http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7319
[VirtueOnline] 22 Dec 2007--I am surprised that the Archbishop of Canterbury should dismiss the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus as a myth. The Greek word for them,'magoi' (from which we derive our 'magician'), suggests that they were astrologers. Astrology was common in antiquity: people believed human and political destiny was controlled by the stars.
A comet was seen at Julius Caesar's funeral and it led to the belief that he had joined the gods, and that was the start of deifying the Roman emperors when they died! Another comet, in 66 AD, appeared shortly before Nero committed suicide. The most probably explanation of Matthew's text seems to be that what the magi saw was the conjunction of the planets in the area of Jupiter and Saturn in that area of the sky.
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