Does a solar cult play a role in your neopaganism?

[JamesByrne]

Does a solar cult play a role in your neopaganism? Do you mark the daily passage of the sun with the Liber Resh or would you mark the suns yearly passage at solar festivals. Would you have sun gods... maybe a corn king that dies and gets reborn in a yearly cycle?

Im a history buff and I can say where the theory originates, who propigated it in neopaganism and what forms of neopaganism have the sun cult codified in it... but I dont know if I have the belief...
I like getting out in the sun and Im a sun worshipper in that sense but the wicker man style corn king doesnt resonate with me for some reason. Maybe Im not in touch with that masculine side of neopagan spirituality? I dunno.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Does a solar cult play a role in your neopaganism?

Yes, the passage of the sun (in the sense of the passing of the seasons) does play a large role in my spiritual path. (I'm not being awkward here, James, just choosing my words carefully... what I mean by a solar cult may not be the same as what you mean.) So yes, I celebrate the seasons, the equinoxes, solstices etc. I don't use any daily marking of the sun (although sometimes I will mark sunrise and sunset if it's particularly beautiful.) Part of the reason I suspect is that we get so much cloud and rain in my part of the world, I don't actually get to see the sun all that often

As for knowing where the theory originated, who propagated it in neopaganism and what forms of neopaganism have the sun cult codified in it... well, my caveat there is that we can't be entirely sure about many things, no matter how great our love of history etc. Knowledge and wisdom are two, quite different, things. We may know for example a great deal about theology. yet be an atheist. Or we may know virtually nothing about theology yet hold firm, sincere beliefs.

I think it's quite possible to incorporate the sun into your spiritual life without absorbing the wicker man. The ancient Egyptiants did this with their sun cult - and not a wicker man in sight!

Either way, I wish you well with your quest.

[Gardenia]

Re: Does a solar cult play a role in your neopaganism?

The sun plays an important role in my personal practice - following and celebrating the cycle of the sun as it waxes and wanes, and the changes that brings to the land here, and some of the symbolism behind it. It's really one of the core elements of my path, removing it would require me to restructure... well, almost everything else. However, there's no Deity with it, no real personification of the sun/grain cycles. Just, you know, the sun, and us going around it. Like, if I were to wake up tomorrow and suddenly I'm an atheist, it wouldn't affect me in this area - even though there are some spiritual elements to my following the cycle. Hopefully that makes sense. (That said, on the rare occasion that I do feel the need to incorporate a sun Deity into my rituals, it's a Goddess, so...)

[JamesByrne]

Re: Does a solar cult play a role in your neopaganism?

Thats interesting a non religious thing, the reason for the liber resh is secular too assumning you believe in energy and attunement. Maybe Ive been looking at the specific religious purpose too much.