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- "Sun god" redirects here. For the statue, see Sun God (statue). For the festival, see Sun God (Festival). For the rapper, see Sun God (rapper).
A solar deity (also heliolatry or sun worship), is a god or goddess who represents the sun, or an aspect of it. People have worshipped these for all of recorded history. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the "missing sun" found in many cultures (below). Sun worship is a possible origin of henotheism and ultimately monotheism.
Solar barge / Sun chariot
A solar barge (also solar bark, solar barque, solar boat, sun boat) is a mythological representation of the sun riding in a boat. The "Khufu ship", a 43.6 m long vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2,500 BC, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of a solar barque.
Examples include:
- Neolithic petroglyphs have been interpreted as showing solar barges
- The Egyptian god Ra, and later Horus, rides in a solar barge. In the Egyptian myths of the afterlife, Ra rides in an underground channel from west to east every night so that he can rise there the next morning.
- The Nebra sky disk has been speculated to feature a depiction of a solar barge
A sun chariot is a mythological representation of the sun riding in a chariot. The concept is younger than that of the solar barge, and typically Indo-European, corresponding with the Indo-European expansion after the invention of the chariot in the 2nd millennium BC.
Examples include:
- Trundholm sun chariot
- Germanic Sol rides in a chariot, drawn by Arvak and Alsvid
- Greek Helios rides in a chariot, see also Phaëton
- Sol Invictus depicted riding a quadriga on the reverse of a Roman coin.
- The Biblical Elijah ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire
- Vedic Surya rides in a chariot, drawn by seven horses
The sun itself was also compared to a wheel, possibly in Proto-Indo-European, Greek hēliou kuklos, Sanskrit suryasya cakram, Anglo-Saxon sunnan hweogul (PIE *swelyosyo kukwelos).
Male and female
Although solar deities are generally male enemies of the lunar deity (usually female) sun goddesses are found on every continent. However, some mythologists, such as Brian Branston, therefore contend that sun goddesses are more common worldwide than their male counterparts. They also claim that the belief that solar deities are primarily male is linked to the fact that a few better known mythologies (such as those of ancient Greece and Egypt) rarely break from this rule. The dualism of sun/male/light and moon/female/darkness is found in many (but not all) European traditions that derive from Orphic and Gnostic philosophies, with a notable exception being Germanic mythology, where the Sun is female and the Moon is male.
Missing Sun Motif
The missing sun is a theme in the myths of many cultures, sometimes including the themes of imprisonment, exile or death. The missing sun is often used to explain various natural phenomena, including the disappearance of the sun at night, shorter days during the winter, and solar eclipses.
Some other tales are similar, such as the Sumerian story of Inanna's descent into the underworld. These may have parallel themes but do not fit in this motif unless they concern a solar deity.
In Egyptian mythology, Ra passes through Duat (the underworld) every night. Apep has to be defeated in the darkness hours for Ra and his solar barge to emerge in the east each morning.
In Japanese mythology, the sun goddess Amaterasu is angered by the behavior of her brother, Susanoo, and hides herself in a cave, plunging the world into darkness.
In Norse mythology, both the gods Odin and Tyr have attributes of a sky father, and they are doomed to be devoured by wolves (Fenrir and Garm, respectively) at Ragnarok. Sol, the Norse sun goddess, will be devoured by the wolf Skoll.
Solar deities throughout cultures
In different religions solarised supreme deities carry different names and are associated with different aspects of the cultural universe of the society, but for the most part its raw image remains identical.
The Neolithic concept of a solar barge, the sun as traversing the sky in a boat, is found in ancient Egypt, with Ra and Horus. Proto-Indo-European religion has a solar chariot, the sun as traversing the sky in a chariot.
At Roman Empire, a festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) was celebrated when the duration of daylight first begins to increase after the winter solstice, — the "rebirth" of the sun. In Germanic mythology this is Sol, in Vedic Surya and in Greek Helios (occasionally referred to as Titan) and (sometimes) Apollo. Mesopotamian Shamash plays an important role during the Bronze Age, and "my Sun" is eventually used as an address to royalty. Similarly, South American cultures have emphatic Sun worship, see Inti. See also Sol Invictus. Svarog is the Slavic god sun and spirit of fire.
Africa
Many African peoples use the local word for "Sun" as the name for their supreme being. The Munsh tribe considers the Sun to be the son of the supreme being Awondo and the Moon is Awondo's daughter. The Barotse tribe believes that the Sun is inhabited by the sky god Nyambi and the Moon is his wife. Even where the sun god is equated with the supreme being, in some African mythologies he or she does not have any special functions or privileges as compared to other gods.
Sun worship was exceptionally prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion. The Sun's movement across the sky represents a struggle between the Pharaoh's soul and an avatar of Osiris. The "solarisation" of several gods (Hnum-Re, Min-Re, Amon-Re) reaches its peak in the period of the fifth dynasty.
In the eighteenth dynasty, Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a pseudo-monotheistic one, Atenism. The reigning sun god Amun and all other god's were replaced by the Aten. Unlike other gods, the Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk—a symbol of the sun.
