Sun

The sun is generally perceived as a powerful likeness of the creator, although all traditions do not perceive the sun as exclusively benevolent. Its first [Page 636]power is over darkness or night. Others are the powers of light and warmth and the ability to change seasons and spur growth. The sun is frequently likened to God or seen as a manifestation of God because of its endless benevolence of these life-giving attributes. Other attributes of the sun that are associated with God are the omnipresence of the sun's rays, its endurance, and its eternal nature. This close association between God and the sun appears in cultures where the name of God and the sun are the same: Ruwa among the Chagga, We among the Ashanti, ...