Hot Stuff about the Sun

Sacred Marriage of  the Sun and Moon,
M. Snyder

All people are dependent on the sun; sun symbols have roots in ancient astronomical notations dating back more than 70,000 years. Our ancestors watched the heavens to learn about the cycles of the blazing star on which their lives depended. The first sun symbols were simple circles. 

Knowing when to prepare for winter, and when to plant new crops was crucial, and by 16,000 BC calendric symbols were used to record the yearly cycles of the sun. 

By 12,500 BC, during an ice age, blonde, curly-haired little girls represented the sun; their golden hair was like the sun, and both the sun and children are necessary for the continuation of life. Here we have the Sun-Child,  ancestor of the Sun-Maiden, Sun-Queen, and Sun-Goddess  Helen ­- sun symbols of the vast Vanir civilization, which, by 4000 BC, spanned from Norway to Africa.

The Great Stone Circles, the megalithic observatories, were built to aid in observing the patterns of the sun and other heavenly bodies. Those who could divide circles to symbolize the passing of time brought life-saving skills to the people. From this ability - dividing - comes the concept of the divine. 

Contemporary wheel symbols depict movement of heavenly bodies with the sun at the center, the spokes representing the sun’s beams. From these ancient observations grew the mythologies of the sun-kings, the dead and resurrected kings, and other legends. Astronomical associations are evident in the symbols of the sun-kings: Halos around the heads symbolize solar radiance, which has been assimilated to the radiance of enlightenment, sanctity, holiness, or divinity.

Left to right: Shamash, Tawa, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus

Few young students today understand the Analemma - the movement of the sun - or how critical this knowledge was to survival thousands of years ago. During winter solstice the sun reaches its lowest point on the horizon (at the Tropic of Capricorn). There it stays, “motionless,” for three days. When it rises again it brings with it warmth and change-of-season that allows crops to grow and life to thrive. The course of the sun through the heavens is an age-old symbol of the human life-cycle. The setting sun, its disappearance at night, and its rising again in the morning, link with the archetypal symbolism of death and rebirth. 

The sun is the provider of light, color, and warmth, and is the bringer of new life in the spring. This knowledge has been the foundation of countless symbols, myths, and legends. In Incan myths the sun was worshiped as the divine ancestor of the nation. In Norse mythology Sunna, a sun goddess, rides in a horse drawn solar chariot. Abraxas, Apollo, and Helios also drive sun-chariots pulled by four horses; the four horses are symbolic of the four seasons. Ancient Egyptians worshiped Ra, a sun god. In Persia, Mithra was the god of light and wisdom. In Christian iconography the sun rising in the east symbolizes resurrection. Contemporary uses of sun symbols represent the intellect, the universal spirit, all-seeing divinity, intuitive knowledge, enlightenment, and illumination - all based on the astronomers of prehistory who used geometry and number to calculate the passage of time based on light.  

Sunlight is symbolic of intelligence and spirit: we speak of intelligent people in terms of being bright or brilliant, and of having bright ideas. We depict enlightened beings with halos. It seems appropriate that our terms for intelligence are associated with light; light is associated with the sun and stars, the study of which is astronomy – the heavenly lights. Today, as in prehistory, those with knowledge of the heavens are regarded as intelligent. Considering this, one could connect knowledge of astronomy with enlightenment. Each year we travel once around the Sun on this rock called Earth. Have a great trip!

Michelle Paula Snyder

Michelle Snyder is the founder and VP of the Foundation for Research of the Enzmann Archive, Inc. She is a professor of mythology, and an author, publisher, speaker, and artist. She did her post-graduate research at the University of Wales, decoding ancient and prehistoric symbolism, mythology, folklore, and fairy tales.  Her artwork has appeared in galleries from Massachusetts to California. Michelle is co-owner of White Knight Studio.

Symbologist Michelle Snyder

See more like this at www.enzmannarchive.org and find Michelle's books at their store. 

Gorgons, Knots, and Calendars

Copied from the Book of Kells, M. Snyder

This design from the Book of Kells depicts megalithic mathematics. The left indicates winter, the right summer. The outer dots represent the equinox, the upper center dot June or spring, the lower center dot autumn.

The knot on the left equals the number five, representing the pentagram. This is a pattern that can be accomplished by carefully tying a paper strip into a knot.

