Sun god

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File:Solvogn.jpg
The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology.
File:Winged sun sharpe.png
The winged sun was an ancient (3rd millennium BC) symbol of Horus, later identified with Ra.
"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).
"Sun worshipper" redirects here. For another usage, see sun tanning.

A solar deity is a god or goddess who represents the sun, or an aspect of it. People have worshipped the sun and solar deities for all of recorded history; sun worship is also known as heliolatry. Hence, many beliefs and legends have been formed around this worship, most notably the various myths containing the "missing sun" motif from around the world. Although many sources contend that solar deities are generally male, and the brother, father, husband and/or enemy of the lunar deity (usually female), this is not cross-culturally upheld, as sun goddesses are found on every continent. 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) sometimes 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.

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Sun worship

Sun worship is a possible origin of henotheism and ultimately monotheism. In ancient Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty, Akhenaten's heretical Atenism used the old Aten solar deity as a symbol of a single god. 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.

Missing sun

File:Ra Barque.jpg
Ra in his solar barge.
File:Amaterasu cave.JPG
Amaterasu finally emerges from the cave.

The "missing sun" motif is a theme in the myths of various cultures. It may have served to explain any of several natural phenomena, including the disappearance of the sun at night (the Egyptian version of the motif described below is an example), the shorter days during the winter (for example, the Japanese one mentioned below), or even solar eclipses. Most myths following the motif involve the disappearance of a solar deity, through imprisonment, exile or death.

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.

Examples

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 dealt a crushing blow to the Sun myth theory when he proved 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.[1]


Sun cults around the world

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. In the following sections we compare sun-epitomised deities in different cultures.

Chinese mythology

Unlike many other cultures, the Chinese do not personify nor worship the sun or the moon. The most likely reason is the heavy influence of Daoism and Yijing in Chinese culture because the moon represents Yin and the Sun represents Yang which are the basis of everything in nature. (See Yin and yang.)

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.

Africa

In Africa the phenomenon of solarisation of the uranical supreme being is widely encountered. Many African tribes call their supreme being "Sun". In the Munsh tribe the Sun is considered son of the supreme being Awondo and the Moon - as his daughter. The Barotse tribe believes that the Sun is inhabited by the sky god Nyambi and the Moon is his wife. It is interesting that in Africa, even the solarised supreme being largely retains its passive appearance and doesn't stand out with any special functions and privileges among the rest of the pantheon.

Indonesia

The same swapping process is seen in Indonesia. The solar gods have a stronger presence in Indonesia's religious life and myth. It is enough to mention the central role of the crow in the North American Indians' mythology and the eagle's position in the myths of the peoples of Arctica and Northern Asia.

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.

Ancient Egypt

The Sun cult in the Egyptian religion is exceptionally strong. The solarisation of a multitude of gods (Hnum-Re, Min-Re, Amon-Re) reaches its peak in the period of the Fifth Dynasty. It is interesting that Ra, a god of the Sun and of the royal cult, finds competition in the face of Osiris, a god whose cult is important to a much larger portion of the society. In the ancient Egyptians' perceptions the Sun's movement across the sky represents a struggle between the Pharaoh's soul and an avatar of Osiris. In the eighteenth dynasty Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a pseudo monotheistic one. The reigning sun god Amun was replaced by the Aten. The Aten was worshipped as the only god. All other gods were discarded, their images destroyed. Unlike other gods, the Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk - a symbol of the sun.

Slavic

Svarog is the Slavic god sun and spirit of fire.


Folklore

In folklore traditions there are many preserved archaical Sun cults which to a different extent incorporate themselves into newer religious schemes; 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 tieing 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 Heroes 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.

See also

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

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Solar deity" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity

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