I have been musing over the question, who knew that The Christ was actually being born?
The Text
Mary knew, the Archangel Gabriel told her.
Joseph was told by an angel.
The shepherds were told first by one of God’s messengers who came and explained things, but then the shepherds were also treated to a view of a multitude of the heavenly hosts, .
Elizabeth knew when the pregnant Mary visited the pregnant Elizabeth.
John the Baptist knew first while in the womb…how cool is that! But then knew again when he baptized Jesus, and saw the spirit descending.
The Magi knew. I gather they knew from their science that The Christ must be born at a certain time and place. Very cool to have a science that can tell you that sort of thing.
Herod was informed by The Magi that the King of the Jews was born in Herod’s jurisdiction. This created a vortex of worldly panic, “When king Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people, he asked of them, where Christ should be born.” So in one form or another Herod, all Jerusalem, the Chief Priests and Scribes all knew, or at least heard it from someone.
Simeon knew. He was very old, but was told “that he should not see death, before he had seen that Anointed of the Lord.“ When Mary & Joseph came to the temple with the infant Jesus, Simeon knew.
The Prophetess Anna knew also upon seeing the baby Jesus in the Temple - though the exact wording leaves me a bit unclear. “She then coming at the same instant upon them, confessed likewise the Lord, and spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.“
COMMENTARY
How we know
Some know because a higher level says so: all those informed by Angels.
but how do we know how to hear & trust the higher level? Have kicked that can down the road?
Some know because of a sign: John seeing the spirit descending like a dove.
similarly, how does the person know to trust the knowledge to trust the sign?
Some know because their science says it must be so: Magi
Some know by direct perception: John-in-the-womb, Simeon, Anna
These are all valid ways. None is shown to be lesser, none is the better way of knowing.
The chain from top to bottom
My little sketch, see above, tries to capture the scope of who knew, from top to bottom. The plan for this story starts at the very top, from God-the-Father, and makes itself known all the way down to a corrupt local official, Herod, who actually goes and murders all the children who might have been born in that time and place.
This story starts by becoming known to all these actors.
The communication jumps and criss-crosses. Archangels can inform some, but regular-old-messengers-from-God are used elsewhere. The scientists inform the politicians. Some people just know - “how did you know?” “I’m not sure, I just knew”.
The communication reaches all the needed places.
My Affinities
I feel Simeon & Anna. The choice of devotion is dear to me. I can imagine easily a sequence of world events that would land me right with Simeon & Anna, in the temple, for years. That life seems absurd to contemporary educated folk. I can see it right next to me.
I feel The Shepherds. To me, The Shepherds refers to all spiritual teachers who have spiritual schools. At the time of Jesus the world was in darkness. The shepherds tended their flocks by night. “By night” means spiritual darkness. The world was losing itself in materialism, quickly becoming more lost. The world might have been lost, because there is a point of no return when we sign over ourselves to matter. The Shepherds are all those teachers who persist and protect their flock, even when it is dark outside and there is no evidence from the outside. And I love that The Shepherds were treated to the extra vision of the Heavenly Hosts, like a balm on their sore souls, as I wish all my teachers can experience “And straightway there was with the Angel a multitude of heavenly soldiers, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will ”
The only thing I would interject into this absorbing and beautiful overview of who knew that the Christ had appeared would be that the magi were led and instructed by the prophet Daniel during the captivity by the Babylonians,et al. when Nebuchadnezzar placed him in that position. His prophecies as to the timing of the Christ’s arrival would likely have been with at least a few of his confidants. Daniel at the least understood their mystical way driven by the cosmos and could potentially be seen as a conduit for the Magi loop.
The Maji really did know their esoteric astrology and astronomy. A fun few pieces I’ve put together from astronomy, European history, anthropology, esoteric knowledge:
The star Arcturus had its midnight culmination over Bethlehem in the spring just over 2000 years ago.
Specifically, only from that exact location would Arcturus have appeared directly overhead at exactly the midnight hour. We have from esoteric knowledge (Edgar Cayce among others), that Arcturus was “His Star”. We know from anthropologists that thousands of years ago already, Polynesians used to navigate using Arcturus (which they called “the Star of Joy”), by sailing to the latitude where it would pass overhead, then following it west night after night until it culminated. The same technique we know they used, and with the same Star, would have put them in Bethlehem on that night, if that known technique was still used 2000 years ago. Finally, if you understand that the Catholic Church changed the date of Christmas many years later, when the Church was trying to convert European pagans and made Christmas match their winter solstice festivals, then you understand partially why the information was lost.
Now, the star Arcturus itself is fascinating on its own. Even though it is the closest red giant to us, and well observed, a huge number of observations don’t fit theory at all. Observations over decades show it is heating up (no theoretical reason why, and not observed in other stars), has unexplained “radial velocity pulsations”, shows signs of a strong magnetic field at its surface (it shouldn’t according to theory, because Arcturus is slow spinning), and, as my own work shows, Arcturus is the center around which the sun and a few other stars revolve. Most importantly though, stars like Arcturus are known for orders of magnitude brightening or dimming for days or weeks only, and not just in visible light but other energies as well. Might this be a piece of the religious/esoteric puzzle?