An epiphany on Epiphany

I celebrate Three Kings Day with my kids for cultural reasons due to my Puerto Rican heritage but struggled to explain to my precocious son why I would celebrate a Catholic tradition when I am Pagan. Some Pagans celebrate the Epiphany of Kore but I couldn’t reconcile that to the cultural celebration that I was trying to have as they just didn’t have much in common at all. It was awkward enough to explain it last year so I was dreading it again this year yet I didn’t want to skip the celebration altogether.

This Winter Solstice we read the story of Shaman Claus and in it there were 3 animals; a Black Bear, a Grey Wolf and a White Stag that brought gifts to the infant Sun god born on solstice, I thought that was a perfect Pagan adaptation.

But I had already told my kids that they were men, not animals so I have placed emphasis on the to the Wise Men/Magi aspect bringing gifts of wisdom (in our case each child will get an educational toy and a book).

They now can relate to it seeing baby Jesus as equivalent to the newborn sun god, there was no questioning or debate, only eagerness to collect grass to put in the shoebox and this mama is no longer stressed.