A Star in the East: Why did the Magi go West??

When [the Magi] had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. – Matthew 2:9

Gnosticism doesn’t put much emphasis on the birth of Joshua ben Joseph (aka Jesus); instead focusing upon his baptism and the descent of the Christos upon him – making him properly Jesus Christ. But, as a magician, I just can’t help it – the appearance of a group of literal Magi in the Gospels has to hold a special place in my heart. 😉

I’m sure you know the story: Three Magi (often mistaken as “Kings”) witness a star rising in the East, which they follow to the birthplace of Jesus. Upon arrival, they present the newborn Messiah with rare and expensive (for the time) gifts and declare him the true Son of God.

There’s actually a bit more to the story, of course – it remains one of my favorite tales in the Bible. You see, the Magi didn’t just follow a star that was hovering over a manger. They actually went directly to King Herod, assuming the newborn king was surely his son. They were actually shocked when the king’s response to their congratulations was, “What son??” The Magi watched in horror as Herod ordered his men to scour Bethlehem for every single newborn boy and put them all to death. So, under the cover of darkness, the Magi snuck out of the palace and made a time’s-running-out mad dash to get to Mary and Joseph before Herod’s men found them. It’s like a cloak-and-dagger thriller! I just can’t help but imagine an ending where two of the Magi switch clothing with Mary and Joseph, and then stay behind while the third Magi leads the family away under the noses of the arriving soldiers. 🙂 🙂

As exciting as this VERY brief tale in the Bible may be, there’s actually a lot more going on between the lines than you might suspect. And, to get into that, I want to share with you a riddle I post (almost) every year on my Facebook page:

The Three Magi were from Chaldea – which is far east of Jerusalem. To get there, you have to travel westward across either the Fertile Crescent or directly across the Arabian Desert. It’s even in the Christmas song “We Three Kings”: “Westward leading, still proceeding…” So the riddle is: How did they follow a star in the east to get from Chaldea to Jerusalem? How did an Eastern Star lead them westward?

And the answer to that riddle involves all the “unwritten” stuff that is going on in the story of the Three Magi. First and foremost, the Magi were indeed from Chaldea. The word “Mage” (lit. “Wise One”) was the term for a Zoroastrian Priest. It is very important to note, for this discussion, that the Zoroastrian faith was the Western world’s dominant religion at the time Jesus was born. And it is of equal importance to note that Zoroastrian Magi were quite famous for their astrology. Just as the Egyptians’ obsession with tombs and talismans gave them a reputation for being wizards, the Zoroastrians’ expertise in astrology gave them the same occult mystique. (So much so, this is where we get our modern words “mage”, “magic/magick”, “magician”, and terms related to these.)

This may lead you to ask several further questions: Why would three priests from a religion other than Judaism show up at the birth of the Jewish Messiah? Why not three Priests from the Holy Temple right there in Jerusalem? And why would those three non-Jewish priests declare the Jewish Messiah the true Son of God??

However, keep in mind the full Biblical story! The Magi didn’t head directly to Bethlehem to worship at the manger – they went instead to Herod’s court, fully believing they were on a routine diplomatic mission to congratulate a neighboring king on the birth of a new son. You see, the Magi would have been casting astrological charts for the coming new year*, for both their own empire and the kingdoms surrounding them. When they cast their chart for Judea, they would have seen a Star rising in the ascendant – the eastern horizon – indicating a new king was about to be born there. (There have been many theories on exactly what the Magi saw in the ascendant, and I think it very likely to have been Regulus – the brightest star in Leo.) And this answers how the Magi “followed a Star in the East” in order to reach Jerusalem westward from their home. The Star was simply in the east, or ascendant, of their charts.

(* – By the way, the new year for Chaldeans was the spring equinox, when the Sun passes from Pisces back into Aries. This is one of the bits of evidence the Bible provides that Jesus was born in the spring, not the winter solstice.)

Ok, so the Magi cast some charts, and the one for Judea made them think Herod was about to have a new son. They headed over to make nice, which was likely routine diplomacy. But, then, they realized they had screwed up royally after learning Herod had no son on the way, and seeing the petty little creep have a panic attack that led him to order a small-scale genocide. So they quickly headed out to the manger…

Wait – how in the world did they find Mary and Joseph?? Isn’t there a plot hole here? You’ll note, at the beginning of this blog, I quoted Matthew 2:9 – where it appears the Magi really did follow a Star hovering in the East that led them directly to the manger, and – viola!- millions of Nativity Dioramas were destined to decorate lawns for Christmas forevermore! (LOL) Many traditions hold that the Eastern Star was actually an Angel, intervening to help the Magi beat Herod’s men to the manger. And, it is true the word “Star” is often used in the Bible interchangeably with “Angel.” However… let me quote the previous two lines from Matthew for you:

Then Herod, when he had privily called the [Magi], enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. – Matthew 2:7-8

Note very carefully, the king asked the Magi exactly what time the Star appeared, and somehow this enabled the Magi to find the birthplace of Jesus – after going out on a diligent search, of course. What time? Not what location? This would sound odd if we didn’t already know the Magi were expert astrologers. Herod was making a direct reference to the chart they had cast – which would have been very precise about both its location and its time. It would have indicated exactly what time the new child was supposed to be born – thereby narrowing down the search. More than likely, the Magi performed further calculations to narrow down the possible birthplace (figuring out it was somewhere in Bethlehem), and then the king – the sniveling coward – duped them into going out and searching for it house to house. (I’m sure he provided them with some manpower to accomplish this.)

Most importantly, what we learn from these two passages is the Magi had already found Joseph and Mary before Matthew 2:9 takes place. When they snuck out of the palace to warn the young family, it was really just a mad dash directly there. The lines about the Star – or Angel – guiding them was more of a poetic flourish that the Gospel itself isn’t trying to hide.

In fact, I would dare say everything that happens in this tale from 2:9 onward is more properly mythology. That is to say, it moves out of the realm of mere legend at this point, because here we reach the entire reason the story exists – both spiritually and politically. Here is the point where the Three Magi bring their gifts, originally intended for Herod, and give them instead to this poor family of carpenters. They kneel down, and declare baby Joshua the true Son of God. Why?

Because the author of the Gospel was trying to illustrate that three Priests from the world’s most dominant religion were willing to kneel down before the Jewish/Christian Messiah. This was the young, and still struggling, Christian Faith declaring that it should have a seat at the adults’ table of world religions. In fact, it’s more than that – because it dares to suggest the Magi would (eventually) bow down to the Christian God! I can imagine Zoroastrian Priests of the day were unamused by such literature. Or, perhaps, it did amuse them to see this young start-up religion shit-posting about them thousands of miles away – who knows?

So now you know what was really going on in that beloved Christmas tale: who the Three Magi were, why they made the trip to Judea in the first place, and why they thought the birth of a poor carpenter’s son in Bethlehem was so important. Plus, of course, how in the world they got to Judea by following a “Star in the East.”

There are tons of things I could cover about the traditions that grew up around the Magi over the centuries since – but I think that info is easy enough to find. You’ll discover that some countries replaced Santa Claus with the “Three Kings” – who bring gifts on Epiphany instead of Winter Solstice You’ll learn they’ve been given many names over the years – I’d say the most common, or popular, are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. And, of course, there are Epiphany traditions surrounding these guys that we follow in our home. Maybe I’ll do a post about all of that next year…?

For now, I hope each of you have a wonderful Holiday Season, and an awesome Christmahanakwanzika to all! (And, Festivus, for the rest of’yas.)

Merry Christmas

Fr. Aaron