Daily Signet

We know that the gifts of the magi were given in recognition of the significance of the birth and in response to the prophetic signs of the star and the astrological configurations of the sky. The wisemen, believed to be members of the Zoroastrian priestly caste, brought gifts not only of great market value—gold, myrrh and frankincense were expensive and comparable in their perceived “preciousness”—but also of great priestly significance—all three are traditional elements in religious ritual.

Frankincense is said to represent life and is often mixed with oils to anoint newborn infants; at its essence it is about birth and rebirth. Myrrh was used as a embalming ointment and up until about the 15th century as penitential incense in funerals and cremations; at its essence it is about death. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and all the characteristics of the sun; at its essence it is about light, energy, and radiance. At the birth of Christ—two incenses, two extractions—one for birth and one for death—and the highly valued gold, symbolic of the sustaining light of sun—man’s closest, most important star.

In this season of gifts, where we echo the wisemen of old and offer gifts to each other—tokens of our esteem, our love, our honor—there is no better time to sit down before the proverbial evergreen tree of life and sort through the gifts beneath its boughs—to take the time to recognize, call out, name some of the many amazing gifts and speak of those gifts that carry the qualities exemplified in the gifts of the wisemen –essences that echo the significance, the sacraments of birth and death, and the sustaining gold of light and enlightenment— gifts that are eternal and timeless.

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Grace Paley born 12-11-22 in the Bronx, New York: short story writer, poet, teacher and political activist and writer of; Enormous Changes At the Last Minute, Later the Same Day and Just As I Thought. Died 8-22-07
Quotes: “Let us go forth with fear and courage and rage to save the world.” “You become a writer because you need to become a writer – nothing else.”