We Three Kings! - The Mystery of the Magi...

One of my favourite Christmas carols growing up is ‘We Three Kings’. I first got into it when I was about 14 and dancing in a my high school Christmas Musical that was an original work written by one of our beloved teachers- The late Mrs. Joy Moore who was an inspiration to myself and many of the students she touched from conversations I’ve since had with fellow students. I know she is still embracing Universal Collective Prayer somewhere out there! The play was about Christmas and adapted totally to be set in Trinidad with the core message being about good versus evil but in one ongoing subplot in the story there was ‘The Three Kings’ getting lost and ending up in Trinidad instead of I guess Bethlehem? But it was where our dance came in…cause when ‘The Three Kings’ said the line...“Boy, I sure miss home…” or something to that effect cause I can’t remember it word for word now…but it was our cue for coming in with the dance. You see I was part of this Indian folk dance group when I was younger and although our dance was actually to a Hindi song about Ram, we had learned to perform to the music by use of scarves. And I guess at the time it was the closest thing to perhaps Belly dancers? We wore kinda Indian village clothes with orhnis and stuff but at the time it didn’t have belly dancing groups in Trinidad or Middle Eastern dancers as there are actually now and plus they had to be students of the school etc. So Indian dancers were sought to make up the act but I think too it was Mrs. Moore’s way or reflecting the diverse cultures of Trinidad in the play. Anyway I always felt that not all of the other girls in the dance act were so into it as I but I was really excited about it…I remember explaining to the girls how I envisioned it when I did the dance so that I wasn’t just a dance act but part of the whole story. Cause in the story when one of the Three Wise men says he misses home…they all fall asleep and we were the dancers in their dreams as they dreamt of their home land. So I guess we were like dancing girls at their palace? I didn’t like the idea of being part of a harem but then it didn’t matter much cause it was an all girl school and actually for starters ‘The Three Wise Men’ were being played by girls! Plus we weren’t really doing very seductive dancing just the same dance we always did which was like Indian village dances that were usually performed as worship to Ram or Krishna. Although I’ve since seen actual belly dancers perform and it’s not as I had then envisioned it as my view of it then would have probably been given to me by Hollywood films. But yep I was all into this idea of what I represented in the play…‘A dream version of The Three Magi’s homeland’. Since then it made we wonder if at least one of these men didn’t come from India or China perhaps? Or somewhere even farther East than is commonly said in the myth. Cause it’s amusing how religions always exist in their corner of the earth…but luckily nowadays and on Universal Collective Prayer the blog…light, love, prayers and devotion comes in all forms and fashion and occurs in every part of well…the Universe!

However, not all people are ready to embrace the universality of prayer and we have to respect this…In fact some might say that the three Magi didn’t even exist as it is not strictly mentioned in ‘The Holy Bible’ but others embrace it for the beauty that it is whether true or not. These three holy men that existed before, coming to welcome a new light, and their points of light being drawn to it’s light…such that they had no choice but to follow that light in the form of the star! And points of light no doubt exist not just westward leading but north, south, east and west and all points in between! :)How sweet and lovely isn’t it? :)

Just last week when I was researching about the Snan/Snaan or Nahan…I learned that in Zoroastrianism they also say Nahan to mean a ritualistic cleansing bath in water…and it made me think indeed that religion although small in members on the earth today must have so much ancient wisdom in it to tell…Just the thought of Magi makes you dream up so many stories in your head! I found an interesting bit of dialogue on the existence of the Three Magi or Three Kings on this site. If interested in delving further you guys are welcome to check it out! (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm)

And of course I couldn’t leave you without the music! Cause I always found the song associated with those good men so sweet and fun too! I found this pleasant surprise version of it on Youtube …you have to play it! …and guess who is singing…