Solar deities are a dime a dozen in the ancient world. Ra, Surya, Tonatiuh, Malakbel, Amun/Aten, Albina, Helios, Arinna, Ah Kin, Koyash, Nahundi and dozens of other have all had their day in the sun. All of them basically boiled down to the same sun. I’m partial to the late sun gods and their imagery.
Helios was the main solar deity for the Greeks. He drove a chariot pulled by solar steeds across the sky. Apollo was also closely related to the sun. Apollo was an Olympian and Helios a Titan. Homer considered them to be independent, but Pseudo-Eratosthenes clearly equated them.
The Romans called Helios Sol Invictus, a popular figure on sarcophagi (above right) and the walls of Pompeii (left). They saw Apollo as a separate deity, but, confusingly, their Apollo often appears in the guise of Sol. They also managed to weave Mithras, who was very popular in Rome around the third century, into the sun picture as well. Unlike the static depictions of gods by the Greeks, Roman religious imagery, including that of the early Christians, was full of action and expression.
Sol appears occasionally on 1st and 2nd century coinage, and very often through the 3rd and 4th centuries. Although Sol worship was sufficiently popular in the 5th century for Augustine to rail about it, the last known appearance of a Roman Sol inscription is from around 390 AD. Romans then started preferring Jesus to Sol Invictus and lively Christian imagery replaced good ol’ Sol. More on that to follow.
Mithras slaying the bull. Sol Invictus watches in his quadriga at top left
Sol with quadriga roundel from the Arch of Constantine
1st centruy altar with dedication to the most holy Sun
Follis of Constantine with Sol Invictus
Sol or Apollo as Sol from Pompeii
Dedication for the emperor’s health from a priest of the cult, Rome.
I’m the Worshipful Master of my Masonic Lodge, and have to some degree been studying Masonry ever since I joined the Craft. I am also a clairvoyant Psychic, or the modern spin would testify that I am a member of the IRVA, International Remote Viewing Association. When a Mason dies we say that they journey in to Heaven and become a members of the Grand Lodge above. So I’ve astral traveled~Remote Viewed the Grand Lodge above. You may be interested to here that the Master of the Lodge is Helios/Mithras and the Secretary of the Lodge is Thoth/Hermes trismegitus. I have not had a chance yet to say hello to the other officers of this Lodge yet, but intend to do so. To say that it is enjoyable to journey to this place and sit in Lodge with such luminaries is probably an understatement. I have also been enjoying the pieces of Masonic education that they are presenting at this Grand Lodge. Apparently, according to Helios/Mithras I’m only the third person to join them in lodge who is not already dead, and they have thanked me for attending, and I was honored that they should recognize me so.
Men se5 vacker ge5rd och se5 mckyet snf6! Ert torp e4r se5 himla snyggt, kanske ni flyttar dit permanent ngn dag? Ge4ststugan skulle man inte ha ngt emot att bo i heller… Mari.
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