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Encyclopedia > Sun mythology

A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun. People have worshipped the Sun and solar deities for all of recorded history. Hence, many beliefs and legends have been formed around this worship. 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. The dualism of sun/male/light and moon/female/darkness is indeed found in European traditions that derive from Orphic and Gnostic philosophies, but many other European cultures saw the sun as a maternal force, as did many other cultures. In some cultures, such as the Scandinavian, some scholars have misread the primary texts in order to declare a male divinity the "sun god."


Here is a list of solar deities:

See also Phoenix, Stonehenge


Chinese Mythology

Unlike many other cultures, Chinese people do not personify nor worship the Sun or the Moon. The most likely reason is the heavy influence of Taoism and I Ching in Chinese culture because the Moon represents Yin and the Sun represent Yang which are the basis of everything in nature.


In Chinese mythology (cosmology), there were nine suns in the sky in the beginning. The world was so hot that nothing grew. A hero called Hou Yi (后毅) shot down eight of them with bow and arrows. The world became better ever since. In another myth, 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".


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  Results from FactBites:
 
Sun Mythology (699 words)
There were the Anasazi Sun watchers, the Priest of the Sun in the Zuni, and in Hopi villages, solar observations were made by the head of the society responsible for upcoming ceremonies to determine the date for rituals.
In Chinese mythology, the Sun is the palace of Shen I, the Divine Archer.
Perhaps the suppression of the Sun in Hawaiian mythology is due to its ties to sorcery and secrecy or possibly because it is phallic in nature.
Sun - Wikinfo (1375 words)
The Sun is a main sequence star, with a spectral class of G2, meaning that it is somewhat bigger and hotter than the average star but far smaller than a red giant star.
All matter in the Sun is in the form of plasma due to its extreme temperature.
The differential rotation of the Sun's latitudes causes its magnetic field lines to become twisted together over time, causing magnetic field loops to erupt from the sun's surface and trigger the formation of the Sun's dramatic sunspots and solar prominences.
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