Symbols and Deities
tied to the Sun
by Alessandro Gatto
Many are the deities Humanity has imagined and worshipped to represent the star that warms and illuminates the Earth, the only planet in our solar system to host life. In the civilisations of man, we find tokens of various kinds involving the cult of the Sun. We know the ancient Egyptians represented the sun with the god Ra whom they worshipped.
Ra was indeed considered the pharaoh's father and was represented in the form of a winged disk or with the semblance of a hawk or with human semblance and a hawk's head. In the culture of ancient Greece, Helios was the very ancient divinity of all peoples and successively adopted by the Romans with the name of Apollo, son of Jupiter and Leto.
Apollo was indeed one of the major gods. He was healer and patron of Medicine, god of Light, of the Fine Arts, philosophical inspiration and prophecy but also terrible in his wrath and vengeance. In ancient Rome, honoured as Sol Index and celebrated December 11, a temple on the Quirinal was dedicated to him. It was believed that this god knew the secrets of all men and women.
Swastika in a market in India The swastika is a very ancient sacred symbol.The cross with four arms ending with a segment set at a right angle and pointing left refers to time and space.It indicates the Four Seasons, the Four Cardinal Points, the Four Positions of the Ursa Major with respect to the North Star.In India, it is known principally as a solar symbol and is called Sun Wheel.
See also:
|
|
Back HOME |
