Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.
Seasons and Reasons
This is the time when everyone gets out the holiday garb and attitude and puts on a festive face. Nonetheless, one hears some voices concerned people have related to Christmas with many people not seeing the “reason for the season,” which certainly is something I find troubling. However, my concerns are a bit different.
Here in the academic realm, especially at a state school, we tread lightly in the areas of religion in the classroom. However, we do often teach about religion from an academic perspective. For example, in our English course list, each winter we offer English 185: “Literary Approaches to the Bible,” often referred to as “The Bible as Literature” on other campuses. The focus is to treat the Bible as a literary text, just as we might regard Moby Dick, The Jungle, Great Expectations, or other masterpieces of “Western Civilization” by understanding the text in the context of the historical time, the cultural setting, the structural elements, the intended audiences, etc.
In the Bible, four different authors, working independently, have identified key episodes in the story of the life of Jesus. The tendency for most people is to piece together the four different versions of the life of Jesus to get a grand overview. If we look at the story of the birth of Jesus from an academic view, we would probably first notice that only two authors (Matthew and Luke) mention the details of the birth itself. Luke mentions the manger scene, witnessed by the shepherds, and Matthew mentions three kings from the East coming to find the special child, which obviously must have occurred some time later, knowing how slow the transit systems were back in those days.
Looking at the historical context, we can see some unusual circumstances. Of course people know that in the story Mary became pregnant before her marriage to Joseph. In those days, being unmarried and pregnant was a serious issue. Later in Jesus’ life we encounter the story of the harlot about to be stoned to death for her transgressions and early, in Jesus’ own lineage, Tamar narrowly escaped serious punishment when the judge, her own father-in-law Judah, realized he was the father of the unborn child. Tamar was then protected by the authority of Judah, as the patriarch of the extended family.
Knowing this, we can understand why the pregnant Mary would go to seek the protection of her own family, and the plot in the Bible story has her going to the home of her cousin, Elizabeth, who is married to Zacharias, a high priest. As the plot thickens, Elizabeth, who has been barren for many years, is in seclusion herself, six months into the miracle pregnancy of the son who will late grow up to become John the Baptist. As the story progresses, when Mary enters their home, Elizabeth notes that the child in her womb has leapt with excitement over the glory of the unborn child in Mary’s womb, for both Elizabeth and her unborn child recognize that Mary’s child is the coming Messiah.
All of this makes a lot of sense in the context of the Bible itself. The whole story is about Paradise Lost and the process of getting things back into order, which is why God is sending a messiah. The stories in the Old Testament portion of the Bible tell the tales of the people being prepared to receive this Messiah. The academic readers, who are following the plotline and thinking as they go, can see how God’s influence is guiding the events.
However, just as the story of the Garden of Eden at the beginning shows that the humans had choices to make in following God’s direction or not, the situation with Jesus becomes quite curious, for in the story, Mary only stays with Zacharias and Elizabeth for about three months. In other words, about the time of the birth of John the Baptist, Mary is sent off on her own, which puts her in serious peril as an unprotected, unmarried, and pregnant woman!
The bottom line here seems to be that the family of Zacharias is rebelling against the directions of God, and, even though they have been told the value and importance of the unborn child, they don’t want to have to deal with it. (We can pity Zacharias his situation with two pregnant women under his roof, and it does seem reminiscent of the story of Abraham dealing with the two women, Hagar and Sara, arguing over which son is the “true” heir. Like Abraham before him, Zacharias probably finally gave in and sent away the woman with the lesser claim!)
However, this is where the role of Joseph becomes essential, for after a dream of a conversation with an angel, Joseph agrees to go ahead and wed Mary. Thus, it seems things are resolved somewhat. Although the child will not have the advantages of being in a family with access to education and influence along the lines of what Moses had, at least the mother and unborn child have a male protector.
Unfortunately, it seems that this is all that Jesus has; when they travel for the census count to Bethlehem, the location of Joseph’s family, no one is willing to acknowledge them. Again, this plot twist piques the interest of the academic reader. Wouldn’t one expect that some family member, knowing that Mary was on the verge of giving birth, make some effort to find comfortable lodgings for the couple? The fact that they cannot even find space at a local inn indicates that the couple may have had family in the area, but apparently they had no friends.
