O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud –
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light.
Some mystery becomes the proud.
But to be wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says "I burn."
-- Robert Frost, "Choose Something Like A Star"

The Star of Bethlehem associated with this holy season was taciturn and mysterious. It was lofty and reserved. Yet this fabled conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. was thought to be saying considerably more to humanity than simply, "I burn." Stargazers of the ancient Near East watched carefully for signs from the Divine Star Thrower -- astrological signs affecting t…