It Is What It Is--Epiphany

Who were the magi? What led them to visit Jesus? And what lessons should we-- and shouldn't we! It comes from Greek roots that mean "to show, to display" phainein and "on, to" epi -. In the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations.

Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. Where that is the case, it is celebrated on January 6th.

In the United States, Epiphany is not a holy day of obligation, and its celebration is transferred to the first Sunday after January 1st source. In , it so happens that the first Sunday after January 1st is January 6th, so the U. It is hard to say how far back the beginnings of the Christmas feast go.

Epiphany, the Feast of The Three Kings -- Christmas Customs and Traditions -- whychristmas?com

It assumed its definitive form in the third century. At about the same time the feast of the Epiphany emerged in the East on January 6 and the feast of Christmas in the West on December The two feasts had different emphases because of the different religious and cultural contexts in which they arose, but essentially their meaning was the same: Eventually, however, the emphasis on January 6 shifted--particularly in the west and in some parts of the east --to reflect manifestations of Christ beside that which occurred at his birth namely, those that occurred at the coming of the magi, at his baptism, and at the wedding feast of Cana.

1. 50 Quick and Easy Pasta Recipes?
2. Epiphany (feeling) - Wikipedia.
3. First Time Death is Still an Amateur: Poetry of A Man Dispossessed of Talent.

This year the baptism of the Lord is also celebrated the first Sunday after Epiphany Jan. To the first of the four principal meanings, Magi are understood to be members of the Persian priestly caste. No doubt this view contains some not easily definable element of truth: The other meanings listed by Gerhard Delling are as follows: For the Magi in Mt 2, it is the first of the four meanings that applies, at least in a broad sense.

The Infancy Narratives ]. They apparently had material of a prophetic nature some have suggested that they got it from an eastern Jewish community, such as the one in Babylon that allowed them to identify the birth of the new "king of the Jews" astronomically. De Bello Judaico iii, — [ Jesus of Nazareth: Probably, because they assumed the newborn king would be a son of Herod--the current "king of the Jews. This, of course, played into Herod's paranoia for his throne and led to the slaughter of the innocents.

It is hard to know. Some question whether the star was a natural phenomenon at all, pointing out that it seems to lead the magi to Jerusalem, disappear, and then reappear and hover over the house in Bethlehem. But this isn't what Matthew says. He does not say that the star led them to Jerusalem. They merely report that they had seen the new king's star "in the east" Mt.

When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was [Mt. This does not necessarily mean that the star appeared to move in the sky in a way that stars don't ordinarily. Departing from Jerusalem at night, they may have noted on the short 6 mile trip to Bethlehem that the star was in front of them in the sky--a coincidence arranged by divine providence.

Then, when they got to the house, they noticed it was directly over the house--again, a coincidence arranged by divine providence but not necessarily an unusual motion for a star. Thus the question of whether it could have been a natural phenomenon remains. Nevertheless, the question whether or not this was an astronomically identifiable and classifiable celestial apparition was not going to go away.

It would be wrong to dismiss it a priori on account of the theological character of the story. Various proposals have been made, including for rare astronomical phenomena like the conjunction of certain planets in certain constellations, or supernovas. All forms of divination are to be rejected: God may have arranged for certain signs to attend the birth of his Son, but this is the opposite of what astrology involves.

What is Epiphany? Here are 10 facts about the history and meaning of Three Kings Day

Another famous epiphany myth is associated with Isaac Newton's apple story, [4] and yet another with Nikola Tesla's discovery of a workable alternating current induction motor. Though such epiphanies might have occurred, they were almost certainly the result of long and intensive periods of study those individuals had undertaken, rather than an out-of-the-blue flash of inspiration about an issue they had not thought about previously. Another myth is that epiphany is simply another word for usually spiritual vision. Actually, realism and psychology make epiphany a different mode as distinguished from vision, even though both vision and epiphany are often triggered by sometimes seemingly irrelevant incidents or objects.

Western churches generally celebrate the Visit of the Magi as the revelation of the Incarnation of the infant Christ, and commemorate the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Traditionally, Eastern churches, following the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar, have celebrated Epiphany or Theophany in conjunction with Christ's baptism by John the Baptist and celebrated it on January 19; however, other Eastern churches have adopted the Western Calendar and celebrate it on January 6.

In more general terms, the phrase "religious epiphany" is used when a person realizes their faith, or when they are convinced that an event or happening was really caused by a deity or being of their faith.

• Lush Life.
• After Midnight.
• 9 Things You Need to Know About Epiphany.
• What is Epiphany? Here are 10 facts about the history and meaning of Three Kings Day - Telegraph?

In Hinduism, for example, epiphany might refer to Arjuna 's realization that Krishna incarnation of God serving as his charioteer in the " Bhagavad Gita " is indeed representing the Universe. The Hindu term for epiphany would be bodhodaya , from Sanskrit bodha 'wisdom' and udaya 'rising'. Or in Buddhism, the term might refer to the Buddha obtaining enlightenment under the bodhi tree, finally realizing the nature of the universe, and thus attaining Nirvana.

The Zen term kensho also describes this moment, referring to the feeling attendant on realizing the answer to a koan. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the feeling. For other uses, see Epiphany. Epiphany holiday , theophany , and hierophany. Preliminary investigations into the psychology of epiphanies as discontinuous change experiences.

Retrieved 19 September Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The Myths of Innovation.

Christmas Traditions and Customs

Retrieved 15 October Encyclopedia of psychology and religion. Retrieved 16 October University of Washington Press, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight". Current Directions in Psychological Science.