The Magi and Star in the East: Pre-Christian and Astrotheological?

Vehemence is expected when presenting suppressed and widely unknown data, unfortunately, when attached to religious connotations; such vehement suppression is only destined to continue. This video series is an attempt to open the eyes of those indoctrinated into historical falsehood, and to empower the individual to research further in the long and winding quest for truth.

The Three Kings motif is ubiquitous throughout mythology, so it is no surprise to find Pre-Christian sources relating to this in the Egyptian Mythos. However, such stories are also elucidated upon within Buddhism and Hinduism, as has been demonstrated by numerous works(1). It is not the purpose of this video to illustrate them here, however; I shall briefly note upon these well documented parallels.

Firstly, I shall cover the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ and demonstrate how common a theme it was for the birth of a God man to be announced by Astrological phenomena. Matthew chapter two narrates:

‘When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying: ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.’’

Matthew 2:9 continues:

‘The star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was’

The fact that the star ‘stood over where the young child was’ furthers the astrotheological motif of this narrative, as I shall demonstrate, Sirius essentially stands over the birth of the Sun at the Winter Solstice. In the Egyptian mythos, Osiris was also associated with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, also known as the Dog Star, although such an appellation wasn’t of exclusivity, for Sothis (or Sirius) was also considered the star of Isis. James Frazer remarks upon the Egyptian’s high esteem for this object of adoration:

‘…the splendid star of Sirius, the brightest of all fixed stars, appeared at dawn in the east just before the sunrise about the time of the Summer Solstice, when the Nile begins to rise. The Egyptians called it Sothis, and regarded it as the Star of Isis…’(2)

Thus the rising of Sirius was associated with the inundation of the Nile, or the birth of the Nile about the time of the Summer Solstice. Osiris was also God of the Nile or the Nile itself, as indicated by CT Sp. 317:115:

‘I (Osiris) am the Nile-god, Lord of Waters, who brings vegetation…’(3)

Thus it could be said that a Star in the East heralded the birth of the Egyptian Messiah thousands of years before Christianity adopted such a concept. Regarding Sirius’ association with Horus, Egyptologist James Allen elucidates:

‘Sothis… The morning star, Sirius, seen by the Egyptians as a Goddess. In Egypt the star disappears below the horizon once a year for a period of some seventy days; it’s reappearance in midsummer marked the beginning of the annual inundation and the Egyptian year. The star’s rising was also seen as a harbinger of the sunrise and therefore associated with Horus in his solar aspect, occasionally specified as Horus in Sothis, Sothic Horus, or Sharp Horus.’(4)

Here we learn that Sirius was often deemed the ‘Morning Star’, an epithet also ascribed to Horus and Osiris; as can be observed in PT 519:1207a, in which ‘Horus of the Duat’ (or ‘Horus of the Netherworld’, which could also be referring to Osiris) is called the ‘Morning Star’(5). This alone is a parallel to Christianity in itself, as in Revelation 22:16, Jesus is presented as the ‘Morning Star’; or Sirius. Thus as asserted by Matthew Chapter 2, the star in the east truly was ‘his star’, in the same way such a star was related with Osiris and Horus.

Furthermore, PT 593:1636b dictates:

‘Horus the pointed has come forth from thee, in his name of ‘Horus who was in Sothis.’’(6)

‘Horus in Sothis’ refers to the Sun rising with Sirius. Yet again, we find a reference in Ancient Texts to a Saviour God’s birth being announced by a star in the east!

Lastly, the Egyptian Book of the Dead Chapter 65 depicts the deceased as Horus pleading:

‘May I rise up a babe (from between) the knees of Sothis, when they close together?’(7)

The word translated by Renouf meaning ‘rise up’, can also be translated as ‘live’(8). Moreover, in Chapter 42, Renouf identifies the babe as ‘the Rising Sun’ - whence the Babe-Horus asks to be born from Sothis. A further indication is given in Chapter 101, in which Horus is said to ‘reside in Sothis’(9) Thus Horus is born as the sun rises in conjunction with the star in the east.

Now we shall discuss the Magi, or Wise Men that were said to adorn Jesus at birth. Such a motif can be found in Buddhism, as related by ‘Oriental Religions’ p500 and Krishna as related by the ‘Catholic Encyclopaedia’(10). The Biblical account of this is as follows:

‘And when they were come into the house they saw the young child, with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.’(11)

However, Luke appears completely unaware of this, instead he informs us that shepherds came and worshipped the young child! They were keeping their flocks one night, when the Lord appeared before them and stated:

‘Behold, I bring you good tidings – for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’(12)

The Shepherds then proceed to Bethlehem, without the guidance of a star in the east. Despite this obvious Biblical discrepancy, I shall focus on the story depicted in Matthew, what it really means, and how it was depicted in Egypt.