The knot on the right represents seven, or a seven-pointed star, accomplished by tying a paper strip into two knots. 

These designs are associated with the Gorgons from the Bay of Biscay in Ireland, who are depicted with knotted, intertwining snakes on their heads, which image the mathematics of seasons, functioning like a calendar (Duncan-Enzmann). In contemporary mythology, Gorgons are described as monstrous beings, both deadly and cruel. Historically, they were navigators for megalithic mariners. 

The symbols imaged with this Gorgon, an emblem on a plate from Rhodos, 500 BC, are astronomical and testify to the ancient knowledge of navigation the Gorgons mastered: the lozenge (indicates latitudinal location; the lozenge shadow changes shape in different locations), the Tau (symbolizing measurement of the elevation of stars), and the swastika (symbol of atmospheric vectors, oceanic gyres, and movement of time). This is a navigational calendric. The Gorgon navigators were mostly women, thus the tradition of female figureheads on ships.

Gorgons are depicted with snakes on their heads, or sometimes with cauldrons which symbolize that these skilled navigators were also good cooks. Images like these begin the practice of imaging 'things on heads', such as serpents on the heads of the Pharaohs. The Vanir megalithic mariners were the first inhabitants of what is now Egypt, evidenced in images of the early Egyptian culture Zep Tepi, which means ‘first’.

Michelle Paula Snyder

Michelle Snyder is the founder and VP of the Foundation for Research of the Enzmann Archive, Inc. She is a professor of mythology, and an author, publisher, speaker, and artist. She did her post-graduate research at the University of Wales, decoding ancient and prehistoric symbolism, mythology, folklore, and fairy tales.  Her artwork has appeared in galleries from Massachusetts to California. Michelle is co-owner of White Knight Studio.

Symbologist Michelle Snyder

See more like this at www.enzmannarchive.org and find Michelle's books at their store. 

From Sundial to Circumpunct

For accurate observation, you must be in the center of the circle, because the world is round. - from the Enzmann Archives. 

"Circumpunct" means "encircled dot." "Circum" in Latin means "around." "Punct" in German can mean either "a dot in a circle," or "a point along a trail," or both. The image is a timeless Masonic symbol that reveals and dates a prehistoric discovery and marks the regions where it was used. The discovery was made and used around the Rhone, Loir, and Rhine Rivers, and in Southern England. It created a quantum leap in the astronomical observations of the time. 

This familiar symbol denotes the discovery and application of 'occultation'; a word meaning 'the interruption of light from a celestial body'. It was done with a plumb-bob to provide a vertical, and a level string crossing it horizontally. The plumb-bob gives perfect vertical, and at the point where it crosses the horizontal string (+) it is used to measure the passing of a star behind it - and is acutely accurate. The circumpunct symbolizes this measuring process, and where the symbol appears it reveals and dates one of a number of advances in proto-historic knowledge and technology. This process advanced most everything we do so vigorously that it compares with the advent of transistors, which led to today's cell phones. 

'Points along the trail' of observation methods leading to the circumpunct are found in some stunning images: 

(A noon-stick is used to determine the meridian of the sun and the four directions: Site north in the night sky, whack a stick into the ground, then position a second stick between the first and north, so the line between them points north. During the day, it indicates noon when the first stick’s shadow points toward the second stick – a solar noon-stick points to true north, mother Earth’s axis mundi; inertial north.)

Points along the trail of the circumpunct manifest include: 

One of the earliest uses of the circumpunct symbol is at the Loughcrew Giant Megalith, where it depicts the high accuracy of azimuth measured by occultation. Here, imaged with other astronomical and calendric symbols, it stands not just for the sun, but any celestial object measured in this manner - using a plumb-bob and a string. We have included some translations of the symbols on Loughcrew, 3200 BC, for your enjoyment. 

We note that occultation is so accurate, technical modifications of it (crosshairs in a telescope site, improvement of a plumb-bob, and a string) used by today's astronomers reveal planets orbiting distant stars. The circumpunct is an ancient symbol of this accuracy.

