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mask131 · 1 year

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Cold winter: Los Reyes Magos

LOS REYES MAGOS

Category: Spanish folklore / Christmas season / Biblical lore

In Spain, children don’t wait eagerly for Christmas. Christmas is a big holiday for adults, not for them! They don’t get any presents on Christmas… No, they only get presents during the other big holiday of the winter season. Not Christmas, not New Year… But the Epiphany, also known as “El dia de los Reyes” (The day of the Kings). And they don’t get their presents from any Santa or Saint Nicholas – but from Los Reyes Magos, The King-Magi – or those that the English like to call “The Three Wise Men”.

Everybody knows the story… After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, three “wise men” (not actually but more about that later) came from the east to Judea, and asked king Herod to see the child that had been born “king of the Jews”, explaining that they knew he was here for they followed his “star” in the night sky, and came to pay homage. King Herod, who had tried to kill baby Jesus before, then sent the three wise men to search the baby on their own, but told them to come return to him afterward so he could too “pay homage” to the “king of the Jews”. Following the rising star, the three wise men finally found where baby Jesus was – and they all kneeled before him and his family, offering three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. But a dream warned them not to return to Herod or inform him about the child’s location, so after they paid their homage they “returned to their country by another path”.

In Spain, the Epiphany is a grand celebration of the Magi : they are the ones supposed to bring gifts to children on the night of the Epiphany (and the children notably have to send letters to the three Kings to explain their desires, just like with Santa). Each Epiphany Day great and colorful parades are organized throughout the town (called the cabalgatas de los reyes mmagos or cavalcades of the Magi), welcoming the three Kings as they throw candies and goodies at the audience: Melchior from Europe (or Arabia depending on the tradition), Gaspar from Asia, and Balthazar from Africa. Coming from the East while riding camels, they then proceed during the night (or the eve’s night) to visit each household, leaving gifts for the children in their polished shoes. In exchange, the children leave some food and drinks for both the Kings and their camels – sweet wine, fruits, milk, dried grass and hay… If the child was good, they will receive a gift – but if the child was bad, they will receive coal (though, just like with the Befana’s tradition, the coal was promptly replaced by a form of black candy called “sweet coal”). There is also a specific cake for the Epiphany, called the “Roscon de Reyes” (accents not included), a brioche-like cake with orange blossom water for the taste. It is in the shape of a circle, to mimic a crown, and has as “jewels” candied or crystalized fruits. Usually filled with cream (though some are “plain” without filling, while others prefer chocolate cream or whipped cream), it also contains a small figurine shaped like one of the Reyes Magos, and dried bean. Whoever gets the slice with the figurine is crowned the “king” or “queen” for the day, and is ensured to have good luck for the year ; however the one that gets the bean will have to pay for the cake.

I want to return on what I said before… the fact that the three Kings come from three different continents. It is a tradition that exists outside of Spain, and for quite a long time. In fact it was a tradition started by medieval art, and then reused by Renaissance art heavily – before being picked up by folk traditions such as the Epiphany holidays. This tradition insists on having the three Magi correspond to the three parts of the world (as they were known in the Middle-Ages, and before the discovery of America, “the fourth continent”). Hence the separation above and the idea that the Three Kings were white, oriental and black – to represent how the powerful kings of the entire world came kneeling down in front of Jesus. But this tradition tends to overlap with another one… another habit that rather has the three Kings represent the three ages of men, one being old, the other middle-age, and the last young. Sometimes the two depictions are separate, other times they overlap – and the last case is fascinating because the choice of superposition is not innocent. In this overlap, Melchior the European will be depicted as an old man, because in medieval (and Renaissance) ideas, Europe was the “old civilization” and the “father” of all things. Meanwhile, Balthazar of Africa will be depicted as a young man, because in medieval and Renaissance mindsets Africa was a “child” continent with barely any civilization (and if you told them Africa had a much older history than Europe they would have laughed in your face). Gaspar the Asian is usually the middle-aged one.

But this tradition of the “symbolism of three” actually comes from art and folk traditions – I want to insist on this. It is not a religious tradition, because for religious authorities and the “actual” Christian culture (pushing aside all local traditions), the three wise men don’t come from just anywhere in the world. They come from the East, the text is pretty clear.

But before that, let’s take a look at the actual title of these guys… People call them the “three wise men”. Wrong translation. Or an oversimplified one. People call them the “Three Kings” and the “Three Magi”, and this is half-right, because they are “king-magi”. The “king” part is pretty obvious, but the “Magi” part might be more obscure to people today. “magi” is the plural of “magus” which, yes, is the origin of “mage” and with time came to mean “sorcerer” (the New Testament several times use the term “magi” to designate sorcerer and male witches, like Simon the Mage or Elymas). But here, “magus” has to be understood in its original sense: the Greek transliteration of the Old Persian “magus”, which is actually a term designating the priesthood of Zoroastrianism. The Zoroastrian priests were most notably renowned as astronomers, because their study and religious practices demanded that they knew and observed the starts and the constellations (hence the whole “we followed a star to find the babe”). And, due to being both priests and astronomers, the “magi” came to be seen and perceived as men dabbling in the “occult” or men of many high and intellectual crafts – hence the evolution into “wise men” and “sorcerers”, and how from “priesthood-rulership” the “three magi kings” turned into “knowledgeable kings dabbling into astronomy”. That, coupled with them “coming from the East”, came to people identifying them as kings from the Parthian Empire, which stretches from Syria to India, and had Zoroastrianism as a dominant religion.

