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THE METAPHYSICAL SUN - PATH TO UNITY
by Gary Brand - written June 10, 2007 and July 10, 2007,
published in the July and October 2007 editions of Echo* newspaper


Image of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light taken on
September 11, 1997 showing the solar corona, the Sun's outer atmosphere.
Image of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light taken on September 11, 1997 showing the solar corona, the Sun's outer atmosphere.  Also visible in this blue image are white "hot spots" surrounded by magnetic swirls many times larger than Earth.  Courtesy of the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) NASA/ESA.

This image shows a huge sunspot - as large as 15 Earths
and the largest seen since 1989 This image of the Sun shows a huge sunspot - as large as 15 Earths and the largest seen since 1989.  The photo was taken by SOHO on October 28, 2003, the day the sunspot produced the third largest flare ever recorded.  On November 4, 2003, it fired off the largest X-ray flare ever recorded.  Courtesy of the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) NASA/ESA.

This is a 1491 woodcut of the personification of the
Sun riding a chariot pulled by four horses. This is a 1491 woodcut of the personification of the Sun (Sol in Latin) riding a chariot pulled by four horses.  He wears a radiant crown and holds a staff of power in his right hand and the reins of his steads in the other hand.  Leo, the sign that he rules, is depicted by a lion in the wheel of the chariot, which is also radiating sunlight.  From the 1491 edition of Bonatti (G.B. (c. 1282/1491)).

[The first two paragraphs of this page were originally part of an article that was written June 10, 2007 and published in the July 2007 edition of Echo* newspaper.  The last paragraph of this page was originally part of an article written July 10, 2007 for the August 2007 edition of Echo but was inadvertently not published therein.  Instead, this paragraph was revised September 10, 2007 and subsequently published in the October 2007 edition.]

With this issue of Echo*, I am beginning a series of articles on the metaphysical and esoteric meanings of the planets, which follows the series I recently completed on the metaphysical meanings of the signs.  The Sun is the center of and comprises more than 99% of the mass of our solar system.  Since it is, by far, the largest, most massive and most important body around which all other bodies in the system revolve, it is the most important body metaphysically in a birth chart.  It represents the metaphysical center of our being, our soul, as well as the physical center, our heart.  Its glyph or pictograph is a circle with a dot in the center, a metaphor for Sun in the center of and the greatest body of the solar system with all other bodies gravitationally captured in endless orbits about it.  The circle is symbolic of the orbits of the planets and all other bodies in the system with no beginning and (to us) no end (seemingly infinite).  The circle is a good pictograph of a cycle of any kind and astrology is primarily the study of planetary cycles.  The calculation of the area circumscribed by a circle requires use of pi, a number with an infinite series of non-repeating decimal places – symbolic of the seemingly infinite number of cycles that are made by the planets and other solar system objects continuously moving around the Sun, most in nearly circular orbits.  The circle also represents the solar disc, the only constant circle in the daytime sky, despite the fact that we can't look directly at it.  The horizon forms a perfect circle only at sea and the Moon forms a circle only when full or when it is partially illuminated by the Sun and the dark portion is dimly lit by earth-glow.  All life on Earth is dependent on solar energy in the form of heat and light and some ancient religions have worshiped the Sun as a god.

The ancient masters knew that the Sun’s “orbit” around Earth was a mere reflection of Earth’s orbital position between Venus and Mars because the ancient Chaldean or Egyptian order of the seven “planets” of antiquity is according to speed:  Moon (fastest and closest to Earth), Mercury, Venus, SUN (Earth), Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.  The position of the Sun in the chart and in the sky defines whether it was day or night and whether the chart is diurnal (a birth during the day) or nocturnal.  This, in turn, is a general indicator of whether the basic nature of the personality is extroverted (diurnal) or introverted (nocturnal).  The Sun is the only star universally included in every birth chart and interpreted by every astrologer, although other stars are sometimes included and interpreted, but by a relatively small number of astrologers.  It dominates the sky when it is up and makes all other stars and most of the planets of antiquity invisible, hence Genesis 1:16 says, "and God made two great lights; the greater light [the Sun] to rule the day, and the lesser light [the Moon] to rule the night" (Bible).  The proximity of the Sun as the nearest star, the fact that it is responsible for the cycles of day and night and the seasons, and that without it, all life on Earth would quickly end makes it the most powerful body in the solar system and in the birth chart (unless it is extremely debilitated).  This is the reason that much of what has been written as “sun sign astrology” (based only upon what sign the Sun was in when we were born) has meaning and application in our lives.  As I finished this article, it occurred to me the need to discuss the meaning and significance of and to enumerate the many esoteric representations of the seven planets of antiquity in a separate article.

The Sun was a deity in a number of cultures.  Its glyph or pictograph is a circle with a dot in the center.  The dot is not only a metaphor for Sun in the center of and the greatest body of the solar system but in the human birth chart it symbolizes the Divine Center of our being, the Self.  Each being, from the smallest bacterium to the greatest avatar, is born and ergo has a Sun in their birth chart, which animates the Self of the organism (just as Sol animates our solar system) and is the representation of God assuming physical form.  But it is also this Self or Divine Center, represented by the Sun in a birth chart, that each human being and ultimately each creature on Earth is seeking to move toward.  In humans, our spiritual task is to transform our consciousness from identifying with our body (desires of our ego) to being reawakened so that we identify our consciousness with our Divine Center or Self.  In other words, identify with our Divine Center to the extent that it shines as blindingly brightly as the physical Sun in the sky (like the angels in the Bible who are so illuminated that most humans cannot look at them directly).  Since everything with specific form is born like us and has a Sun in its birth chart like us, when we identify with our Divine Center, we are able to become one with the Divine Center (the Sun in the birth chart) of other creatures or even objects – to recognize ourselves in everything and everything in ourselves.  The practice of recognition of the Divine in everything and especially every human is the path of the return to paradisiacal unity, the reunion with God.  Pythagoras said that the seeking of an understanding of the source or cause of all things through observation leads to an ability to look beyond the physical form and identify with the spirit of a thing or person (M.P.H., p. LXVI).  So, inherent in our birthright (the Sun in our birth chart) is the potential to identify with our Divine Self and the Divine Self in every creature!
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Reference Citations.

*Echo is a monthly newspaper about community, the environment, health, cuisine, and spirituality that is distributed in central Virginia.
Good Timing and Location are Keys to Success
Gary Brand Astrologer, Charlottesville, Virginia
Gary Brand, Astrologer
P.O. Box 3673, Tallahassee, Florida 32315
850-656-5758


© 2007 Gary Brand.  All Rights Reserved.