List of solar deities

A solar deity is a god or goddess who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The following is a list of solar deities:

African

Egyptian mythology
  • Amun, creator deity sometimes identified as a sun god
  • Aten, god of the sun, the visible disc of the Sun
  • Atum, the "finisher of the world" who represents the Sun as it sets
  • Bast, cat goddess associated with the Sun
  • Hathor, mother of Horus and Ra and goddess of the sun
  • Horus, god of the sky whose right eye was considered to be the Sun and his left the Moon
  • Ptah, god of craftsmanship, the arts, and fertility, sometimes said to represent the Sun at night
  • Ra, god of the sun
  • Sekhmet, goddess of war and of the sun, sometimes also plagues and creator of the desert
  • Sopdu, god of war and the scorching heat of the summer sun

American

Aztec mythology

Brazilian mythology

Incan mythology
  • Inti, god of the sun and patron deity of the Inca Empire
  • Ch'aska ("Venus") or Ch'aska Quyllur ("Venus star") was the goddess of dawn and twilight, the planet

Inuit mythology

Maya mythology
  • Ah Kin, god of the sun, bringer of doubt, and protector against the evils associated with darkness
  • Hunahpu, one of the Maya Hero Twins; he transformed into the Sun while his brother transformed into the Moon
  • Kinich Ahau, god of the sun

Muisca mythology
  • Sué, god of the sun and husband of Chía, the moon

Native American mythology

Asian

Ainu mythology
  • Chup Kamui, a lunar goddess who switched places with her brother to become goddess of the sun

Arabian mythology

Buddhist mythology
  • Marici, goddess of the heavens, sun, and light
  • Surya, god of the sun (Suriya Pariththa, Suthra Pitaka, Pali canon, Theravada Buddhism)

Canaanite mythology
  • Shapash, goddess of the sun

Chinese mythology
Statue of the goddess Xihe charioteering the sun, being pulled by a dragon, in Hangzhou
  • Doumu, sun goddess sometimes conflated with Marici.
  • Xihe, sun goddess and mother of the ten suns
  • Yu Yi, god that carries the Sun across the sky
  • Xu Kai, god of the sun star

Elamite

Hindu mythology
Surya
  • Aryaman, god of the midday sun
  • Savitr, god of the sun at sunrise and sunset
  • Surya, the sun god, rides across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot ala Helios and Sol
  • Mitra, often associated with the sun
  • Mihir, meaning Sun.
  • Aruna, charioteer of Surya, god of the morning sun.
  • Tapati, sun goddess.

Hittite mythology

Japanese mythology
Amaterasu emerging out of a cave, bringing sunlight back to the universe.

Mesopotamian mythology
  • Shamash, Akkadian god of the sun and justice
  • Utu, Sumerian god of the sun and justice

Scythian religion
  • Tabiti, ancient iranian goddess possibly connected with the sun.

Tocharian
  • A "sun deity" (kaum näkte),[5] possibly a goddess.[6]

Turkic mythology
  • Gun Ana, common Turkic solar deity, seen as a goddess in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz traditions
  • Koyash, god of the sun

Persian mythology

Zunism
  • The Zunbil dynasty and the subjects of Zabulistan worshiped the Sun, which they called Zun. They believed that the Sun was the god of justice, the force of good in the world and, consequently, the being that drove out the darkness and allowed man to live another day.

European

Armenian mythology
  • Ar, Arev, the sun god with its people as "children of the sun"

Baltic mythology

Basque mythology
  • Ekhi, goddess of the sun and protector of humanity

Celtic mythology
  • Áine, Irish goddess of love, summer, wealth, and sovereignty, associated with the Sun and midsummer
  • Alaunus, Gaulish god of the sun, healing, and prophecy
  • Belenos, Gaulish god of the sun
  • Étaín, Irish sun goddess
  • Epona, horse deity occasionally linked with Étaín
  • Grannus, god associated with spas, healing thermal and mineral springs, and the Sun
  • Macha, "sun of the womanfolk" and occasionally considered synonymous with Grian
  • Olwen, female figure often constructed as originally the Welsh sun goddess
  • Sulis, British goddess whose name is related to the common Proto-Indo-European word for "Sun" and thus cognate with Helios, Sól, Sol, and Surya and who retains solar imagery, as well as a domain over healing and thermal springs. Probably the de facto solar deity of the Celts.

Etruscan mythology

Finnish mythology

Germanic mythology
  • Sól/Sunna/Sunne, the common sun goddess among the Germanic tribes, from Proto-Germanic Sōwilō; was chased across the sky in her horse-drawn chariot by a wolf

Greek mythology
  • Helios, the Titan god and personification of the sun who drove across the sky in a chariot.
  • Apollo, Olympian god of sun, light, healing, music and prophecy. His most common epithet was Phoebus (“Radiant”).
  • Eos, Titan goddess and personification of dawn.
  • Hemera, the primordial goddess of day.

Lusitanian mythology
  • Endovelicus, god of health and safety, worshiped both as a solar deity and a chthonic one
  • Neto, claimed to be both a solar and war deity
  • A possible sun goddess, whose cult has become that of Virgin Mary Nossa Senhora de Antime.[7][8][9]

Minoan mythology
  • A solar goddess of some sort, possibly the Snake Goddess.[10][11]

Roman mythology
  • Aurora, goddess of dawn
  • Sol, god of the sun, rides in a horse-drawn chariot

Sami mythology
  • Beiwe, goddess of the sun, spring, fertility, and sanity

Slavic mythology

Oceania

Australian Aboriginal mythology
  • Bila, cannibal sun goddess of the Adnyamathanha
  • Gnowee, solar goddess who searches daily for her lost son; the light of her torch is the Sun
  • Wala, solar goddess
  • Wuriupranili, solar goddess whose torch is the Sun
  • Yhi, Karraur goddess of the sun, light and creation

Māori mythology

See also

References
  1. J. F. Breton (Trans. Albert LaFarge), Arabia Felix From The Time Of The Queen Of Sheba, Eighth Century B.C. To First Century A.D., 1998, University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame (IN), pp. 119-120.
  2. Julian Baldick (1998). Black God. Syracuse University Press. p. 20. ISBN 0815605226.
  3. Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, 1999 - 1181 páginas
  4. J. Ryckmans, "South Arabia, Religion Of", in D. N. Freedman (Editor-in-Chief), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Volume 6, op. cit., p. 172
  5. http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp259_tocharian_origins.pdf
  6. http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp118_chinese_weaving_goddess.pdf
  7. "UM CULTO SOLAR OU RITUAL DE FECUNDIDADE". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  8. "Enciclopédia das Festas Populares e Religiosas de Portugal". p. 64.
  9. "TEÓFILO BRAGA. O POVO PORTUGUEZ NOS SEUS COSTUMES, CRENÇAS E TRADIÇÕES II".
  10. Evidence of Minoan Astronomy and Calendrical Practises
  11. Marinatos, Nanno. Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine (2013).
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