# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/21 "2009-08-17T01:14:09Z")
Would Merlin’s part in the birth story/childhood of Arthur count? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/22 "2009-08-17T19:23:52Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Would Merlin’s part in the birth story/childhood of Arthur count? Yes, I think it counts. Thanks to all who have contributed so far! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/23 "2009-08-17T22:36:37Z")
> [@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. [There was also some attendance of wise men:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha#Conception_and_birth) > [@](#): > > According to the traditional biography, his father was King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whos capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha’s lifetime; Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana’s wife, was a Koliyan princess. On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side[12], and ten lunar months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father’s kingdom to give birth. However, she gave birth on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree. > > The day of the Buddha’s birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[13] Various sources hold that the Buddha’s mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhatta), meaning “he who achieves his aim”. During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man.[14] This occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita’s hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[14] Kaundinya (Pali: Kondanna), the youngest, and later to be the first arahant, was the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[15] ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/25 "2011-09-14T10:13:55Z")
> [@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. That isn’t a scepter, that is a wide embellished sash with a bell at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/26 "2011-09-14T12:34:51Z")
The Magi were Persian magicians–probably astrologers. The tradition of The Three Kings arose in the Middle Ages–an old king, a young one & one of middle age–from “all three” continents. Just off the top of my head. Further research beckons. (There’s a dangerously large amount of information in Wikipedia.) I came to quote [a later version](http://www.adoremus.org/1299-100-Huron.html) of the tale–from a hymn written by a French Jesuit missionary, John de Brébeuf, in the Huron language. (They eventually martyred him; he’s now a saint.) > [@](#): > > The chiefs from far before Him knelt > With gifts of fox and beaver pelt. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572/27 "2011-09-15T14:50:13Z")
**steffiesmith12** , your post is an exact copy of someone else’s post in this thread. This is often a spam technique, so I have Reported your post to the mods. If you are not a spambot, please speak up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parallels-to-the-magi-myth-in-other-religions-other-myths/506572.md?page=1)