi is found only in Matthew, ch 2:

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem, the place which the priests said had been predicted by the prophet:

"and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary the mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

The Magi - or Astrologers

From the Jewish historian Josephus, the Greek historian Herodotus, and the writings of Strabo, a picture of the people called the magi appears. The magi first appear in history in about the 7th century B.C. in the Median empire (Herodotus I, ci). At the time of the birth of Jesus they were an ancient priestly caste dwelling within the Parthian empire that practiced astrology. They were adept at interpreting dreams. Also at the time just prior to the birth of our Lord, the magi formed the upper house of the council of the Megistanes, whose duties included the election of the king of the Parthian empire (Strabo, XI, ix, 3). Thus, the magi at this time were very possibly "king makers." (Sources: D. W. Jayne, "Magi," The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 4:31-34; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War; Herodotus, The History of Herodotus; A. Holmstead, History of the Persian Empire).

Magi were priests, serving an ancient priesthood, astrologers, interpreters of dreams, and government officials who had the authority to elect the Parthian king. They were 'king-makers' but not kings. In the context of the times, because they served these roles and had such amazing knowledge of mysteries as these, they were considered to be the scholars or 'Wise Men' of the day.

This is a day to look to our inner 'wise man' and seek our own epithany - and astrology can help!