Solar System bodies: Sun.
To the Egyptians it was Ra, Amen, Aten, or Osiris, each with a different religious significance. The winged
globe in Egyptian art is a familiar representation of the solar orb. Atenism, the first impersonal concept of the
Deity, worshipped only "the power which came from the Sun," and forbade any emblem or idol that would
tend to substitute a symbol for the thing itself. To The Persian it was Mithras; to the Hindu, Brahma; to the
Chaldean, Bel; and to the Greek, Adonis and Apollo. In Free-masonry Sol-om-on, the name of the Sun in three
languages, is an expression of light.
Actually the Sun has no visible motion, although we know it moves because nothing in the universe can hold
its place by standing still. However, ancient astrology dealt with things as they appear rather than as they are;
just as the wind which blows South was to the ancients the North wind because it came out of the North.
Therefore, when astrology speaks of the Sun's motion we must not overlook the fact that what we actually
mean is the Earth's motion which we measure by or describe in the terms of the apparent motion of the Sun.
That the ancient masters knew this, can be seen in the order of the planetary hours: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun,
Venus - the placing of the Sun between Mars and Venus clearly showing that it represents the Earth in this
sequence.
The Nodes at which the Earth intercepts the plane of the Sun's equator, lie at heliocentric longitudes 75° and
255°, which the Earth crosses in Junc and December. The Sun's North Pole is inclined toward the Earth by 7°
in July, and away from the Earth by 7° in January. The plane of the Sun's orbit is not known, but since the
Milky Way galaxy is a flat disc of stars it is probable that the Sun's orbit does not deviate to any great extent
from the average of the stars within the galaxy - similar to the orbits of the planets which lie within a narrow
band that extends some 7° on either side of the Ecliptic.
We do know that the plane of our ecliptic is inclined to the plane of the Milky Way galaxy at a steep angle of
approximately 50° hence the three-dimensional motion of the Earth with reference to the orbit of the Sun must
involve a considerable degree of elevation and depression above and below the plane of the Sun's orbit; also
that there must be a considerable declination of the Sun's pole with reference to its orbit, not unlike that of the
Earth's pole to which we ascribe our seasonal variations. Because of this, the Nodes where the Earth intersects
the Sun's equator are not the same as those at which the Earth intersects the plane of the Sun's orbit. It is not
improbable that the latter nodes may pursue a precessional cycle not unlike that of the Moon's Nodes.
The Sun is a variable star, unlike any other star yet discovered. It revolves from East to West; i.e., looking
down on its North pole, it moves counter-clockwise. Its period of rotation at the Equator is 24.65 d.; at the pole,
34 d. Its mean period as seen by the Earth is 25.38 d.; but its synodical period of rotation is 27.25 d.
The diameter of the Sun is 864,392 miles. Driving in an automobile at the rate of 500 miles a day, it would
require 14 y, 10 m, 2 d, to circle the Sun.
Its weight in tons is 2,200 plus 24 ciphers, or 2.2 octillion tons. In bulk it could contain 1,300,000 Earths.