# Parallels to the Magi myth in other religions/other myths? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572 "2009-08-15T22:59:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/1 "2009-08-15T22:59:50Z")
I am seeking stories similar to the story that the Magi attended Mary and Jesus at his birth (or sometime thereafter, but in his infancy.) What other religions, or any of the worlds myths and legends, have Magi or Wise Men or Wizards attending the birth of the hero/main figure? We may play fast and loose with any of the parameters. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/2 "2009-08-16T00:21:05Z")
Sleeping Beauty, and the fairies that gave her christening gifts. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/3 "2009-08-16T00:52:51Z")
Kudos to you for recognizing that the Magi’s visit was possibly later than at His birth! A WHOLE lot of people miss that! ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/4 "2009-08-16T02:46:29Z")
This Hieronymous Bosch Painting,[Adoration of the Magi](http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102121.html), apparently depicts either Satan or the Antichrist in attendance. I’m not sure, but I assume there is some Christian or Satanist version of the anti-magi that will attend the antichrist’s birth. My google-fu is not working for this particular subject. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/5 "2009-08-16T03:01:51Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I am seeking stories similar to the story that the Magi attended Mary and Jesus at his birth (or sometime thereafter, but in his infancy.) > > What other religions, or any of the worlds myths and legends, have Magi or Wise Men or Wizards attending the birth of the hero/main figure? > > We may play fast and loose with any of the parameters. Are you talking about the myth as it reads in the source documents, or the myth we have today? They’re quite different. The “Wise Men” image we have today is something that developed in European tradition – I can’t recall who was the first to use that term. In the Bible, the Magi were something like the magicians in Pharaoh’s court who got pwned by Moses. Almost fool figures. They get played like a fiddle by Herod, and then they go around asking “So where’s this king of the Jews?” Not too smart. But they have a transformation when they see the Christ. At that moment they become truly wise. They adore the Christ, and do not report back to Herod. So what you’re looking for, if you want to find parallels, is not stories of wise men who attend the birth of a savior, but rather fools or frauds who are enlightened by the mere presence of the divine avatar. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/6 "2009-08-16T03:02:25Z")
> [@](#): > > This Hieronymous Bosch Painting,Adoration of the Magi, apparently depicts either Satan or the Antichrist in attendance. I’m not seeing anything that looks like a devil in that painting… Where should I be looking? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/7 "2009-08-16T03:06:13Z")
He’s the lascivious, turbaned, redrobed wiseman standing in the doorway doing the can-can. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/8 "2009-08-16T03:13:42Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > He’s the lascivious, turbaned, redrobed wiseman standing in the doorway doing the can-can. Here’s a [large image](http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/4/7/7274-adoration-of-the-magi-hieronymus-bosch.jpg). Notice he also has a scepter inserted in his can-can. ETA: And btw, I believe that’s Herod. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/9 "2009-08-16T03:34:42Z")
Yea, symbolically he is the anti-christ or the prosecuter, Shaitan. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/10 "2009-08-16T04:08:35Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Here’s a [large image](http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/4/7/7274-adoration-of-the-magi-hieronymus-bosch.jpg). Notice he also has a scepter inserted in his can-can. > > ETA: And btw, I believe that’s Herod. Lessee, for the three wisemen, we got a Cardinal or a Pope (maybe [Pope Julius II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Julius_II)?), a Knightly King (his robe apparently depicts a coronation.), and an Eritrean or Ethiopian with the coolest garment and entrainment I have ever seen… looks like he’s straight out of the costume department on the set of Dune. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/11 "2009-08-16T04:33:32Z")
The Three Bears, the Three Little Pigs, Three Musketeers, The Scarecrow/Tin Man/Cowardly Lion, Ghosts of Christmas Past/Present/Future, the Hecatae, the Fates. Just think of it as the Comedy Rule of Threes. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/12 "2009-08-16T04:49:41Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > The Three Bears, the Three Little Pigs, Three Musketeers, The Scarecrow/Tin Man/Cowardly Lion, Ghosts of Christmas Past/Present/Future, the Hecatae, the Fates. Just think of it as the Comedy Rule of Threes. Sorry, but that doesn’t hold here. The tradition of 3 magi came later. The Bible doesn’t specify the number. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/13 "2009-08-16T05:01:03Z")
Maybe the [attendance of the Animals, in Buddhist folklore and mythology](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=RDY&q=attendance+of+the+animals+to+the+buddha&aq=f&oq=&aqi=)? There are usually some sacred animals in attendance in any nativity. ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/14 "2009-08-16T05:09:28Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Maybe the [attendance of the Animals, in Buddhist folklore and mythology](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=RDY&q=attendance+of+the+animals+to+the+buddha&aq=f&oq=&aqi=)? > > There are usually some sacred animals in attendance in any nativity. I wouldn’t count that. The story of the magi has two-fold importance. First, it has political significance (Jesus’s position as true inheritor to the crown of David, and the light of all nations), and second it positions him as the one to bring understanding to those who lack understanding. Stories of the attendance of animals have a very different purpose. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/15 "2009-08-16T05:20:02Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > I wouldn’t count that. The story of the magi has two-fold importance. First, it has political significance (Jesus’s position as true inheritor to the crown of David, and the light of all nations), and second it positions him as the one to bring understanding to those who lack understanding. Stories of the attendance of animals have a very different purpose. Yea, I guess the lambs get sacrificed and eaten in the Christian version. That ass is definitely symbolic in Bosch’s take of the magi. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/16 "2009-08-16T05:53:14Z")
You all commune in the blood and flesh of that magi baby. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/17 "2009-08-16T06:16:03Z")
There is a face over the shoulder of “Herod” in Bosch’s painting? Who is that odious looking fellow? Who are those dudes in the barn? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/18 "2009-08-16T06:26:28Z")
It’s an early political anointing mythology made up for sun-king legitimacy. Probably has its roots in the legitimacy of Egyptian God Kings. The magi recognition were the worldly equivalent to John the Baptists spiritual and otherworldy anointing, it solidifies legitamacy in any myth. Equivalent to being recognized by the United Nations. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/19 "2009-08-16T08:31:19Z")
It’s not an exact analogy, but in Norse tradition there exists a myth of norns visiting the newborn to determine their future. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/20 "2009-08-16T22:01:11Z")
I seem to recall a tale from Norse mythology, in which Odin and Thor attend the birth of a prince. Odin says, “He will be loved by the nobles.” Thor says, “He will be hated by the people.” Odin says, “He will fight bravely.” Thor says, “He will die shamefully.” They continue for some time, with Odin prophesying the good news, and Thor prophesying the bad news. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572.md?page=2)