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The
Star of Bethlehem
Although
Christmas is a holy day in the Christian tradition, it has become even
more than a Christian holiday. The Christmas season has become infused
into our culture everywhere we look. At this time of year, it really
doesn’t matter whether you’re Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist.
During the deepening of winter, the Christmas spirit permeates the air.
The
story of the Christmas Star is shrouded in mystery. There are things
that are illusion and there are things that are real. We’re taught through
religious metaphor that something very magical happened at the time
of this star. There was a signal from God, a brilliance in the heavens
that stopped people in their tracks. It signified the Holy of Holies.
As we look back through historical records, however, we realize that
no one even noticed this awesome event. No one, that is, except for
some Persian magi. The Chinese have been avid sky watchers for thousands
of years. They recorded comets and novae, yet they didn’t notice anything
in the sky at that time. Other cultures didn’t record anything either.
So the question is, if there was a magical star really shining in the
heavens, why didn't everyone notice?
The
Bible tells us that three wise men were present to witness the birth
of the baby Jesus. Newer translations correctly identify these three
cosmically invited guests as astrologers. The word magi has the same
origination as the word magician, not to be confused here with a modern
stage magician or entertainer. Magi is used interchangeably with wise
men. Just as rabbi is the title of a Jewish teacher, so magus is the
title of a Zoroastrian priest.
Zoroastrianism
Far
to the east of Israel is the magical, mystical land of India. Between
India and the Holy Land is an area that was, in ancient times, called
Chaldea. Chaldea was the home of a great and ancient sacred knowledge
called astrology. Chaldea became Babylon, which later became Persia.
Five centuries before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Zoroaster brought
a new religion to this land. Zoroastrianism played a significant role
in this ancient world. Zoroastrian priests were astronomer-priests.
The ancient Persian temples, ziggurats, were astronomical observatories.
In these observatory-temples, the ancient Persian priests spent the
nights watching the divine magic unfold. Around the time of the Jesus’
birth, Zoroastrian magi undoubtedly practiced astrology. They carefully
watched the movements of peculiar stars that seemed to wander through
the zodiac. These wandering stars, that we now call planets, helped
them better understand events on earth.
The King's Star and the Star of David
There
is much evidence to suggest that what we call the Star of David was
an alignment of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. In ancient Jewish
tradition, Jupiter was the planet called the “King's Star.” Even later
in Greek mythology, Jupiter, or Jove, was the king of the gods. Every
20 years, when the King’s Star lined up with Saturn, the star of final
authority, the ancient Jews called this the Star of David.
Christ
is a Greek word for king. A king was one who was literally born under
the cosmic signature of the King’s Star. Jesus, as we know, was born
in the lineage of the House of David. But to be born in the lineage
of David didn’t only mean that you had parents in that lineage. It also
meant that you were born under the Star of David, which occurred when
Jupiter, the King’s Star, aligned with Saturn.
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