#44 A WOMAN'S BRIEFS -- 2023 THE CHRISTMAS STAR
It’s all good here at the Pine house. Cookies are baked, Christmas tins are arranged by the door, most “must do” stuff is done, and Mannheim Steamroller holiday music accompanies my desk work.
Then, darn if I don’t see the report of that spoil sport in Texas who donned a full-bodied Grinch suit, stood facing the entrance of an elementary school holding up a messy sign that read: “SANTA IS FAKE/JESUS IS REAL”
Big thanks. What a loser.
Grinch guy brings to my mind American forefathers who in 1659 enacted “The Penalty for Keeping Christmas.” The Church of England loved Christmas. Religious purist freshly escaped to Boston, didn’t. For the next twenty-two years in the New World, celebrations, decorations, feasting, skipping work, or any acknowledgment of December 25th as a special day earned a hefty fine. Puritan leaders agreed with the reformer, John Calvin, who is purported to have said, “If you think that Jesus Christ was born today (December 25), you are as crazed as wild beasts.”
Calvin was right about December being wrong. In the original Christmas story, a census took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Rome was fully in charge of things at the time, and Calvin knew Rome didn’t call for census or war in the wintertime. Not December.
The biblical accounts of Jesus’ birth involved angels, dreams, an embarrassing pregnancy, and a required trek to Bethlehem, but no braying donkey. Christmas storytellers have added the donkey. Over the centuries, Christians added Advent, nativity sets, children’s programs, carols, and special services. Lots of services. Consumer cultures have added decorated trees, candy canes, elves, shopping, cards, Santa (such a loser, that Texas Grinch guy), eggnog, stupid movies, and ugly sweaters. But I like it all, and every year I try to learn something new about it. My past Christmas blogs can attest to that.
The story: There was a stable of some sort where Jesus was born, singing angels that startled some shepherds, and astrologers from somewhere east who followed a “star” until it stopped at the right spot. Serious rivers, desert, escarpments, mountains and plains made travel challenging.
[plug – see my children’s Christmas book “A Special Day” at Amazon]
About that Star. It’s been a subject of debate (and scoffing) for decades. “We followed the star, and it stood still,” said the magi. Oh, ho, ho, ho.
However, some stunning sky shows did take place between the years 7 to 5bce. Jupiter and Saturn passed each other in the constellation of Pisces. Three times. That happens only about once every 900 years. A conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn formed soon after, and that happens every 800 years. A massive conjunction occurred early on the morning of April 17, 6bce.
Oh! And Jupiter was in retrograde. It stays that way for four months. Those wise men from the east may have spoken correctly when they said the star “stopped.” A planet in retrograde, seeming to move backward, does exhibit a final zag, a “pause.”
Matthew’s gospel says “It stopped over the place where the child was.” From earth it appears to stop before it settles down and speeds off in its proper direction. Retrograde. Zag. Look it up. I had to. Nice. Not magic. Not miracle. Just Nature.
For Near Eastern astrologers, Jupiter symbolized royalty. Jupiter was in Pisces, and Pisces was associated with the Jewish people. Not a comet or exploding nova, but a quiet “star” was wandering backward. Silly thing. Its place among the constellations confirmed that a new king of Jews had been born.
Those concerned with Palestinian trade routes between Egypt and Syria, paid attention to details. If the stars had something to say about power near the Via Maris, or the International Trunk Road . . . Well, better go see what the sky seemed to say, they must have said.
Those Parthians or Persians there in Babylon, Zoroastrian to the core, those speakers of Aramaic were plenty interested in what was happening in their world. If the stars said a new thing, they’d better know. So, according to a gospel written decades after the event, magi “traveled afar.”
Then—drum roll here— the star hung a while over the stable where the baby was born.
It's a big story, that original one. The sky tipped off some wise men who ticked off King Herod. They welcomed a baby’s birth, gave gifts, then made a wise decision (James Taylor sings about it) to “go home by another way,” without the knowledge or permission of a local king.
This year, 2023, Jupiter started “moving backward” in September. It’s in retrograde now. Watch the sky! On Sunday, December 31, the planet will end its retrograde. It will pause for a while, then fling itself forward in the direction it should go. The sky is full of wonder!
Happy All Sorts of Holidays! Merry Christmas! See you in the New Year. Barb
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