The most well-known and agreed “origins” of the three “scholar-kings” in religious traditions has a given set of countries: Persia for Melchior; India for Caspar (or Gaspar or Jaspar), Arabia for Balthasar (or Balthazar), though he is sometimes rather given Ethiopia as a kingdom. But there is another one, which overlaps with the “three ages of man” depictions, that rather claims that Caspar was the old one and “king of Tarsus” (a land on the southern coasts of today’s Turkey), Melchior was the middle-aged ruler of Arabia, and Balthazar the young man coming from Saba (today’s northern Yemen).

Similarly, which magus gave which gift to baby Jesus is a big subject of debates – but everyone agrees on the fact that there were three gifts. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. The meaning of these gifts has also been heavily debated. Some people invoke that, very simply, it just are very valuable, very rare gifts, precious enough to be worthy of a king – myrrh being a precious body oil, frankincense a type of perfume, and gold being gold. These people hold that the gifts should merely be interpreted as “gifts for a newborn king”. But another group rather wants to see in those gifts three symbols reflecting Jesus’ life, and his nature as the Christ. Indeed, “gold” would mean a form of material power and wealth, and reflect an earthly kingship, while frankincense (which is used as incense) would reflect a type of worship and prayers, and mean a divine nature (as Jesus is the “son of god”). As for the myrrh… it was used as an embalming oil, and would represent death – either the mortal nature of this son of God, or his foretold death at the cross, a crucifixion needed to redeem all of humanity. This is notably associated with a famous sentence “Gold, as to a king ; myrrh, as to one who was mortal ; and incense, as to a God”. (A “softer” interpretation in this sense rather invokes gold as symbolizing a great, pure virtue ; frankincense as representing a strong faith and solid prayers, while myrrh is here to symbolize the suffering of a mortal life).

- - - - - -

Unfortunately, in modern urban areas of Spain, the tradition of the Reyes Magos as gift-givers tends to be replaced by the much more well-known and widespread Santa Claus.

But I want to add one thing about the “Magi-Kings”. I talked about the folkloric and artistic tradition. I talked about the religious tradition. However, what about the original text? It is fascinating to look at the actual text that speaks of them, only one of the four Gospels, Matthew’s Gospel. Because… well most of what we “know” or believe about this trio isn’t in there.

For example yes, the three wise men come from the east… But the text never specifies that they were three. This idea came from the fact the magi came bearing three gifts – but nowhere in the text are they said to be three. (In fact early traditions and depictions spoke of two, four of five magi). Similarly, the names “Gaspar, Balthazar and Melchior” aren’t in the New Testament. They were “found” or “invented” later, in posterior texts. In fact some local churches give them different names: the Ethiopian Church, one of the oldest branches of Christianity in the world, calls them “Hor”, “Karsudan” and “Basanater”. And let’s tackle another myth: “reyes” magos ; “rois” mages ; “king” magi… The text never specifies that they were kings. The text only speaks of “magi”. Nowhere are they king. So where does it comes from? Well, this idea comes from the Old Testament, not the New, where a prophecy/vision describes the future upcoming Messiah (identified by Christians as Jesus) as being worshipped by kings upon his birth… Which the Christians promptly related to the scene of the “Adoration of the Magi”, when the magi kneeled in front of young Jesus bearing their gifts. And so bam! From just astrologer-priests, they became kings!

#cold winter #the three wise men #epiphany #los reyes magos #the three magi #the three kings #christian lore

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septembergold · 1 year

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#The Three Kings #candles

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wombocombo4x3 · 4 months

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Finishing YuYu Hakusho For The First Time - Chapter Black & The Three Kings

#youtube #Totally Not Mark #Video #Yu Yu Hakusho #Video Review #Video Essay #Chapter Black #The Three Kings #Anime #Manga

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lotus-pear · 24 days

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drew my beautiful wife today.....hes as beautiful as i remember

#guys i genuinely don't think you understand how much i love kunikida. every time i see him my lifespan is increased by three years #also i can't draw his hair sorry king💔#bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #kunikida doppo #doppo kunikida #erm perhaps also knkdz? they're barely there but i'll still tag it ig #kunikidazai #knkdz #lotus draws

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frenchublog · 11 months

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Steal their look 👗

#arcane #silco #jinx #jinx and silco #sevika #sevika arcane #silco arcane #jinx arcane #look at them #princess of Zaun #yes this follows my previous old post about the Piltover reception #here are the outfits #finally #my art #Please don't repost #there's a fun fact about one of these items #like really hilarious #anyway we stan these three #hail to the rat king silco

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kizzer55555 · 22 days

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DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game

Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter.

Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.

The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge.

And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).

And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game.

Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.

(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).

After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely).

Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.

#DPxDC #dcxdp #Danny makes a card game to save the world.#Technically he worded the ritual so that they had to ‘beat’ him as those are the most powerful barriers and most reliable.#keys can just get lost or stolen (like the one to Pariah’s Coffin)#A riddle would be useless once someone figured out the answer. Like how no one takes the sphynx seriously anymore.#(Sorry Tuck. But it’s true).#And there is NO WAY Danny is just leaving a hole open for anyone to pass through. No thank you!#So…beating him. But it’s not like Danny wanted to fight so…he edited the ritual a TINY bit. Card games are good. Much less painful too.#Danny Tucker and Sam made the most complicated card game they could imagine.#It’s based on their strategies for fighting ghosts. Capturing them in thermoses. And MUCH based on a on field battle strategy.#It often requires spontaneous thinking on the spot. So Danny? In his ELEMNT. It doubles as practice for his actual ghost battles too.#They had SO much fun making this.#Sam added an entire series of plant cards that act as traps and healing ointments and duds that just take up the field.#Tucker added legitimate hyroglyphics combined with Latin as well as English and ghost speak.#Yes. You actually have to speak that language to play. With proper pronunciation. (Amity Parker’s think the three are talking gibberish.)#I headcanon Sam and Tucker are fluent in Ghost.#Constantine WILL figure this game out SO HELP HIM!#Some of the cards also have combinations related to constellations either in name or placement on the board.#By the way the board is based on a Hexagonal summoning circle with Rhunes along the edges #And the placement of the cards on the board and on what rhune MATTERS.#Also the cards move disintegrate and have certain abilities. Think of Harry Potter Wizard Chess.#But they are normal when Danny plays at school. This is just for ✨effect✨ Against invaders.#Danny faces multiple opponents. He also halts alien invasions.#While Danny COULD stop crime on earth he’s not sure how to fight a normal human and hold back so he sticks to ghosts.#The Justice league are going crazy trying to figure out who this entity is and after deep research are convinced this is some sort of #Ancient being who has protected earth for millenia. They have paintings on ruins and everything.#Danny is not aware they think this.#Raven starts praying to Danny as if he is a god and wrangles the other Teen Titans into doing so as well. Danny is still unaware of this.#Danny is not a King or an ancient. Just a very VERY strong ghost.

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thereisnoafter · 1 year

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The Three Kings are coming.

#carmen nuñez #woman photographer on tumblr #santa cruz de tenerife #the three kings #the wise men #iphone #reyes magos #original work #original photography blog #photographers on tumblr #street photography

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triauds · 4 months

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Adventure time specials

#adventure time #bubbline #marceline #princess bubblegum #petrigrof #ice king #susan strong #had the urge #finn and jake #finn the human #jake the dog #they really third wheeled three sapphic couples in a row

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versey21 · 1 year

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6th January

The Three Kings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Today is Epiphany, the date on which the Adoration of the Magi is commemorated and which marks the unequivocal end to the Christmas season. In this poem, Longfellow retells the journey of the Three Kings to find the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, led by a guiding Star, so they can honour him as King of the Jews. Selected stanzas follow below.

Source: History Today

The Three Kings

Three Kings came riding from far away,

Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;

Three Wise Men out of the East were they,

And they travelled by night and they slept by day,

For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,

That all the other stars of the sky

Became a white mist in the atmosphere.

And by this they knew that the coming was near

Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

…

And so the Three Kings rode into the West,

Through the dusk of the night, over hills and dells,

And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,

And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,

With the people they met at the wayside wells.

…

And they rode away; and the star stood still,

The only one in the grey of morn;

Yes, it stopped, it stood still of its own free will,

Right over Bethlehem on the hill,

The city of David where Christ was born.

…

And cradled there in the scented hay,

In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,

The little child in the manger lay,

The Child, that would be King one day

Of a kingdom not human but divine.

…

They laid their offerings at his feet:

The gold was a tribute to a King,

The frankincense, with its odour sweet,

Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,

The myrrh for the body’s burying.

…

Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,

With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;

But they went not back to Herod the Great,

For they knew his malice and feared his hate,

And returned to their homes by another way.

The story of the Magi in Matthew is tantalisingly brief: he terms them “wise men” not Kings, and the names associated with the trio were a later addition. If they existed at all, the Wise Men are likely to have been astronomers - the term “Magi” relates to the Persian priests of the contemporary Zoroastrian religion, who were also star watchers. Equally, Matthew’s story could be symbolic, recognising Jesus’ relevance to the non-Jewish world.

#poetry #henry wadsworth longfellow #the three kings #epiphany

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