Magi followed the star
Today, January 6, is Epiphany — the day we celebrate the visit of the magi to the Christ child. It is also the twelfth day of Christmas.
Five hundred years earlier, Daniel and his companions, were taken in captivity to Babylon. There these fellows rose to high rank among the wise men of that empire. Daniel was elevated to a position of leadership in three empires.
I’ve often wondered if the magi mentioned in Matthew had learned from Hebrew scriptures and the teachings of Daniel. It makes sense to me.
Today marks the end of the Christmas season at our house. Soon the decorations will come down and family pictures will once again grace the mantle.
Interesting conjecture abut Daniel’s connection to the wise men. It certainly makes sense.
We once lived in a town that had the burning of the greens on twelfth night. I always looked forward to that. Now the environmentalists would complain. Come to think about it, there probably would not be enough real trees in town to make a decent sized bonfire.
The “burning of the greens” would be an interesting tradition. It has been many years since we’ve put up a biological tree at Christmas time. The last few years, we only display a small (one-foot tall) ceramic unit that Sylvia’s mother made. Mom also made the character for the creche scene that we place on the mantle. The characters spend December moving slowly towards the stable with the shepherds being there for Christmas. They then return to the pasture lands as the magi arrive to stay through January 6.