Truth about Christmas Star

We have all heard that a divine Christmas star guided the three Magi to Christ about two thousand years ago. Astronomers have tried to calculate the time when a new star may have made appearance about the time it is believed to have shone but no such incident seems to be possible, according to their calculations. The theory that it could have been a shooting star is dismissed on the grounds that shooting stars or meteors last only for few seconds or minutes while the divine Star that we are talking about must have been there for weeks at least considering the great distances the Wise Men traveled to reach Jesus.

Comets can be seen for weeks and months but calculations of astronomers show that there were no comets near the Earth around the said birth of Christ. According to some stargazers, Jesus was born in the springtime of 6 B.C., and the Christmas Star that we talk of was actually the triangle of the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, the constellation that is known as Pisces. This constellation had appeared before the birth of Moses, so the three Wise Men who were eminent scholars and astrologers in their own right, interpreted it as a sign of a great event in the land of the Jews.

Pisces is also the special constellation of the Hebrew people. However, for the most believers, the appearance of the Christmas Star was simply a miracle and to this day Christian holiday begins with the appearance of the first star of Christmas Eve. In Poland, there is a Festival of the Star. After the Christmas Eve feast, the village priest tests the religious knowledge of the children as the 'Star Man' as a part of its ritual. Alaskan children carry star-shaped figures from house to house, sing carols and receive treats while Hungarians carve star on one half of the apple to invite good luck in their homes. All over the world, the Star remains the popular Christmas symbol and sparkling star patterns are used to decorate homes and trees alike.