Friday, March 4, 2011

The Goddess and the Sun

For long has the Goddess been associated with the moon. Although in many cultures in the ancient world, she was also associated with the sun. With the start of patriarchal society, much of the old wisdom of the Goddess was repressed along with her. Any ancient power sources she claimed for herself, were stripped away and given to the newer more "powerful" Gods. She was relegated to being just a Goddess of the moon. No longer was she given the representation of the power of the sun. Not that being a Goddess of the moon is a downgrade by any means. It shows us just how much patriarchal societies actually took from our ancient Mother.

It makes sense that the Goddess would be associated with the sun due to it's life giving properties. Ancient people worshiped the sun because they knew how important it was for their survival. It's great power gave life to their crops and warmed their bodies. Every winter people in cultures all over the world would hold great festivals celebrating the power of the returning sun, when life would be abundant on the earth once again. The female aspect comes to us by those life giving properties the sun is known for. Women and the Goddess give birth to new life. So connecting the Goddess to the sun would make perfect sense to the ancient people.

There are many Goddesses associated with the sun, such as Brigid, Aine, Bast, Isis and Amaterasu to name a few. Brigid and Aine are both Celtic Goddesses associated with the warmth and life giving power of the sun. Bast, the cat Goddess of Egypt, symbolized the fertilizing rays of the sun. Isis is the Great Mother Goddess of Ancient Egypt. She wears a sun disc on her crown. Lastly Amaterasu is the Japanese Shinto Goddess whose name means great shining heaven. Her symbol is the rising sun which appears on the Japanese flag.

If you have ever watched the sunrise, I'm sure you will find it easy to connect it with female energy. I've actually seen many beautiful sunrises, in which I have felt the strong energy of the Goddess. As the sun creeps over the horizon, with her colors of oranges and yellows, pinks and reds, she is so majestic in her beauty. It literally stops you in your tracks, and you can not tear your eyes away. That big ball of fire rising, has a primal energy, ancient energy. Connecting you with the same ancient people who looked upon her same great face. The primordial connection to the earth and all of her beautiful creatures is what you will feel when you connect with the power of the rising sun.

She is reborn each and everyday to give the rest of the world a chance to be reborn. Her fertile light makes us as humans feel whole and connected. If you haven't seen a sunrise, please do yourself the favor. While watching it rise meditate, listen to the sounds of the birds and the other animals rising for the day. Connect with that ancient energy of life, we used to be so in tune with. After your sunrise meditation, record any thoughts that came to you.

During one of my special sunrise experiences, I recorded this quote from my thoughts:

I imagine that She is Isis awaking from her slumber, Stretching her golden wings far and wide, To reach the depths of our souls...

I hope you enjoy working with the ancient female power of the sun!



Picture courtesy of : Methvenite.wordpress.com The name of the artist is Jody Hewgill

12 comments:

  1. Well said! (insert applause here). Patriarchal societies entire identity is based on the ancient Mother Goddess. When you really research it, it's just mind-blowing how much they ripped off! Isis (who is my own Patron Goddess) was the first one to spring to my mind when I think of a Sun Goddess, followed by Brigid.

    By the way, I love your new look!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much Kim! Glad you enjoyed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhh this speaks to my heart! I have long loved Brigid and so associate her with the fire of our passions as in fireball in the sky!

    I just finished reading "Traveling With Pomegranites" a story by Sue Monk Kidd and her Daughter Ann. It is a story of mother-daughter in more ways than one...if you get the chance you must read it. All of her books are wonderful in her coming to find a Mother God. I hope you can find the time to check it out.

    What a beautiful portrait of praising Our Mother!

    Great Post and Many Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful post and lovely blog! Thanks for the insight and sunrise inspiration! Sunrise Maiden, Midday Mother, Sunset Crone...the Goddess is alive in all creation!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this post. I've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to think of a profound comment to leave, but I can't. You really covered it all. Thanks for posting this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for all the nice comments!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just curious...what are your resources? I have been trying to research Solar/Sun goddesses and would love to know where I can find more information (preferably scholarly sources). ^_^

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MaddCat: Thanks for your comment. I get many of my sources from my books. Good ones to check out are: The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler, The Once and Future Goddess by Elinor Gadon and anything by Marija Gimbutas is great for scholarly work as well. Also certain pantheons, such as the Norse and Celtic, have more Goddess and solar related myth. Good luck on your search! :)

      Delete
  8. I have recently published my conclusions on the Cretan spiral Labyrinth and found the goddess Gaia at the centre of the Labyrinth.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If you're interested in books dealing specifically with Sun Goddess lore, check out Patricia Monaghan's "Oh Mother Sun! A New View of the Cosmic Feminine" and Sheena McGrath's "The Sun Goddess: Myth, Legend, and History". Also, some of the most important sun goddesses include Saule (Baltic), Hathor (Egyptain), Unelanuhi (Cherokee), Sunnu/Sunna/Sol (Norse) and Sulis (Celtic). Also there are a lot of Australian sun goddesses.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Andraste also has a avian association...
    The bird that she is associated with is a Raven.
    which happens to be my totem animal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thankyou very much for this excellent article on the power of the Godess. I came across it when researching into the Morrigan , as a form of avian/human hybrid , for a book that I am planning to write about , Supernatural Creatures.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your comment! I appreciate your support! Many blessings to you )O(

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...