“Arise in splendor, Jerusalem! Your Light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you!”
—Isaiah 60:1
Epiphany (<Gk.epi+phanein, a manifestation, an appearance, a bringing to light) signifies one of the oldest notions of creation from Greek mythology. The primordial god of creation and reproduction in the Orphic cosmogony, Phanes was the progenitor of Life itself, having emerged from a world egg that evolved into the cosmos. Phanes was the first king of the universe, who subsequently bequeathed his royal scepter to Nyx (Night), who later bequeathed it to her son, Ouranos (Heaven), only to have the scepter seized by Kronos, and eventually by Zeus, who became the ultimate ruler of the cosmos, and whose offspring were the Olympian gods. Pictured as a hermaphroditic deity with golden wings and encoiled by a serpent (symbol of wisdom and regenerative Life), Phanes was the picture of the Giver of Life itself. The Orphics associated Phanes with the elder Eros (Desire), familiar from Hesiod’s Theogony. The name was notoriously adopted by Antiochus IV when he ruled the Roman Empire from 175–164 B.C.E., a claim to personal deification that horrified his Jewish subjects, who were also victims of his brutal persecution, as chronicled in the biblical books of Daniel and 2 Maccabeus.
As many know, Epiphany eventually became a celebrated Christian feast in Latin (western) and Greek (eastern) traditions, borrowing its images of creative Light and Life from the earlier cosmogonies. Christians worship the revelation of the Divine in the Light that is Jesus. It was a truly potent concept that introduced Jesus, the Anointed (Christ), as God’s new sunrise, a dawning for all—Jews and Gentiles alike, meaning everyone—as the unfolding of the New Creation, the divine manifestation taking form as en-Lighten-ment. We are being bathed in Light when God’s own Being shines forth, which for Christians occurred with the birth of Jesus. The beautiful story of Matthew’s Magi, the wise seekers from the East, bore witness to the Light as they followed the star to Bethlehem where a lowly family welcomed the birth of a newborn son (Matthew 2:1–12). Into utter obscurity and humility, says Matthew’s redactor, the Light of the world emerged, worthy of gifts only appropriate for a king, gold and frankincense, and myrrh to anoint him for priestly and kingly ministry. Jesus, as Matthew’s Good News attests, was King of all creation, superior even to the shepherd-turned-warrior King David, or appearing as a new-and-improved liberator (like Moses), or a fantastical, miracle-working Elijah (prophet of God) whose primary ministry was to shepherd the people with justice and faithfulness while leading them to God, a beacon of Light if there ever was one.
All this in one tiny Babe. A true miracle and gift. They had only to open their eyes and Behold! Their Light had come!
- What is the Light that is dawning on us now? What is en-Lightening us?
- How might we “epiphanize” in 2021? How might we manifest the Divine for others? For all creation?
- What is en-Lightening us for the good of the whole, the wider “We?”
- What Light are we embracing in this New Year of birthing?
- What gifts are anointing us as we prepare for our ministry of service to the wider “We?”
- What is manifesting the Divine in our own journey through winter?
- How are we truly celebrating the manifestation of Light in our world?
Epiphany!
—Laura Weber, Prairiewoods associate director and retreats coordinator