The Sun Archetype: The Functions of its Life Cycle

The Sun Archetype: The Functions of its Life Cycle

What gives life inhabits all life, but is not affected by life. 

Note: In astrology, the combined unique functions of the seven visible planets, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, create a fourfold life cycle. This cycle is comprised of nourishment, production, distribution, and rest. Each of these planets expresses each of these four stages in its respective cycle, setting up a fractal-like pattern reflected in the whole (nature's life cycle) and each part (the life cycle of each planet).

The Sun is the archetypal spirit of everything. The importance of the Sun is demonstrated by its prominence in our solar system. All the other planets revolve around it. With its functions of light, heat and consciousness, it is the source of energy and life.

The Sun represents all things heavenly and divine. It is the non-manifest principle from which the manifest springs. All the planets are important for the life cycle, but the Sun is extremely so given it is the root of all other functions. It is the hub of the wheel, while the other planets are the spokes.

The Sun becomes manifest at 10 degrees of Aries (commonly known as the Sun's exaltation degree) just ten days after spring begins. Being born in the spring gives the Sun its qualities of warmth, beauty, and manifestation. Light, heat, and life gain a foothold in nature at this time. Temperatures start to rise, light increases, and more activity is afoot in our hemisphere. 

Ten days after spring is complete, the Sun goes forth into summer, using these attributes to lift nature up. It blazes nature with heat, light, and consciousness, laying the foundation of its productive cycle. By this time, the Sun comes of age in the range from 10 degrees of Cancer to 10 degrees of Libra, and gives the day, year, and human life what they need for peak production. The busy part of the day is in full swing in the afternoon, the annual growing season is at its peak baking under the hot summer sun, and an adult is most conscious and free at this prime time of his/her life. The Sun makes nature alive and conscious. 

At 10 degrees of Libra, the Sun has completed its peak and is ready to bestow and distribute the harvest, or outcome, of its light, heat, and consciousness functions. Here, the outcome of the day, year and life will be evident with the daily work ending, the annual harvest being gathered up, and the intense part of the adult life of raising children and physical work winding down. One will begin to see the results of their actions when he/she begins to descend from the peak of his/her life. This quarter for which the Sun gives its results runs from 10 degrees of Libra to 10 degrees of Capricorn. A huge chunk of this quarter in the grand life cycle is in the first quarter of the non-productive period of a workday, year, and human life. One will see what he/she has reaped from his/her sowing. Light, heat, and consciousness will decrease in nature as darkness, cold, and unconsciousness increase in nature. 

When the Sun reaches its anti-climax point of death at 10 degrees of Capricorn, it has completed its life cycle and is ready to rest and recuperate until it will rise again at its manifestation. This quarter will span from 10 degrees of Capricorn to 10 degrees of Aries. It is a time when people will descend into sleep from the mental fatigue of the day’s work and play, when the fields cannot maintain manifest life, and humans become unconscious and unmanifest through death. They will retreat from manifest life in the winter of the day, year and life before being brought back to another cycle of radiant, warm, and conscious life. 

The Sun rises to allow nature to have the building blocks of life and a consciousness that will inhabit the vessels of nature. After it is nourished in spring and productive in summer, it becomes unmanifest revealing the results of its actions. The Sun rests ten days after winter begins when life has died and is hibernating in the abyss. The Sun rises again for nourishment ten days after spring starts to infuse the day, year and lifetime with raw energy and life. 

Image Source: By bazaar arts - http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/bce_500back/vedas/surya/surya.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45318523