22 Aug '05 10:54>1 edit
Originally posted by David CJust responding here to David C's opening post in this thread...regarding the central significance of the Sun in religions. The Sun is an aspect of Nature, an elemental force and so as a symbol it will be found to be of significance in certain forms of spiritual teachings, but less so in others.
Anyone familiar with the term?
Brief compendium: The Sun is the central deity in most religions. It has been anthropomorphized into a human(ish) figure, whether it is Ra, Sol Invictus, or Jesus (giving his life so that we may live). We can note that Christianity, for example, contains the 12+1 paradigm (the twelve constellations plus the Sun), and ...[text shortened]... re inching ever closer to the Age of Aquarius (2012, anyone?).
Interesting, or complete Bunk?
Briefly, there have been 5 main "streams" of spiritual teachings throughout history, those being...
1. Great Spirit Stream, which is mostly shamanism in its various expressions.
2. Great Mother Goddess Stream: Was connected to development of agriculture and the earliest known civilizations.
3. Creator God Stream: The Creator God cultures were usually solar/kingly/patriarchal, beginning with Egypt about 3000 BCE. Ancient Hebrew and Arab cultures show this type of development as well, as did the ancient Vedic traditions (Hinduism).
4. Saviour God Stream: The monotheistic (one God, and messianic ambassador), through the Judeo/Christian and Islamic traditions.
5. Methodological Stream: This is represented mostly by Buddhism and some schools of Hindu yoga, which are essentially methods/philosophies for achieving realization of our true nature. They are less concerned with doctrine and the name given for God or ultimate truth, then they are with you having the experience of spiritual realization, thus the emphasis on method.
It helps to see this bigger context because elemental symbols like the Sun and Moon, etc., tend to predominate more in certain streams, like the Great Spirit, Mother Goddess, and Creator God forms. But they are found much less, if at all, in the Savior God and Methodological streams. This is because these types of spiritualities are less concerned with matter or phenomena or their related symbols (though on occasion making use of them in parables), and much more concerned with an inner, numinous conversion to spiritual consciousness.
A classic example of a solar symbol for a Creator God was the Egyptian pharoah Akhenaton's deity "Aten", which he had represented by the solar disc with rays streaming out. He used the Sun as a symbol for "Aten" and attempted to abolish the polytheism that was rampant in Egypt at the time, supposedly beginning the first monotheism (one God only) tradition.
Akhenaton's teachings could be seen as the beginning of the movement away from relying on elemental or Nature symbols as representations of spiritual qualities. Taoism was perhaps the first tradition to define Ultimate Reality as formless, via what it called the "Tao" ( "the Tao that can be named, is not the true Tao" ). Both Buddhism and Christianity (whatever one thinks of their accompanying doctrinal details) strive to define the spiritual as being beyond matter or Nature or its related symbols.
One could argue that this has been a general evolution of religion, from animism/shamanism through Goddess and Creator God forms, to Taoist/Christian/Buddhist/Yogic ideas of transcending matter altogether (including related symbols of Nature like the Sun and zodiac), but the shadow side of these more recent religions is all too clear as well. In steering clear of Nature and her related symbols as a means to bridge to the spiritual realm, the risk is also run of incurring the arrogance that can all too easily accompany any attempt to move beyond the natural, into the "supernatural". The attitude modern humanity has toward the Earth and Nature (via technological harvesting of the planet and plundering of its species and natural resources) points that out well enough. That said, all spirituality is ultimately about inner realization, so even a Nature archetype like the Sun is at best a pointer toward something much greater than the Sun itself. Or as they put it in Zen, "all words are but fingers pointing toward the Moon of enlightenment."