Journey to Christianity “Journey of the Magi” can be read and perceived on many different levels. The imagery, while when first read is easy to understand, may be researched to find deeper meaning. Since the poem was written in the year of Eliot’s own conversion to Christianity, the quest of the Magi for the Christ child can be seen as a parallel to Eliot’s own religious quest. The first five lines of “Journey …showed first 75 words of 556 total…

…showed last 75 words of 556 total…magus...stranded, suspended between the realization and the consummation of God’s plan” (36). Regardless of the specific focus, critics agree that Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi” is about the personal and spiritual aspects of his religious conversion experience. In “Journey of the Magi,” Eliot displays the depth to which his journey affected his life by relating his own conflicts with conversion to the struggles of the original Magi on the first journey to Christ.