The Magi represent the three stars in Orion’s belt, which in turn, align with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. These three stars were known in antiquity as ‘the three kings’, although French philosopher Simone Weil asserted:

‘The Christians named the three stars of Orion the Magi’(13)

The rising of Orion to the Egyptians signified the end of the flooding of the Nile towards the Winter Solstice, as related by Egyptologist Dr. Mosjov:

‘Both Sirius and Orion were related to the Nile flood. The ascent of Sirius during the third week in June heralded the beginning of the Nile’s steady rise. By August in Upper Egypt, and September in the north, the river swelled to its full capacity. Then stars from the constellation of Orion emerged in the night sky after being invisible for seventy days. At this time, the river began to abate. By November, it was back in its bed’ (14)

Orion was also identified with Osiris, as evinced by PT 442:819c-822b:

“Look, he is come as Orion’ (they say). ‘Look, Osiris is come as Orion…’ The sky shall conceive you with Orion, the morning star shall give you birth with Orion. Live! Live, as the gods have commanded you live. With Orion in the eastern arm of the sky shall you go up, with Orion in the western arm of the sky shall you go down. Sothis, whose places are clean, is the third of you two: she is the one who will lead you…’(15)

Thus Osiris is Orion, who is a marker for the soul’s journey, as lead by Sirius. Dr Mosjov continues:

‘Sirius and Orion, Isis and Osiris, inseparable in heaven as on earth, heralded the inundation and the rebirth of life. Their appearance in the sky was a measure of time and a portent of great magnitude. In historic times, both occasions were always marked by celebrations’(16)

The three stars of Orion’s belt were named Mintaka, Aniltak and Anilam(17), and as illustrated, these three stars were said to be lead by Sothis as indicated earlier. Thus Sirius announces the birth of Osiris as the Nile at the summer solstice, and in winter the three kings, or Orion, follow, or point to Sirius at night before the annual birth of the sun.

Gerald Massey summarises:

‘The birthplace of the ‘coming one’ as it passed from sign to sign was indicated by the typical ‘star in the east’, and the star in the east will afford undeniable data for showing the mythical and celestial origin of the gospel history. When the divine child is born, the wise men or magi declare that they have seen his star in the east. The wise men are identified as three kings of other legends who are not to be derived from the canonical gospels… When the birthplace was in the sign of the Bull, the star in the east that arose to announce the birth of the babe was Orion, which is therefore called the star of Horus. That was once the star of the three kings for the ‘three kings’ is still a name of the three stars in Orion’s belt; and in the hieroglyphs a three-looped string is a symbol of Sahu, i.e., the constellation of Orion. Orion was the star of the Three Kings which rose to show the time and place of birth in heaven some 6,000yrs ago, when the vernal equinox was in the sign of the bull…’(18)

That Orion was known as the Star of Horus is further evinced to by Plutarch, who relates; ‘the soul of Horus is called Orion.’(19) From Massey we also learn that the hieroglyph of Orion was a ‘three-looped string’, which is illustrated by Budge(20). This proves that the Egyptians were well aware of the three stars of Orion’s belt. It has also been suggested that the three pyramids of Giza are representative of the ‘three kings’. Regardless, it has been demonstrated abundantly that the Egyptians were well aware of this astrological phenomenon, and incorporated it into the mythos as a herald for the forthcoming saviour.

(1) See Amberly’s Analysis; Bunsen, AM; Oriental Religions etc

(2) Frazer, AAO, p34-35

(3) Faulkner, AECT, I, p241

(4) Allen J, AEPT, p441

(5) Anthes, ATTM, p187

(6) Mercer, PT, p251; Faulkner, AEPT, p244; Allen J, AEPT, p217

(7) Renouf, EBD, p128; Allen T, BD, p60

(8) Murdock, CIE, p202

(9) Renouf, EBD, p172; Allen T, BD, p83; Faulkner, EBD, p112

(10) www.newadvent.org/cathen/02730a.htm

(11) Matthew, 2:2

(12) Luke 2:8

(13) Weil, NSW, p474

(14) Mosjov, ODAG, p6

(15) Allen J, AEPT, p107; Faulkner, AEPT, p147; Mercer, PT, p153; Griffiths, OOHC, p13

(16) Mosjov, ODAG, p7

(17) Gould, p37

(18) Massey, HJMC, p12-13

(19) Plutarch/Babbit, p53

(20) Budge, EHD, I, p638