{"id":19948,"date":"2019-01-01T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-01T06:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=20198"},"modified":"2019-01-16T16:03:19","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T21:03:19","slug":"goodgod-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2019\/01\/01\/goodgod-24\/","title":{"rendered":"GoodGod!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\nMeet\nthe Gods: The Wise Men<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Merry meet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nmonth\u2019s column is not about gods. Rather it\u2019s about saints, or,\nmore correctly, magi, the pagan astrologers who came to worship\nJesus. The word magic came from magi because they dabbled in the dark\narts and were referred to as sorcerers, wizards and magicians. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTradition\nrefers to three wise men, but nowhere is a specific number stated; in\nEastern Christianity often there are twelve. They came \u201cfrom the\neast,\u201d which most likely is now Iran. That means they could have\ntraveled more than 800 miles. The Christmas story has them arriving\ntwelve days later, but some traditions have the visit occurring as\nmuch as two winters later. (This could explain why Herod commanded\nall boys up to the age of two be killed.) \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nThese\nZoroastrian priests, as part of their religion, had great knowledge\nof astrology \u2013 others say astronomy. According to the Gospel\nMatthew, these wise men were guided to look for the \u201cking of the\nJews\u201d by a miraculous stellar event: the Star of Bethlehem. They\nbrought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs\npart of their religion, these traveling missionaries paid particular\nattention to the stars and gained an international reputation for\ntheir knowledge of the sky, which at that time was highly regarded as\na science. As Christianity became the religion of the Romans, the\nmagi were no longer respected, and neither were the Jews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nNo\nnames for the three appear in the New Testament. Legends, however,\ngive them a variety of different names. Melchior, also spelled\nMelichior, was a Persian king, or some say scholar. Caspar, Gaspar or\nJaspar was a king of India. Balthazar, also known as Balthasar and\nBalthassar, was a Babylonian scholar or an Arabian king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMany\nsources do no consider them respected kings. Rather, the magi were\nuncouth and labeled as sinners because of their stargazing, sorcery\nand divination. Still, Catholics and Orthodox Christians celebrate\nthe festival of The Three Kings, the Epiphany, on January 6. In\nGermany, they have become the patron saints of travelers; their feast\nday is July 23. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merry part. And merry meet again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nthe Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lynn\nWoike<\/strong> was\n50 \u2013 divorced and living on her own for the first time \u2013 before\nshe consciously began practicing as a self taught solitary witch. She\ndraws on an eclectic mix of old ways she has studied \u2013 from her\nSicilian and Germanic heritage to Zen and astrology, the fae,\nBuddhism, Celtic, the Kabbalah, Norse and Native American \u2013 pulling\nfrom each as she is guided. She practices yoga, reads Tarot and uses\nReiki. From the time she was little, she has loved stories, making\nher job as the editor of two monthly newspapers seem less than the\nwork it is because of the stories she gets to tell. She lives with\nher large white cat, Pyewacket, in central Connecticut. You can\nfollow her boards on Pinterest<\/a>,\nand write to her at woikelynn at gmail dot com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the Gods: The Wise Men Merry meet. This month\u2019s column is not about gods. Rather it\u2019s about saints, or, more correctly, magi, the pagan astrologers who came to worship Jesus. The word magic came from magi because they dabbled in the dark arts and were referred to as sorcerers, wizards and magicians. Tradition refers to three wise men, but nowhere is a specific number stated; in Eastern Christianity often there are twelve. They came \u201cfrom the east,\u201d which most likely is now Iran. That means they could have traveled more than 800 miles. The Christmas story has them arriving twelve days later, but some traditions have the visit occurring as much as two winters later. (This could explain why Herod commanded all boys up to the age of two be killed.) These Zoroastrian priests, as part of their religion, had great knowledge of astrology \u2013 others say astronomy. According to the Gospel Matthew, these wise men were guided to look for the \u201cking of the Jews\u201d by a miraculous stellar event: the Star of Bethlehem. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As part of their religion, these traveling missionaries paid particular attention to the stars and gained an international reputation for their knowledge of the sky, which at that time was highly regarded as a science. As Christianity became the religion of the Romans, the magi were no longer respected, and neither were the Jews. No names for the three appear in the New Testament. Legends, however, give them a variety of different names. Melchior, also spelled Melichior, was a Persian king, or some say scholar. Caspar, Gaspar or Jaspar was a king of India. Balthazar, also known as Balthasar and Balthassar, was a Babylonian scholar or an Arabian king. Many sources do no consider them respected kings. Rather, the magi were uncouth and labeled as sinners because of their stargazing, sorcery and divination. Still, Catholics and Orthodox Christians celebrate the festival of The Three Kings, the Epiphany, on January 6. In Germany, they have become the patron saints of travelers; their feast day is July 23. Merry part. And merry meet again. *** About the Author: Lynn Woike was 50 \u2013 divorced and living on her own for the first time \u2013 before she consciously began practicing as a self taught solitary witch. She draws on an eclectic mix of old ways she has studied \u2013 from her Sicilian and Germanic heritage to Zen and astrology, the fae, Buddhism, Celtic, the Kabbalah, Norse and Native American \u2013 pulling from each as she is guided. She practices yoga, reads Tarot and uses Reiki. From the time she was little, she has loved stories, making her job as the editor of two monthly newspapers seem less than the work it is because of the stories she gets to tell. She lives with her large white cat, Pyewacket, in central Connecticut. You can follow her boards on Pinterest, and write to her at woikelynn at gmail dot com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}