Sol
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
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Sol, also known by the titles Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") and Sol Indiges ("Our Native Sun"), is the Roman god of the Sun, our local star. The words for Sun in ancient and modern European languages are also used for the names of other similar solar deities. In Classical mythology, Sol is the father of Circe, the sorceress who changed her enemies into animals, and grandfather of Latinus, an ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The worship of Sol is said to date back to the very origins of Rome, and assimilation of symbols and stories of the Greek gods Apollo and Helios can be seen in accounts from the end of the Roman republic, in 27 BCE. Scholars once thought that the worship of Sol Indiges was supplanted by Sol Invictus, who, they said, was originally a Syrian sun god, but the tide of learned opinion is shifting to the understanding that "Invictus" and "Indiges" are simply two titles for one indigenous solar deity.
Festivals to the Roman Sol were held on August 28, December 11, and December 25. The popular conception that our modern Christmas date of December 25 originated as a Christian appropriation of the great holiday Natalis Solis Invicti ("Birthday of the Unconquered Sun") is a misconstruction of a single calendar list of the year 354 CE, which mentions the festival. It does not appear in any other early Christian calendar lists, and observations of Christmas are at least a century older than this.
Sol is often represented driving the chariot of the sun across the sky, like Apollo. Rays of light emanate from his face and body. He is often shown with a radiate crown -- one with pointed rays spreading outward or upward from a band around his head; the Statue of Liberty wears such a crown as well. Hoodoo psychic readers, spirit workers, and root doctors who petition the Roman deities within the Pagan and Neo-Pagan traditions on behalf of clients may work with Sol when there are pending spiritual and magical issues regarding education, success, and personal power.
See Also
- Religious Traditions
- Magical Traditions
- Divination, Fortune Telling, and Oracles
- Hoodoo, Conjure, Witchcraft, and Rootwork
- Working with Spirits
Credits
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- Image: Robert Fludd
