value & importance of consciousness

For last year's Epiphany post, wonder | wander | women had yet to absorb the full impact of the January 6 riot at the Capitol by Republican cronies and Donald Trump supporters. 

January 6 riot at the Capitol - Samuel Corum/Getty Images

On today's Feast of the Epiphany, we are reminded that an insecure ruler was so threatened by the birth of an infant that he tried to overthrow the result by putting a hit out on a lone newborn.

Attack on the Capitol a year ago. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

The word epiphany is defined as that moment of sudden understanding or becoming conscious of something valuable or important. Much of 2020 caused epiphanies to be revealed and manifested to us in so very many ways. 

One year later, we stand face to face with the constant dilemma of democracy. How to respond to a political party that uses the very openness of democracy to gain power and attack democracy?

a collection of January 6 events - Damon Winter/The New York Times

As a people, Americans need to overlook their differences in the short run to contain its current autocratic leaders and parties. Coalitions are necessary to overcome the divisiveness that fractures the United States of America and the American public.

"All four of us former presidents condemned their actions and affirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 election. There followed a brief hope that the insurrection would shock the nation into addressing the toxic polarization that threatens our democracy. However, one year on, promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems." ~ 39th US President, Jimmy Carter, NYTimes 

We Three Kings by Eugene Ormandy

The three kings, wise men, or holy magi are the embodiment of this. Magi, plural for magus - the Old Persian religious caste into which Zoroaster was born. These were priests who studied the stars, mastered the science of astrology, and applied it to evolution on earth.

The Magi are both real and symbolic. As real men, the three kings confirmed ancient prophecies about Jesus being the Messiah. As symbols, they showed that he came to save all people — rich and poor, learned or unschooled, from anywhere in the world. 

Historia Trium Regum [the History of the Three Kings]

As early as 1996 BCE, the Egyptians celebrated the winter solstice (which then occurred on January 6) with a tribute to Aeon, the Virgin. It is important to note that the holiday was established prior to the Gregorian calendar’s introduction. 

One of the most evocative tales in the bible is that of the journey made by the wise men to Bethlehem. Today, the Three Kings and the Star of Bethlehem are celebrated with the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in the evening sky.

The Adoration of the Magi by Edward Burne Jones, 1904

Now, the Feast of the Epiphany holds more significance — after a year of trials and tribulations, a mixed bag of gifts and revelations — with the realization that there is no ordinary time to return to ever again. 

wonder | wander | women count our lucky stars in gratitude for the best that life has to offer. May life continue to unfold for us all with blessed epiphanies and may there be kinder and more compassionate moments to share among us. 

#wonderwanderwomen all bundled up — NYC, 21 Dec 2021