In fact, the story continues with the couple only being able to find space in the stable area with the animals. Frankly, we can imagine how this was quite unpleasant. In modern reenactments, we see a nice fresh scene with soft clean fresh golden straw for the child, but the reality was probably much different. In that time and place, the animals were kept underground in caves, so air circulation was limited. What mother today would choose to give birth in such a location, most likely teeming with various kinds of e coli germs and who knows what else? The situation was probably pretty nasty, even by the standards of that time and place. If we, as readers, step back from the situation, from God’s perspective, this must have been very painful developments to suffer through.
Of course, God is not an idle God, even when the people follow other idols. We can see as the story progresses, that three kings from the East show up, having been “led” on a quest to find this special child. Of course, as visiting dignitaries, they stop in at Herod’s place. As the ruling monarch in the area, Herod would be the best contact for being able to find this special child. However, Herod himself has no clue where the child is, so he lets the three kings know that they should clue him in if they find the child, for he would like to pay homage himself.
Obviously, Jesus has been protected from Herod, for Jesus presents a serious threat to Herod’s power. The three kings are not dummies and they realize what kind of "homage" Herod really means. What’s interesting as the story continues is that these three foreigners are able to be guided directly to Jesus, while all Herod’s organization cannot find him.
As this story of cooperation and lack of cooperation by humans in response to God’s directions progresses, the thinking reader can surmise that these three dignitaries have been sent to provide the protection that has been denied the “holy” family up to this point. Unfortunately, the three kings follow the same pattern and slip out of the country by the back roads, avoiding any contact with Herod and his organization.
Instead of taking Jesus and his family with them to safety outside Herod's domain, all they do is leave behind some small gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Once again, Jesus has been abandoned and the family must escape on its own to Egypt in the west.
Thus, when people mention concerns about not recognizing “the reason for the season,” I experience bittersweet feelings about the “reason for the gift”: depending on what “gift” is referred to.
But after all, it’s just a story.
Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.
This is the time when everyone gets out the holiday garb and attitude and puts on a festive face. Nonetheless, one hears some voices concerned people have related to Christmas with many people not seeing the “reason for the season,” which certainly is something I find troubling. However, my concerns are a bit different.
Here in the academic realm, especially at a state school, we tread lightly in the areas of religion in the classroom. However, we do often teach about religion from an academic perspective. For example, in our English course list, each winter we offer English 185: “Literary Approaches to the Bible,” often referred to as “The Bible as Literature” on other campuses. The focus is to treat the Bible as a literary text, just as we might regard Moby Dick, The Jungle, Great Expectations, or other masterpieces of “Western Civilization” by understanding the text in the context of the historical time, the cultural setting, the structural elements, the intended audiences, etc.
In the Bible, four different authors, working independently, have identified key episodes in the story of the life of Jesus. The tendency for most people is to piece together the four different versions of the life of Jesus to get a grand overview. If we look at the story of the birth of Jesus from an academic view, we would probably first notice that only two authors (Matthew and Luke) mention the details of the birth itself. Luke mentions the manger scene, witnessed by the shepherds, and Matthew mentions three kings from the East coming to find the special child, which obviously must have occurred some time later, knowing how slow the transit systems were back in those days.
Looking at the historical context, we can see some unusual circumstances. Of course people know that in the story Mary became pregnant before her marriage to Joseph. In those days, being unmarried and pregnant was a serious issue. Later in Jesus’ life we encounter the story of the harlot about to be stoned to death for her transgressions and early, in Jesus’ own lineage, Tamar narrowly escaped serious punishment when the judge, her own father-in-law Judah, realized he was the father of the unborn child. Tamar was then protected by the authority of Judah, as the patriarch of the extended family.
Knowing this, we can understand why the pregnant Mary would go to seek the protection of her own family, and the plot in the Bible story has her going to the home of her cousin, Elizabeth, who is married to Zacharias, a high priest. As the plot thickens, Elizabeth, who has been barren for many years, is in seclusion herself, six months into the miracle pregnancy of the son who will late grow up to become John the Baptist. As the story progresses, when Mary enters their home, Elizabeth notes that the child in her womb has leapt with excitement over the glory of the unborn child in Mary’s womb, for both Elizabeth and her unborn child recognize that Mary’s child is the coming Messiah.