Chinese mythology
In Chinese mythology (cosmology), there were ten suns in the sky in the beginning. The world was so hot that nothing grew. A hero called Hou Yi shot down nine of them with bow and arrows. The world became better ever since. In another myth, the solar eclipse was caused by the dog of heaven biting off a piece of the sun. There was a tradition in China to hit pots and pans during a solar eclipse to drive away the "dog".
Hinduism
In the Vedas, numerous hymns are dedicated to Surya deva, the Sun personified, and Savitar, "the impeller", a solar deity either identified with or associated with Surya. Even the Gayatri mantra, which is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Hindu hymns is dedicated to the Sun. The Adityas are a group of solar deities, from the Brahmana period numbering twelve. The ritual of sandhyavandanam, performed by some Hindus, is meant to worship the sun.
The Mahabharata describes its warrior hero Karna as being the son of Kunti and the Sun. The Ramayana has its protagonist Rama as being from the Raghu Vamsham or the clan of kings as bright as the Sun.
The charioteer of Surya is Arun, who is also personified as the redness that accompanies the sunlight in dawn and dusk.
At Konark, a town in Orissa, a temple is dedicated to Surya. The Konark temple has also been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Surya is the most prominent of the navagrahas or nine celestial objects of the Hindus. Navagrahas can be found in almost all Hindu temples.
Indonesia
The same swapping process is seen in Indonesia. The solar gods have a stronger presence in Indonesia's religious life and myth.
In some cases the Sun is revered as a "father" or "founder" of the tribe. This may apply for the whole tribe or only for the royal and ruling families. This practise is more common in Australia and on the island of Timor, where the tribal leaders are seen as direct heirs to the Sun god.
Some of the initiation rites include the second reincarnation of the rite's subject as a "son of the Sun", through a symbolic death and a rebirth in the form of a Sun. These rituals hint that the Sun may have an important role in the sphere of funerary beliefs. Watching the Sun's path has given birth to the idea in some societies that the god of the Sun descends in to the underworld without himself dying and that he is capable of returning afterwards. This is the reason for the Sun being associated with functions such as guide of the deceased tribe members to the underworld, as well as with revival of perished. The Sun is a mediator between the planes of the living and the dead.
Folklore
In folklore traditions there are many preserved archaic Sun cults which incorporate themselves into newer religions. For example, the burning wheels rolled down hills during sun equinox days, the ban on using jiggers on certain days of the year or the custom of tying a man to a wheel. The "sun-fertility-hero/representative of the underworld" cult complex is also evident in Japan where there is a custom that young people representing the Sun's ancestors (i.e. the dead) should paint their faces red and visit village homes, guaranteeing the land's fertility through this magical ritual.
Another important mythological complex is that of the "Sun Hero", typical of the nomad-herders. Such heroes are encountered among the African nomad tribes, the tribes from Central Asia (Gesen Khan), the Jews (Samson) and among all Indo-European peoples. The Sun Hero always has a "dark" side - he has some sort of connection with the underworld, with the initiation ritual and with fertility. The Sun Hero myth contains many elements that link the Hero with the Demiurge. The Hero often saves the world, renews the world, opens a new epoch, and generally brings about some major renewal to the established cosmical order. These functions of the Sun Hero represent the demiurgical "legacy" left from the supreme celestial being. A typical example for such evolution is the god Mithras.
Solar myth
Three theories exercised great influence on 19th and early century mythography, besides the Tree worship of Mannhardt and the Totemism of J.F. McLennan, the "Sun myth" of Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Max Müller.
R.F. Littledale criticized the Sun myth theory when he illustrated that Max Müller on his own principles was himself only a Solar myth, whilst Alfred Lyall delivered a still stronger attack on the same theory and its assumption that tribal gods and heroes, such as those of Homer, were mere reflections of the Sun myth by proving that the gods of certain Rajput clans were really warriors who founded the clans not many centuries ago, and were the ancestors of the present chieftains.
See also
- Aditya
- Fire worship
- Konark
- List of solar deities
- Mitra
- Order of the Solar Temple
- Phoenix
- Solar barge
- Solar chariot
- Solar symbol
- Sol Invictus
- Stonehenge
- Surya
- Thelema
- Trundholm Sun Chariot
- Winged sun
- Mircea Eliade
Bibliography
- Azize, Joseph (2005) The Phoenician Solar Theology. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-59333-210-6.
- Olcott, William Tyler (1914/2003) Sun Lore of All Ages: A Collection of Myths and Legends Concerning the Sun and Its Worship Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0543960277.
External links
- The Worship of the Sun Among the Aryan Peoples of Antiquity by Sir James G. Frazer
- "The Sun, A Universal Deity" from The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly Palmer Hall
- The Sun God Ra and Ancient Egypt
- The Great Myth of the Sun Gods by Alvin Boyd Kuhn
- The Sun God and the Wind Deity at Kizil by Tianshu Zhu, in Transoxiana Eran ud Aneran, Webfestschrift Marshak 2003.
References
- theoi.com Helios
- thanasis.com Helios & Phaethon
- Probus Coin
- Bible Gateway, KJV, 2 Kings 2:1-17
- William Ridgeway , Solar Myths, Tree Spirits, and Totems, The Dramas and Dramatic Dances of Non-European Races. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1915. pp. 11-19.
