History of the Holidays: Jan 6, Epiphany

Epiphany is one of the three major Christian celebrations along with Christmas and Easter. Epiphany is not so well known in some countries, probably due to its proximity to Christmas. It is always celebrated on January 6th and commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus to the Magi or the three wise men. In some countries, it may be known as ’Three Kings Day’. Interestingly, the bible doesn’t mention how many wise men there were - just that three gifts were given and that they came from the east. The common consensus is that there were between two and twenty wise men. They were likely to have been Zoroastrian Priests. It wasn’t until about 500AD that three was accepted to be the standard number of wise men - the reasoning simply due to the number of gifts. To further complicate matters, the wise men may not even have been men or wise! In 2004, a report by the general synod of the church of England concluded that ’magi’ gives no indication as to number, or gender, or even to the level of wisdom. The distinct lack of Biblical detail hasn’t stopped the Magi being counted and christened. The traditional names of the three kings are Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, who are said to represent Europe, Arabia, and Africa respectively. Epiphany is derived from the Greek word ’epiphaneia’ and means manifestation. In religious use, the term means the appearance of an invisible divine being in a visible form. The celebration of the Epiphany began in the Eastern Church and included a celebration of Christ’s birth. By the 4th century AD, the various calendar reforms had moved the birth of Christ to December 25th and the church in Rome began celebrating January 6th as Epiphany. The Orthodox Church celebrates Epiphany on January 19th. Here the festival commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist rather than the visit of the Magi. Jesus was baptised when he was about 30 years old, so Orthodox Epiphany has little to do with the Christmas story. It still marks the end of the Christmas cycle. Read more at Nativity video: Videvo