All of this makes a lot of sense in the context of the Bible itself. The whole story is about Paradise Lost and the process of getting things back into order, which is why God is sending a messiah. The stories in the Old Testament portion of the Bible tell the tales of the people being prepared to receive this Messiah. The academic readers, who are following the plotline and thinking as they go, can see how God’s influence is guiding the events.
However, just as the story of the Garden of Eden at the beginning shows that the humans had choices to make in following God’s direction or not, the situation with Jesus becomes quite curious, for in the story, Mary only stays with Zacharias and Elizabeth for about three months. In other words, about the time of the birth of John the Baptist, Mary is sent off on her own, which puts her in serious peril as an unprotected, unmarried, and pregnant woman!
The bottom line here seems to be that the family of Zacharias is rebelling against the directions of God, and, even though they have been told the value and importance of the unborn child, they don’t want to have to deal with it. (We can pity Zacharias his situation with two pregnant women under his roof, and it does seem reminiscent of the story of Abraham dealing with the two women, Hagar and Sara, arguing over which son is the “true” heir. Like Abraham before him, Zacharias probably finally gave in and sent away the woman with the lesser claim!)
However, this is where the role of Joseph becomes essential, for after a dream of a conversation with an angel, Joseph agrees to go ahead and wed Mary. Thus, it seems things are resolved somewhat. Although the child will not have the advantages of being in a family with access to education and influence along the lines of what Moses had, at least the mother and unborn child have a male protector.
Unfortunately, it seems that this is all that Jesus has; when they travel for the census count to Bethlehem, the location of Joseph’s family, no one is willing to acknowledge them. Again, this plot twist piques the interest of the academic reader. Wouldn’t one expect that some family member, knowing that Mary was on the verge of giving birth, make some effort to find comfortable lodgings for the couple? The fact that they cannot even find space at a local inn indicates that the couple may have had family in the area, but apparently they had no friends.
In fact, the story continues with the couple only being able to find space in the stable area with the animals. Frankly, we can imagine how this was quite unpleasant. In modern reenactments, we see a nice fresh scene with soft clean fresh golden straw for the child, but the reality was probably much different. In that time and place, the animals were kept underground in caves, so air circulation was limited. What mother today would choose to give birth in such a location, most likely teeming with various kinds of e coli germs and who knows what else? The situation was probably pretty nasty, even by the standards of that time and place. If we, as readers, step back from the situation, from God’s perspective, this must have been very painful developments to suffer through.
Of course, God is not an idle God, even when the people follow other idols. We can see as the story progresses, that three kings from the East show up, having been “led” on a quest to find this special child. Of course, as visiting dignitaries, they stop in at Herod’s place. As the ruling monarch in the area, Herod would be the best contact for being able to find this special child. However, Herod himself has no clue where the child is, so he lets the three kings know that they should clue him in if they find the child, for he would like to pay homage himself.
Obviously, Jesus has been protected from Herod, for Jesus presents a serious threat to Herod’s power. The three kings are not dummies and they realize what kind of "homage" Herod really means. What’s interesting as the story continues is that these three foreigners are able to be guided directly to Jesus, while all Herod’s organization cannot find him.
As this story of cooperation and lack of cooperation by humans in response to God’s directions progresses, the thinking reader can surmise that these three dignitaries have been sent to provide the protection that has been denied the “holy” family up to this point. Unfortunately, the three kings follow the same pattern and slip out of the country by the back roads, avoiding any contact with Herod and his organization.
Instead of taking Jesus and his family with them to safety outside Herod's domain, all they do is leave behind some small gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Once again, Jesus has been abandoned and the family must escape on its own to Egypt in the west.
Thus, when people mention concerns about not recognizing “the reason for the season,” I experience bittersweet feelings about the “reason for the gift”: depending on what “gift” is referred to.
But after all, it’s just a story.
Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.
