The
Sun
is the star at the center of the Solar System.
It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven
with magnetic fields. Chemically, about three quarters of the Sun's
mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is mostly helium. The remainder consists of heavier elements,
including oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.
Sunrise or Sun up is
the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears over the eastern horizon
in the morning. Solar noon is when the Sun
is at its highest elevation in the sky. Noon (also midday or noon time)
is usually defined as 12 o'clock in the daytime. Sunset
or Sundown is the daily
disappearance of the Sun below the western half of the horizon. Solar
midnight or midnight is
the transition time period from one day to the next; the moment when the date
changes.
Like
other natural phenomena, the Sun has been an object of veneration in many
cultures throughout human history. Humanity's
most fundamental understanding of the Sun is as the luminous disk in the sky,
whose presence above the horizon creates day and whose absence causes
night. In many prehistoric and ancient
cultures, the Sun was thought to be a solar deity or other supernatural phenomenon.
A solar deity is a God or Goddess who represents the Sun, or
an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. In Chinese mythology, there were originally
ten Suns in the sky, who were all brothers.
In Baltic mythology, Saule, is the Goddess of the Sun and
fertility. The Old High German Sun Goddess
is Sunna.
In
many traditions of modern Pagan cosmology, all things are considered to be
cyclical, with time as a perpetual cycle of growth and retreat tied to the Sun's
annual death and rebirth. The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle
of seasonal festivals. Among Wiccans,
the festivals are also referred to as sabbats.
Sabbats are celebrated in honor of
the Divines. There are 8 Sabbats that
make up the Wheel of the Year. The
Sabbats are solar, seasonal and represent the cycle of birth, life, death and
rebirth.
The
English weekday name Sunday
stems from Old English (Sunnandæg;
"Sun's day"). Worship of the Sun
was central to civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians, the Inca of South
America and the Aztecs. In religions
such as Hinduism, the Sun is still considered a God. Sunna is the Sun personified in Norse
mythology. Many ancient monuments were
constructed with solar phenomena in mind; for example, stone megaliths
accurately mark the summer or winter solstice.
Sun-Earth Day is a joint educational program established in 2000 by
NASA and ESA. The goal of the program is
to popularize the knowledge about the Sun, and the way it influences life on Earth,
among students and the public. The day itself is mainly celebrated in the USA
near the time of the spring equinox.
However, the Sun-Earth Day event actually runs throughout the year, with
a different theme being chosen each year.
Winter
The Sun is out of sight, resting old age. This is the
drowsy time for beauty, dreams, psychic dreams, psychic awareness,
spirituality, sleep, sex, purifications, love, friendships, peace, releasing
stress, healing wounds. A time for the Dark. For Earth and Winter.
God is born during Yule, the God is a youth,
unsure of his strength. He, like a boy
from birth to adolescence, doesn't really notice the Goddess. She herself is recovering from his birth at
Yule, cleansing and regaining her maidenhood.
Dark Divine reigns as the year and Divines transitions.
Midwinter (Winter Solstice or Yule)
has been recognized as a significant turning point in the yearly cycle since
the late Stone Age. The ancient
megalithic sites of Newgrange and Stonehenge, carefully aligned with the
solstice Sunrise and Sunset, exemplify this. The reversal of the Sun's ebbing presence in
the sky symbolizes the rebirth of the solar Goddess and presages the return of
fertile seasons. From Germanic to Roman
tradition, this is the most important time of celebration.
Imbolc is time for purification
and spring cleaning in anticipation of the year's new life. In Rome, it was historically a shepherd's
holiday and among Celts associated with the onset of ewes' lactation, prior to
birthing the spring lambs. The Sun gets
a little brighter, the Earth gets a little warmer and we know that life is
quickening within the soil.
Spring
Sunrise
in one's life depicts the heralding of a new beginning. Day begins as light
stretches out from the eastern horizon, an infant. This is an excellent time to
perform rituals involving purification, business success, study, employment,
breaking addictions of all kinds, travel, releasing guilt and jealousy, healing
diseases and the conscious mind.
A time of air, spring, Maiden and Warrior.
The God is man, holding his rightful place in the
sky as the waxing Sun. He is king among
the deer herds and the Goddess has taken him as her rightful consort once
more. Seeds have been planted and the Goddess
is becoming a Mother once again. Warrior
God. Maiden Goddess.
The
spring
equinox, in Germanic traditions called Ostara, inaugurates the new year on the Zodiacal calendar. From this point on, days are longer than the
nights. Many mythologies regard
this as the time of rebirth or return of vegetation and celebrate the spring
equinox as a time of great fertility.
After the spring equinox the Sun begins to wax again.
Traditionally
Beltane
is the first day of summer in Ireland, in Rome the earliest celebrations
appeared in pre-Christian times with the festival of Flora, the Roman Goddess
of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. The ceremony for the day can begin at Sunrise
with freshly picked flowers.
Summer
The Sun shines far above at full strength, a strong
youth. This is fine for all Sunrise
ritual purposes, as well as those that involve magical energy, physical energy
and strength, protection, money and courage.
A time of fire, summer, Mother and Father.
