~Hall of Fame~
MYTHOLOGY ~ SONGS AND POETRY
Surya, Hindus' Sun GodMany gods and goddesses are described in sacred Hindu writings. According to Hindu’s oldest writing, the Rig Veda, Surya, in Hindu mythology, represents the Sun god. Surya is portrayed as a man with ‘red’ skin with three eyes and four arms, riding in a chariot strained by seven horses. He is described holding water lilies with two of his hands; while with his third hand he encourages his worshipers whom he blesses with his fourth hand. Surya is believed by the Hindus to be a compassionate divine being gifted of healing sick people. Up until now, people still place the symbol of the Sun over their shops because they believe that it would bring good fortune. Surya married his wife Sanjana, who could not bear the powerful light and heat that made her fled into a forest where she changed herself into a mare (horse) to avoid from Surya. But Surya soon found Sanjana's retreat. He too, disguised as a horse and went to the same forest to seek for his dear wife. His wife gave birth to several offspring, and eventually got together with her husband. The heat and light of Surya were still so excruciating that Sanjana was always fatigued everytime she was doing her domestic duties. Concerned, Sanjana's father decided to help her and loped off Surya's body in order to reduce his brightness by an eighth. Hence, Sanjana could without difficulty, live close to her husband. The Ten Suns
The Chinese believes that there are ten suns that appearing in turn in the sky during the Chinese ten-day week. Each of the days the suns would tour with the goddess Xi He, their mother, to the Valley of the Light (in the East), where she would wash her children in the lake and put them in the branches of an enormous tree called fu-sang (a mulberry tree). Only one sun from the tree would shift off into the sky for a trip of a day, reaching mount Yen-Tzu (in the Far West). Since they are tired of this routine, the ten suns one day decided to appear together at the same time. As they combined, the heat from all of them made the life on the Earth intolerable. To put a stop to the destruction of the Earth, emperor Yao asked Di Jun (the father of the ten suns) to persuade his children to appear only one at a time. Unfortunately, the suns would not listen to him, so their own father, Di Jun sent Yi, an archer, to frighten the disobedient suns by arming himself with a magic bow and ten arrows. Alas, none of the sun survived, but one (the one that we can see today) remained in the sky, as Yi had shot nine suns. Due to the death of the ten of his children, Di Jun got so angry that he damned Yi to live as an ordinary mortal on earth. Maui
There are many stories regarding the Polynesian mythological hero, Maui. Maui was a small man, but considered very heroic. There is a tale saying that he once desired the art of making fire that he stole a hen from heaven because ‘fire’ was guarded by the celestial chicken. Maui and his mother found the days to be too short. They thought there was never enough time to complete their work in only a day. He wanted his mother to have more sunshine to make bark cloth that he thought if the Sun were moving slower across the sky, the day would be longer. Thus, Maui cut off the sacred locks (of hair) of his wife, Hina, to make a rope that would resist burns in the Sun. By means of his rope he trapped the Sun as it was rising and stroke it with the magic jawbone of his grandmother (which is really gross!!). The Sun got so weak after being beat that it could not possibly run but only glide along its course around the Earth. As Maui’s plan worked, the sunlight lasted longer, and it was possible to work more during the long day. The trickster god (Maui) was always trying to impress women. It was told in one myth that he was making an earth oven when his poker got stuck in the sky, which led him to get more room. That is when Maui simply pushed the sky up to impress a lady. At that moment, of course, the sky was much lower than it is now. Apollo of Greece
Apollo was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Leto (Letona). Based on Greek Mythology, he was the twin brother of the goddess Artemis and was also the god of the Sun, logic, and reason. Besides his everyday job as a god, Apollo was also a fine musician and healer. Leto, Apollo’s mother journeyed all over Greece to find a place to give birth to young Apollo and finally got to an island named Delos. The very island approved to allow the birth of Apollo if he in turn builds a temple on the island. The mother agreed, and when Apollo grew, he changed Delos into a beautiful island. Although Apollo was the god of the Sun, logic and reason, he was too known as the god who could predict the future. The Romans also somehow believed in Apollo as the god of light. His most renowned sacred place was at Delphi, site of the Oracle of Delphi.
Inca's Sun GodInti, the ancestor of the Incas, was considered the Sun god. The Incas were living in South America in the ancient Peru. In what is remained of the city of Machu Picchu, it is possible to see a shadow clock which illustrates the path of the Sun personified by Inti. Inti and his wife Pachamama, the Earth goddess, were regarded as munificent deities. As what was stated in the ancient Inca myth, Inti taught his son Manco Capac and his daughter Mama Ocollo the arts of civilization and sent them to the Earth to educate mankind about what they had learned. Inti’s children was ordered to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge, they carried with them, would collapse to the ground. Incas believed this happened in the city of Cuzco, which has been founded by the Ayar. Inti is still celebrated up until today in Peru during the Festival of Inti Raimi in Cuzco. |
