Visit of the Wise Men
Hollis Frances
Independently Published (2025)
ASIN: B0FVMP539R
Hollis Frances has fifteen years experience in Technical Writing from his career as a Technical Support Engineer on medical equipment at a major manufacturer/service company. He retired after thirty years in 2020.
That is when he decided to start a new career as an author of short stories based actual events although he does have a novel or two inside his heart that needs to come out in the future, and published his first short story, Willy’s Accident, in 2021.
He is a military veteran who served first in the US Navy for four years from 1975-1979. Then, in 1983, enlisted into the US Marines and served until 1987. Hollis Frances has Degree in Electronic Communications Technology. He is married with two adult children and three grandchildren.
What is Visit of the Wise Men about, and what inspired you to write it?
It’s a wide-angle historical view of the Wise Men Biblical account. I want folks to see a more personalized perspective of the daily community life in the times of Jesus.
In the preface you write saying you realized the Lord’s Prayer is conditional. What do you mean by that?
This excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer:…Please forgive us of our sins, AS we forgive others, makes it clear that forgiveness of our sins will match how we forgive others who trespass against us.
Your research centers on the Mazzaroth, which is the Hebrew zodiac. I imagine some people hear “zodiac” and think of horoscopes. How is your study different?
Yes, it is very different. I chose not to interpret the ‘zodiac.’ Instead, I detail the zodiac locations of the Sun, Moon, and planets as viewed from different dates, times, and locations. These are factual, based upon astronomy software. Not my own interpretations of them.
Besides the stars, you also look at archaeology, like evidence that Semitic shepherds once lived in an ancient Egyptian town called Avaris. Why does that kind of evidence matter to you?
I wanted the reader to visualize the zodiac as did the Israelites during these important biblical times. To be accurate, you need to know the truth about these locations.
To recreate the sky from two thousand years ago, you used astronomy software called Starry Night. Why do some charts show this sky from a dwarf planet called Makemake instead of Earth?
This is a great question! I’m glad you asked. Traditionally, seven “houses” serve as reference points for observing the Hebrew Zodiac: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. I used these references for a while, but there was not enough data. I wanted to view the constellations over multiple hours, with all of these “witnesses” in on EVERY day, because I wanted more data. After mulling the data over a bit, I also wondered: why isn’t Earth used?
Then I surmised that, likely in the past, they didn’t because we exist on the Earth, so how can we view the Earth from any other point of reference? I viewed the constellations over multiple hours for all of these “witnesses” were in on EVERY day because I wanted more data. The last puzzle piece that came to mind after testing the Earth in the astronomy software for more data: I saw two celestial objects I’d never heard of, so I decided to test them as a reference and see if they could provide additional information.
The dwarf planet Makemake and the dwarf planet Ceres. Turns out Makemake was first observed on March 31, 2005. This was a pregnant year on the Hebrew Calendar. But the first photos weren’t taken until 2019, also a pregnant year on the Hebrew calendar! That same year, another dwarf planet, Ceres, was photographed. NASA describes the ring of stars and planets these two dwarf planets reside in; the Kuiper Belt, as the “remnants from the formation of the solar system!
“Size and Distance: with a radius of approximately 444 miles (715 kilometers), Makemake is 1/9 the radius of Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Makemake would be about as big as a mustard seed.” I then started using these two dwarf planets to get additional data, which brought much more information to light!
There’s a section on how Jewish engagement and marriage worked. How does knowing that change the way we see Mary and Joseph?
This is very important to me. Over the years, I heard from Christian authorities and secular experts that Joseph was a rich man, and he felt sorry for Mary’s plight, so he married her. Or something to that effect. I was not searching for any particular evidence to dispute these teachings. I simply wanted to know Jewish culture at the time of Jesus. The experts’ investigations into their culture painted an entirely different view of marriages at that time. It became very important for me to present this data to everyone.
Most of us grew up thinking Jesus was born in December. You placed his birth in June. How did you get to that date?
From Jim Larson’s Star of Bethlehem documentary.
Tell us a bit about the significance of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. What made the town special?
The prophet Micah (5:2) foretold that Bethlehem, though small among the clans of Judah, would be the birthplace of Israel’s future ruler.
In the Bible, shepherds near Bethlehem see a crowd of angels the night Jesus is born. On that night, the software shows twelve comets in the sky over the shepherds’ field. Could that be what they saw?
Possibly, but not likely. If they say they saw angels, then I believe they did. I rationalized that there is no way to prove it one way or another. And I wasn’t trying to prove it either way. I was surprised to see those twelve comets in the software for certain! Maybe God decided to leave a marker. If so, that would mean He planned it was creation day!
The Bible tells us the wise men came from the East, but it doesn’t say who they were. Who do you think they were?
This again goes back to Rick Larson’s Star of Bethlehem Documentary. He theorized that maybe the Wise Men were either students or descendants of Daniel. Because Mr. Larson says Daniel never returned from the exile to Babylon. In addition, who else would come to worship a Jewish Messiah? But Jewish people.
The wise men followed a star to Bethlehem. What do you think that star was?
I believe Jim Larson’s account that the Star of Bethlehem was the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. They came so close together they looked like one very bright star.
The Visit of the Wise Men is a Christmas special edition. Yet at the back, you include an essay by another writer, Richard Davis, who argues that Christians shouldn’t celebrate Christmas at all. What made you include this piece?
I love this question! I’ve met a few other folks over the years with this same perspective. And I understand and agree with their sentiment. The celebration has shifted from God’s gift of Jesus to Santa Claus as a cultural figure. In Jewish culture, gifts are now given during Hanukkah, and many in that culture disagree with that practice as well.
The Visit of the Wise Men is also a special edition of your quarterly journal, An Alter Called Witness. If someone finds you through this issue, is it a good place to start?
Absolutely! It is better to read Alter Called Witness before reading Visit of the Wise Men.
What’s next for you? Do you have plans to continue with future editions of An Alter Called Witness?
Yes! I am hoping to continue with my original plan to write each quarter: Jan- March issue, April-June issue, etc with timely information regarding the Hebrew Calendar, biblical history, and related astronomical data.
CONNECT WITH HOLLIS FRANCES
Email: Hollisfrances@writing.com
Hollis Frances Portfolio: writing.com/main/portfolio/view/hollisfrances
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuuPEBOZh7BzvYLEStd4T6g