Following the Star

Epiphany

“…behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’”

                                        Matthew 2:2

          Today is the celebration of epiphany, that holy day in the Christian calendar when the divinity of Jesus was announced by gentiles—Zoroastrian priests from Persia, magi. It was Herod’s first inkling that things were about to change in a not-so-happy way. His inclination was to simply kill the child, as though that would take care of the problem of dissent among an occupied people. The first epiphany was marked by a bright star that led the priests to the Holy Land.

          An epiphany in contemporary language occurs any time we have a revelatory insight into the essential meaning of something—also called an ‘ah-ha’ moment.  It is usually depicted with a light bulb. ‘A light bulb went off in my head and I understood!’ Both meanings involve light for a good reason. Early January is the time that we begin to see a difference in daylight. The days are getting longer as the northern hemisphere tilts back toward the sun. In the southern hemisphere, the days will begin to shorten.

          We city dwellers forget just how important light is. We’re so out of touch with the cycles of the earth and the workings of the cosmos, that we hardly notice these milestones. But to ancient people and to farmers today, the length of daylight is pivotal. As it decreases in autumn, the leaves begin to change and drop and the earth goes into quiescence, and as it increases in winter, the sap rises and the seeds split and begin pushing up shoots. We are still dependent on sunlight for life.

          The story of the bursting forth of the bright star was the celestial announcement of Jesus’ identity as a divine being. In native populations, the same sort of bright, sudden ‘enlightening’ announces the elevation of a shaman. Many shamans are literally struck by lightening in childhood and survive with unusual abilities.

We could use a guiding star right now, couldn’t we? We are still searching for the kind of guidance that comes only from divine intervention. Keep looking, keep hoping, and keep praying. Experience has shown that when the need arises for an enlightened leader, that leader comes forth from a most unexpected place. Not from kings, but from shepherds.

                              In the spirit,

                              Jane