Like most symbols from prehistory, the circumpunct has gathered layers of meaning over time. It has become a symbol for the solar orb and the universe, megalith observatories, Kether of the Sephirot, sun-gods such as Ra, gold, the sun, the eye, spirit or inner man, the Unmoved Mover, the Eye of God, the center, the beginning, and many more. Masons use this symbol to represent living a circumscribed life, and sometimes it is imaged with a vertical line on each side. Position the lines at top and bottom and they represent the extremes of the sun's analemma at Cancer and Capricorn; the lines representing these extremes also impart to us wisdom about our lives that like the sun, we must live within limits, circumscribed by the boundaries of good judgment and wisdom. 

Michelle Paula Snyder

Michelle Snyder is the founder and VP of the Foundation for Research of the Enzmann Archive, Inc. She is a professor of mythology, and an author, publisher, speaker, and artist. She did her post-graduate research at the University of Wales, decoding ancient and prehistoric symbolism, mythology, folklore, and fairy tales.  Her artwork has appeared in galleries from Massachusetts to California. Michelle is co-owner of White Knight Studio.

Symbologist Michelle Snyder

See more like this at www.enzmannarchive.org and find Michelle's books at their store. 

Archetypes for Dummies

Some symbols are found all around the globe and throughout time, and yet they maintain their meaning. Images can have a great impact on the viewer, can be associated with mystical power and magic, and powerful illustrations are used in storytelling, folklore, myths, and fairy tales.  These symbols are archetypes, defined as a very typical example of a situation, person, or thing. Archetypal symbols are those which represent things that have been observed or experienced throughout human existence – such as mother and child or the sun; they are visions that are universally recognized. When an artist or author uses these symbols, a fundamental meaning is transferred. Archetypal language is eternal.

One such concept is the hero. Whether presented as a knight in shining armor, warrior, fairy godmother, god or goddess, they are still heroes. They can be imaged in countless ways, described in fairy tales of different cultures and languages, but the basic idea is the same; worldwide and through the ages, a hero represents the rescuer, the protector, the savior. Many fairy tales have a hero-knight, and the Knights of the Round Table have enthralled generations of readers; the origin of these popular heroes is likely based on the efforts of conquered kingdoms to re-claim their wives and daughters from enemies who made off with them.

The tree of life is another archetypal image. According to Duncan-Enzmann, Yggdrasil is the oldest known image of a Tree of Life, originating more than ten thousand years ago, arising from human observation. Animals often eat in the shelter of trees, leaving what they do not want to “melt” slowly into the ground. Animals can die under trees, their remains also melting into the ground, nourishing the trees. Thus nourished, the trees grow and bloom, again providing shelter and food for the animals. The ancients noticed this cycle - death provides food for the tree, which in turn thrives and provides more food for the living - and a symbol was born.

Our planet is covered with water. Rivers were the life source and communication routes of ancient civilizations. They are boundaries between countries and also represent the boundary between life and death. Water is a vehicle for cleansing, which is necessary for the process of healing - the legends of the fountain of youth are based on the healing properties of water. Water, especially the ocean, is associated with the Great Mother; many creation mythologies represent the source of life as water, which is understandable if only because of the water that accompanies birth. In Celtic mythology, lakes and sacred wells are the dwelling places of supernatural beings and are sources of mystical wisdom. Old wells and springs are places where miracles occurred.

Maidens and damsels in distress are fundamental archetypes in fairy tales and children’s stories, along with heroes, wicked queens, little people, and villains. All are caught in situations and happenings common to humanity. Sometimes the sweet damsel is kidnapped and locked away in a tower, sometimes exiled, or sentenced to death. Sometimes she is caught in a life which is not where she should be. In all cases, a hero rescues the maiden and restores her to her rightful position. Young girls are considered vulnerable and in need of protection by fathers, brothers, or mothers. Most fairy tales originate from a time when young girls were precious, and women were greatly treasured for their role in continued cycles of life.

Michelle Paula Snyder

Michelle Snyder is the founder and VP of the Foundation for Research of the Enzmann Archive, Inc. She is a professor of mythology, and an author, publisher, speaker, and artist. She did her post-graduate research at the University of Wales, decoding ancient and prehistoric symbolism, mythology, folklore, and fairy tales.  Her artwork has appeared in galleries from Massachusetts to California. Michelle is co-owner of White Knight Studio.

Symbologist Michelle Snyder

See more like this at www.enzmannarchive.org and find Michelle's books at their store.