Myths About the Sun

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As children, we were taught in school that the sun is a star at the center of the solar system and is responsible for earth’s climate and weather. There is a solar eclipse that occurs when the moon comes between the sun and the earth. I remember my teacher telling me that the sun was so big that millions of earths could fit in it.
In times past, people had wild beliefs about the sun and how it got its power. Since the earliest civilizations, people in all parts of the world have observed and studied the position of the sun, its rising, and its setting throughout the year. Many cultures use solar calendars, which helped them in planting of crops and religious festivals.

The Pantheons (all the gods of people or religions collectively) have considered the sun to be a deity, who is usually a god and occasionally a goddess, too. Myths in some cultures stated that solar deities were creators who brought people into existence. Solar deities have often been associated with fertility of people on earth—like the Hittites of ancient Turkey who worshipped Arianna, an important goddess of fertility.

In some solar myths, there are stories where the sun deity makes a journey across the heavens in a chariot by day and at night floats across the ocean in a golden bowl. The Egyptian sun god “Ra” is believed to make a similar journey in which he is reborn daily. His journey starts in the morning when he is a child, then at noon he becomes a mature adult, and by sunset he is old and ready to die eventually.

In the mythology of the Native Americans, the sun is paired with the moon. The sun god and the moon god are believed to be sister and brother, who later become forbidden lovers. The moon leaves the sky in shame when the sun appears because his lover is also his sister.

In Hindu mythology, the sun god “Surya” is depicted as a red man with three eyes and four arms who rides on a chariot driven by seven mares. Even today, modern Hindus believe the sun god to be the eternal source of power and spirituality, and they worship him. The famous Konark Temple in India is one such example where the sun god Surya is worshipped.

This debate on the beliefs and myths of the ancient people, which are different yet similar in many ways, is never-ending. But with the advancement of science and technology, these myths have become synonymous with ignorance and inferiority. Perhaps one day these myths will no longer be alive and part of our social cultural systems but will become stories only read for their curiosity value.

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