- Joined
- Aug 13, 2014
I could be misremembering so correct me if I’m wrong, but Sol really wasn’t that important of a deity in Rome for a long time. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars were the most important. Romans really enjoyed the island of Rhodes though. They thought it was kind of a paradise. Rhodes was always associated with the Greek Sun Deity Helios and was similarly kind of confounded with Apollo in other Greek Traditions and Ra or Horus in Egyptian Traditions.
Helios was not really an important God in the Greek Pantheon. In fact some myths say Apollo took over his office entirely and Helios just decided to become a depressed alcoholic while Apollo did all the important stuff. On a few Doric speaking islands though that wasn’t the case and he did still have a few shrines on the mainland. Also believe it or not, for a long time Poseidon was actually more important than Zeus to the Greeks. Poseidon was not just the God of the sea, but also the God of Travel and Commerce so I guess that makes sense. So how did a relatively unknown God become Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun?
Well again, Romans really liked Rhodes. Rhodians really loved Helios. So did Hellenic Jews because The Prophet Elijah, who’s Greek name is Elias also went into a chariot of fire, and Elias sounds a lot like Helios in classical pronunciation. It’s kind of this series of events that started elevating Sol above Jupiter in some communities. The cult of Saturn wasn’t really practiced outside Rome itself and Sicily and the Cult of Mars was losing influence to Mithraism and Christianity among the Army so…. Sol started really gaining popularity among Roman Nobility because he was seen as a middle ground between so many regions of Rome. Emperor Julian actually expanded on this. Sol wasn’t just the Sun. Sol was the giver of life in general, merging Roman worship with Neoplatonic and some Monotheistic ideas. Bam. Now Sol is the supreme deity. Higher than Jupiter, no longer subservient to Saturn. A lot of the writings about this don’t even exist anymore. Even as an Eastern Orthodox Christian I sort of lament that because it would be interesting to know exactly when Sol became such an important figure in Roman History when previously he was, just the Sun.
The other thing that’s puzzling is why Satanists are choosing to honor Sol so much. If you want to make a jab at Christianity then say it’s Saturnalia. You’d think they’d honor Saturn the most too because he literally ate all of his children except Jupiter in mythology and is a harvest God. Sol as Helios at least lost his son and became a depressed alcoholic as I said and in some traditions just gave all his power to Apollo. Dionysius or Bacchus was a God of hedonism with a mystery cult, why not choose him? They’re choosing the favored deity of the guy who gave up on Christianity and reverted to Paganism I guess? But he wasn’t necessarily Anti-Christian. Julian never restricted Christianity, just rejected it as his personal belief. The Empire did not prevent Christians from worshiping or preaching. Instead Julian just reopened some Pagan Temples and prayed to Sol.
I bet the majority of these people don’t know any of this and wouldn’t care if you told them. It’s just edgelord shit.
Helios was not really an important God in the Greek Pantheon. In fact some myths say Apollo took over his office entirely and Helios just decided to become a depressed alcoholic while Apollo did all the important stuff. On a few Doric speaking islands though that wasn’t the case and he did still have a few shrines on the mainland. Also believe it or not, for a long time Poseidon was actually more important than Zeus to the Greeks. Poseidon was not just the God of the sea, but also the God of Travel and Commerce so I guess that makes sense. So how did a relatively unknown God become Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun?
Well again, Romans really liked Rhodes. Rhodians really loved Helios. So did Hellenic Jews because The Prophet Elijah, who’s Greek name is Elias also went into a chariot of fire, and Elias sounds a lot like Helios in classical pronunciation. It’s kind of this series of events that started elevating Sol above Jupiter in some communities. The cult of Saturn wasn’t really practiced outside Rome itself and Sicily and the Cult of Mars was losing influence to Mithraism and Christianity among the Army so…. Sol started really gaining popularity among Roman Nobility because he was seen as a middle ground between so many regions of Rome. Emperor Julian actually expanded on this. Sol wasn’t just the Sun. Sol was the giver of life in general, merging Roman worship with Neoplatonic and some Monotheistic ideas. Bam. Now Sol is the supreme deity. Higher than Jupiter, no longer subservient to Saturn. A lot of the writings about this don’t even exist anymore. Even as an Eastern Orthodox Christian I sort of lament that because it would be interesting to know exactly when Sol became such an important figure in Roman History when previously he was, just the Sun.
The other thing that’s puzzling is why Satanists are choosing to honor Sol so much. If you want to make a jab at Christianity then say it’s Saturnalia. You’d think they’d honor Saturn the most too because he literally ate all of his children except Jupiter in mythology and is a harvest God. Sol as Helios at least lost his son and became a depressed alcoholic as I said and in some traditions just gave all his power to Apollo. Dionysius or Bacchus was a God of hedonism with a mystery cult, why not choose him? They’re choosing the favored deity of the guy who gave up on Christianity and reverted to Paganism I guess? But he wasn’t necessarily Anti-Christian. Julian never restricted Christianity, just rejected it as his personal belief. The Empire did not prevent Christians from worshiping or preaching. Instead Julian just reopened some Pagan Temples and prayed to Sol.
I bet the majority of these people don’t know any of this and wouldn’t care if you told them. It’s just edgelord shit.
