Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

January 6th marks the Christian celebration of the Epiphany. Tradition says that on this day, 12 days after Christmas, the three Kings from the East, the Magi, came to Bethlehem to honor the Christ child. Symbolically significant, Epiphany signifies the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, who are represented in the story by the Magi from foreign lands.

First recorded in English documents as long ago as 1310, epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning "to show forth, to appear or make manifest."

But long before the birth of Christ, The Greeks were using this term in reference to the sudden appearances or manifestations of their own gods, Athena, Zeus, Pan, Mercury, et al.

Today, we ordinary mortals still experience epiphanies, but perhaps of a more secular nature. No longer exactly divine appearances, as the history of the word suggests, modern epiphanies are personal revelations, sudden insights, moments of clarity which occur randomly, inspired by chance encounters or a word or a gesture.

Radio Script > Epiphany