The sun can feel so potent to us on a physical level. It makes plants grow and enables life. It can power our homes and it gives our bodies an essential vitamin in its most useful form. We burn if we get too much of it, and many people develop a mood disorder in the less sunlit months. This post gives tips and ideas to bring sun spirituality into your life, and how to get your boost from those golden rays.
- 1) Explore your relationship
Some people are sun-worshippers who love a day where the temperature creeps well up into the 20s, who sunbathe and crave holidays in warmer climates. Others find hotter days overpowering and draining, perhaps affecting their mood and concentration. If you would like to connect with the sun spiritually, it’s worth thinking about your reactions, feelings and experiences to the sun. For example, if you would like to use a bit of visualisation of sunlight giving charge to something, you may choose to avoid doing so at midday in summer if that’s often a time when sunshine doesn’t make you feel good. Or perhaps you find moonlight more energising.
The sun has often been associated with masculine energy, or to what we see as the more masculine parts of ourselves. However, some cultures have perceived the sun as female. It’s worth exploring how these ideas resonate with you personally; maybe some of these associations feel outdated in this time where gender roles and stereotypes are being challenged and dissolved, and where many people no longer see and/or feel gender to be binary.
You could look up some solar deities and see which ones, and which of their stories and mythology, you are drawn to. Explore artworks of the sun – or create your own. If you’re craving more of what the sun represents to you, you could try placing some solar images around your home for a visual link to that and to your goals.
- 2) Give warmth and light
On a scientific level, this is what the sun provides for life forms on our planet. In a psychospiritual sense, you can think about what in your life may have “gone cold”, need to be “kept warm”, or need to be brought out of the shadows (for example, aspects of your shadow side that are not serving you well). You could write these things down and take the paper outdoors to hold in the sunlight, whilst you focus on your desire for them to receive what they need in order to thrive, visualising them doing so. You could do this regularly, during the time period that you’re trying to nurture that change, if that sense of frequent connection with sunlight and its warmth also brings you into stronger connection with those goals.
You can also ask, through meditation or journalling or reflection, the qualities that you think you radiate to others. You can reflect on how you would like to shine more, and how you might practically work towards that.
- 3) Energise, and generate health and happiness
The sun often carries spiritual symbolism for health and happiness, and this is supported by the dynamic role of vitamin D in our minds and bodies. Visualisation similar to what’s described above can be worked on plants, projects, your body, anything that needs a little boost. You can bring the object into the sunlight and focus your mind on an image of that plant perking up and thriving, or that project panning out how you would like it. Avoid leaving anything in strong sunlight, though, if it’s something that you don’t want to fade, dehydrate or catch fire!
A visualisation I sometimes use is to start by feeling sunshine on my skin, then extend that to a feeling of it gently pouring into and through my body. I find this helpful when I’m feeling in need of strength and energy, (again, think of what words you associate with the sun). Although a visualisation like this can offer its own beautiful power, it’s not a replacement for professional support or treatment for ongoing health or emotional difficulties. If you’re struggling, please reach out for help.
- 4) Grow and play
Solar associations also include childhood – specifically innocence, growth and playfulness as characterised by this phase. On a physical level, vitamin D plays a crucial role in bone growth, whilst on an emotional level we often connect a “sunny disposition” with natural childlike temperament. The sun draws children out to play and young children tend to include the sun in their drawings. Most kids have a strong need for grounding in their daily and yearly rhythm, both being cycles that are connected to the sun.
As adults, we often lack play, or opportunities for it: life is busy and it can seem that there are endless responsibilities and chores. To explore sun spirituality further, try letting your inner child out to play sometimes, regardless of whether you have children in your life. Try board games, active games, climbing a tree, going on a swing, messy art, visiting a theme park or just a bit of silliness with a friend or partner. Journalling about your experience(s) afterwards might bring further opportunities for personal growth and rewards.
5) Success
Another theme in Tarot and other practices that are associated with the sun is success. Here, you can adapt the visualisations suggested above to hold in your mind a picture of your goal or project glowing in its completed form. Obviously you will also need to make practical efforts to get there, just like a plant also needs water, nutrients and other favourable conditions to grow.
Spin your circle bright:
Mind~ I’ve not listened to this Sun Magic audiobook myself, but thought that I would share the link here as it looks interesting.
Body~ Fragrant meadowsweet is out at the moment, in delicately frothing, vanilla-scented clouds. You may also pick up notes of almond or watermelon from its flowers, which you can use to make cordial, sorbet, fudge and more. Learn ID tips here.
Kids might enjoy making a cardboard box solar oven as a fun sun science activity. Try this one, or Google for variations. We use ours to melt chocolate onto biscuits!
Heart~ Another one for the kids (or for parents’ summer holidays gameplans!) is science-meets-art activity making cyanotype pictures like these. You can buy paper from Amazon or Myriad (who sell solar cloth as well). There’s some beautiful examples, and other DIY ideas, here.
Spirit~ For those looking for a more formal sun ritual, this one shared on Patheos.com can be used by group or solitary magic practitioners.
Sharing~ Solar Aid supply lights to those without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, whose days are cut short by darkness (and who might try to combat that with naked flames). Find out more about how you can help the charity to offer safer alternatives here.
spin your circle bright 