Sun folklore & mythology: legends, superstitions and rituals from around the world

In other ancient myths, the sky was often viewed as a household and the sun was rarely alone.

In many cultures, the sun and moon were seen as husband and wife, though their specific roles varied.

In Central and South America, particularly among the Mexicans and Peruvians, they were a married couple, often called "grandfather" and "grandmother".

However, like the moon, the gender of the sun wasn't fixed; while often masculine, the sun was regarded as a woman by the Cherokee and Iroquois tribes and in German folklore, the sun was the wife (Frau Sonne - Mrs/Lady Sun) and the moon the husband (Herr Mond - Mr/Lord Moon).

The stars were often explained as the children of this celestial couple.

One myth from Malaysia said that the Sun and the Moon were both women, and the stars in the sky were their children. Fearing that mankind couldn't survive the intense heat of so many celestial bodies, the two women agreed to eat their respective star-children.

The Sun kept the pact and swallowed hers - which is why there are no stars seen during the day - but the Moon secretly hid her children instead.

When the Moon brought her star-children out of hiding that night, the Sun realized she had been tricked. Furious, she began an eternal chase across the sky to punish the Moon, occasionally getting close enough to bite her.

Superstitions and rituals about the sun

For the common person, the sun dictated the flow of daily luck and ritual.

There was a universal belief in the importance of moving "sunwise" (clockwise).

In Scottish Highland lore, you would have good fortune if you walked around a person three times in the direction of the sun (making the deazil), whereas moving "withershins" (against the sun) was an act associated with witches and bad luck.

This belief extended to household tasks. In parts of the United States and Canada (Newfoundland), it was thought that cake batter or custard must be stirred "with the sun" or it would curdle or fail to rise.

People also observed strict rituals of greeting. In ancient Greece, it was customary to kiss one's hand to the rising sun, while some Native American chiefs would smoke a pipe toward the sun each morning as a salutation.

The sun was also seen as a judge of truth; a German legend warned that the sun would punish liars by withdrawing its light from them personally, making the world appear permanently gloomy and dark to the perjurer.

Sun omens, dreams & divination

The sun was a primary source of omens. To dream of the sun shining bright and clear was a sure sign of incoming riches. While dreaming of a sun under a cloud foretold hardships and danger.

Unusual solar phenomena, such as the appearance of parhelia (also called "three suns" or sundogs), were interpreted as a warning of war. This odd illusion occurs when sunlight reflects and bends through hexagonal ice crystals drifting in high-altitude clouds , giving the appearance of multiple suns.

It was claimed these suns appeared just before Napoleon’s disastrous 1812 campaign in Russia (where his whole army nearly died).

Talismans made of gold or diamonds were also worn to attract the sun's favor, as these materials were often believed to be ruled by the sun and to give strength and courage.

The sun as a healer in folk medicine

The sun played a vital role in folk medicine.

• In Pomerania (now mostly Poland and Germany), a fever-stricken patient would face the rising sun and invoke it to "take the seventy-seven fevers from me".
• North American folklore suggested that a corn (or wen) could be cured by "rubbing it" with the sun.
• In India, rituals involving the sun were used to cure eye ailments. A charm involving a specific root, dug up on a Sunday morning after "inviting" the plant the previous evening, was used to cure corneal ulcers.
  

Sun festivals & the solstices

The turning points of the sun’s journey - the solstices - were marked by great "fire festivals" intended to encourage the sun.

To early people, the sun's return was a matter of survival; the ancient men of Greenland, for example, would climb the highest mountain tops at the winter solstice just to catch the first glimpse of the returning sun after thirty-five long days of darkness.

In Europe, the winter solstice was celebrated with the burning of the Yule log, a custom designed to rekindle the solar fire.

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The summer solstice, or Midsummer, was celebrated with dramatic rites. In Germany, peasants would wrap a large wheel in straw, set it on fire and roll it down a hill into a river.

This fiery wheel represented the sun descending from its highest point in the heavens. If the blazing wheel reached the water before the fire went out, the people believed it was a sure sign of a good grape harvest and the townsfolk were rewarded with the right to collect white wine from the surrounding vineyards.

It was also common for people to dance around and leap through bonfires to ward off sickness and evil spirits, believing the fire possessed the sun's purifying power.

In Ireland, as the fires burned low, parents would lift their children across the glowing embers to ensure good luck for the coming year.

The fires also held promises of romance; in Brittany, it was a popular belief that any maiden who danced around nine different midsummer fires before midnight would surely be married within the year.

Like the lunar equivalent, perhaps nothing terrified early people more than an eclipse. In the solar version (where the moon passes between the earth and sun) it was universally viewed as the sun being attacked or eaten.

• The Hindu demon Rahu and the Mang woman: Ancient Hindus believed a four-armed demon named Rahu was decapitated by Vishnu after the sun and moon caught him secretly drinking the nectar of immortality. Rahu's immortal head was placed in the heavens, where it occasionally wreaked vengeance by swallowing the sun. Another Indian folk tale claimed the eclipse is the shadow of a basket carried by a low-caste Mang woman who chases the sun demanding a meal because Ram (a local army chief) killed her son; during an eclipse, people would give alms to the poor to appease her and release the sun.

• The Chinese celestial dragon: The Chinese reasoned that a prodigious, hunger-driven dragon roamed the heavens and held the sun fast between its teeth, attempting to eat it. To frighten the monster into letting go of its prey, the people would create as much noise as possible by beating drums and brass kettles, while others knelt to beg the dragon for mercy.

• The Persian fiends: The ancient Persians believed the eclipse was caused by two opaque, dark bodies - described as greatly powerful fiends and opponents of the sun - which moved below the luminaries. One was called the head and the other the tail and during an eclipse, they were said to have stood as a dark curtain temporarily hiding the sun's light from the world.