In ancient texts of Scripture the Wise Men are Magoi in Greek and Magi in Latin. The singular form, Magos/Magus, is the source of our English word “magician” but had multiple meanings in Biblical times. A magus could be a Zoroastrian priest from Persia, an occultist, a magician, or a charlatan. Because the New Testament Magi study the stars, their mystic wisdom presumably includes astrology. Hence some recent Bible translations call them “astrologers,” a less evocative term than the more traditional “Wise Men.” The feast of the Epiphany, which was kept in the East and in certain Western Churches before being observed in Rome, seems to have been originally a feast of the nativity; January 6, for those churches where it was kept, was the equivalent of Christmas (December 25) in the Roman Church. The feast was introduced at Rome in the second half of the sixth century and became the complement and, so to say, the crown of the Christmas festival. The Wise Men symbolized strangers, foreigners or pagans, hence, completely diverse people. Yet they received salvation, just like the People of Israel. Their search, discovery, worship and belief in Jesus filled them with “great joy”. The three kings represent the three major races: Melchior, an old white man with a long white beard, bearing the gift of gold for Christ’s royalty; Caspar, young and of darker hue, carrying incenses for Christ’s divinity; and Balthasar, a black man, offering myrrh for Christ’s suffering and death. The names of the wise men are not given in the Bible, but were supplied by later story tellers to enrich the meaning and celebration of the Epiphany.