The God is beginning to tire, his golden tresses
fade to gray. He no longer fights off
the other stags as fiercely as he did in spring and early summer. He is past courting the Goddess and is
content to let the afternoon shadows grow long.
The Goddess is now the one busy in the fields, making sure all is right
for the harvests. Father God. Mother Goddess.
Midsummer is one of the four solar
holidays and is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height
and the Sun shines longest. The focus is
nearly always on celebrating the power of the Sun. People gather to watch the bonfire and
celebrate the solstice.
Lammas or Lughnasadh is the first
of the three Wiccan harvest festivals. Wiccans
mark the holiday by baking a figure of the God in bread and eating it, to
symbolize the sanctity and importance of the harvest. Pagans see this as a time when the
God loses his strength as the Sun rises farther south each day and the nights
grow longer.
Autumn
The Sun slips below the western horizon, fully mature,
signaling the time for breaking addictions weight-loss, banishing misery and
pain, transforming anguish and negative habits.
A time of water, autumn, Crone and Sage.
The God passes into the underworld. While the Goddess is a crone-like figure,
welcoming her consort to the underworld.
She is still pregnant with the new God, waiting to be born once more at
Yule. Sage God. Crone Goddess.
The
holiday of the autumnal
equinox is a Pagan ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the Earth
and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess
and the God during the coming winter months.
After the Autumn equinox the Oak King slowly begins to regain his power
as the Sun begins to wane.
Samhain is considered by Wiccans to
be one of the four Greater Sabbats. Samhain is considered by some as a time to
celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying
respect to ancestors, family members, pets and elders.
In
addition to the eight major holidays common to most modern Pagans, there are a
number of minor holidays during the year to commemorate various events
depending on your path.
Some
solar events are also honored by Pagans.
Solar Eclipse
As
seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse
is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth,
and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun.
In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the
Moon. In partial and annular eclipses
only part of the Sun is obscured.
An
eclipse is a natural phenomenon.
Nevertheless, in some ancient and modern cultures, solar eclipses have
been attributed to supernatural causes or regarded as bad omens. The Emperor Kang supposedly beheaded two
astronomers, Hsi and Ho, who failed to predict an eclipse 4000 years ago.
The
Black Sun in Mesoamerican
mythology has many mystical meanings, among them it is connected to the God
Quetzalcoatl and his penetration in the Underworld through the west door after his
diurnal passage on the sky.
The
ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Thales of Miletus predicted an
eclipse to occurred during a war between the Medians and the Lydians. Both sides put down their weapons and
declared peace as a result of the eclipse.
In Norse mythology, the Gods Odin and Tyr both have
attributes of a sky father, and they are doomed to be devoured by wolves at Ragnarok. Sunna, the Norse Sun Goddess, will be
devoured by the wolf Skoll.
Sun Dog
A Sun dog (or Sundog, mock Sun, phantom Sun, parhelion), is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots
of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the Sun. Jonas Persson suggested that out of Norse
mythology, constellations of two wolves hunting the Sun and the moon, one after
and one before, may be a possible origin for the term.
Often mistaken as UFOs, Sun Dogs are the result of Sunlight
refracting through tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere. They develop at a 22 degree angle from the Sun,
and are very common during winter Sunrises and Sunsets.
A light pillar is a visual phenomenon
created by the reflection of light from ice crystals with near horizontal
parallel planar surfaces. The light can
come from the Sun (usually at or low to the horizon) in which case the
phenomenon is called a Sun pillar
or solar pillar.
They’re
called Sun pillars when the Sun helps make
them. But this the moon or even
streetlights can create this light phenomenon, too, in which case the name light pillar is more appropriate.
Light
pillars have also been known to produce false UFO reports. Niagara Falls is one such area, where the
mist from the Niagara Falls causes the phenomenon to appear frequently during
the winter months.
Sunbow
Similar
to a rainbow but appears in a clear sky, without rain and does not arc to Earth. A bow or arc of prismatic colors like a
rainbow, caused by refraction through a spray of water from a cataract,
waterfall, fountain, etc., rather than through droplets of rain. Some ancients saw these as a the Gods smiling
down on them.
A Prayer to
the Sun
The Sun is
high above us
shining down upon the land and sea,
making things grow and bloom.
Great and powerful Sun,
we honor you this day
and thank you for your gifts.
Ra, Helios, Sunna, Aten, Svarog,
you are known by many names.
You are the light over the crops,
the heat that warms the Earth,
the hope that springs eternal,
the bringer of life.
We welcome you, and we honor you this day,
celebrating your light,
as we begin our journey once more
into the darkness.
Always
take precautions while observing any Sun related phenomena. Never look directly into the Sun. Always wear protective glasses or use objects
to block the direct glare of the Sun.
Edin is a God of magic, war and
death. He is the founder and an expert
in rune magic and the giver of spiritual ecstasy and magical arts to the
mystics and Shamans. Odin in his capacity
is any other law giving head God. He can
be found in the local town, city hall or state capitol building. The bigger the political sway of the
building, the better. Wednesday is named
after Woden, the English form of Odin. Odin is the main God character in the 2001 novel 'American
Gods' by Neil Gaiman; the character of Odin is primarily called Mr. Wednesday
and the All-Father in the novel.
