[Lloyd227]

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying... "

"magi from the east" were followers of the teachings of Zorastrianism

I've always found this interesting. This group were among the first monotheistic religions and had much more in common with Judaism than is generally recognized. And somehow, their prophets knew enough about the story written in the stars to know that the messiah had been born.

"Zoroastrian is monotheistic in its higher ideology having AHURA MAZDA as its Supreme Deity and AHRIMAN as a lesser power of evil, which continually retards the smooth progress of good-universe is conceived as a battlefield between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. In this confrontation, Ahura Mazda will ultimately defeat Ahriman. In the Zoroastrian religion, the theory of Re-incarnation does not exist..." http://www.bawarchi.com/festivals/parsinewyear.html

[freedom44]

Lloyd in the original holy book of the Zoroastrians called the 'Avesta' Zartost (Zoroaster) said i will be reborn under a star. That's why the magi came from the east.

Magi is what zoroastrians call their priests, it's also where the words magic and magician came from.

:)

[freedom44]

Main Entry: [1]mag·ic
Pronunciation: 'ma-jik
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English magique, from Middle French, from Latin magice, from Greek magikE, feminine of magikos Magian, magical, from magos magus, of Iranian origin; akin to Old Persian maguš
Date: 14th century

Main Entry: ma·gus
Pronunciation: 'mA-g&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ma·gi /'mA-"jI, 'ma-/
Etymology: Latin, from Greek magos —more at MAGIC
Date: 1621
1 a : a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Persians b : often capitalized : one of the traditionally three wise men from the East paying homage to the infant Jesus