Cobbett’s Wey DFAS
December
2009
Lecture
The Three Wise Men
Cobbett’s Wey Decorative and Fine
Arts Society celebrated Christmas with a seasonal lecture by Christopher
Bradley on the “The Three Wise Men –the Traditions of the Magi”. Members
of the society are a friendly, sociable group who braved the awful
weather to listen to a memorable lecture and afterwards mingle with
other members while enjoying wine and mince pies. Maggie Johnson, the
Chairman, was unwell, but her role was ably filled by Sue Bowness, who
welcomed everyone and the Secretary, Diana Megson, who organized the
refreshments after the lecture with military precision.
Christopher Bradley is an expert on the history and culture of the
Middle East and explored the origins of the Magi. The term “magi” is
plural of “magus”, which is a term used since at least the 4th century
BC to denote a follower of the prophet Zoroaster, who lived 3,000 years
ago in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and who taught that there was only one
God. In Persepholis, the capital of the Persian Empire, the priests were
called Magi. In the 5th century BC Herodotus notes that Magi were expert
in interpreting people’s dreams. They travelled from country to country
giving counsel while acting as ambassadors to other territories. Their
interests were alchemy, understanding time and tides and developing a
calendar. Their study of the night sky led them to believe that whatever
was in the stars would be reflected on earth. They developed the signs
of the zodiac and were the scholars of their day.
We learned that the Magi who visited Jesus Christ probably came from
Babylon or Persia by the Silk Route. Christopher explained the origins
of the gifts they brought to Jesus. Frankincense comes from a tree that
grows in the desert Oman region and myrrh comes from a bush and is used
to anoint the dead. The significance of these gifts is that frankincense
was given because he was God, myrrh because he was a man and gold
because he was a king. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon in Israel
she travelled the same route as the Magi and took frankincense, myrrh
and gold.
The Magi are always depicted as riding on camels, but we learned that
this would never have happened, as camels were far too valuable to be
ridden by people! A fully loaded camel travels about 25 miles and there
would have been overnight stops every 25 miles on the Silk Route. The
Magi would have joined a caravan for protection and would either have
walked or have ridden horses. Traditionally we are told there were three
wise men, but their numbers could have been anything from two to thirty.
It is thought that Christ was born on 29th July, 7BC, because of the
unusual star and planet movement in the night skies. In this triple
conjunction, Jupiter, the royal star, and Saturn came together in the
sky three times over the course of several months. Significantly, this
occurred with the constellation of Pisces, which is the constellation of
Israel. The wise men were literally that, and to draw their attention,
whatever happened would have to have been something which occurred not
just once every few years, but perhaps once every 800 years such as a
Piscean triple conjunction.
CWDFAS
is a member of NADFAS
