Almost every indigenous tradition on the planet honors the Sun in some way. Without the Sun, there is no life on Earth. The Sun is beneficial to our health and self-esteem.
Saint Francis of Assisi is famed in the Christian tradition I grew up in for his beautiful “Canticle for Brother Sun and Sister Moon.” Everyone appears to have a natural urge to praise the Sun.
A yoga instructor in Tamil Nadu who taught a set of yoga positions called Surya Namaskar (Salute to the Sun) for morning practice also taught the 12 names of the Sun. He would pronounce a seed syllable with a Sun name as we began each cycle of postures. It was a lovely way to begin the day. We only completed 3 or 6 cycles some days since he had other yoga positions to teach us. In that instance, he would begin the next day with the next 3 or 6 Sun names. In this manner, we would ultimately loop through the Sun’s 12 names on a regular basis.
For novices, it is OK, to begin with only one cycle of Surya Namaskar and work your way through the Sun’s 12 names over the course of 12 days. Others may wish to try sitting quietly and reciting the Sun’s 12 names 9 times for a total of 108 sounds. You are allowed to recite 1 Sun name frequently if that name represents a characteristic in yourself that you wish to develop.
The Sun will transit into Aries, the sign where the Sun is exalted or most powerful, this week in mid-April in India. As the Sun begins a new yearly trip across all 12 Zodiac signs, this is celebrated as Vedic New Year.
Furthermore, each of the Sun’s 12 names is supposed to be associated with one of the Zodiac signs.
They are:
1.Mitra-Aries
2.Ravi-Taurus
3.Surya-Gemini
4.Bhanu-Cancer
5.Khaga-Leo
6.Pusan-Virgo
7.Hiranyagarbha-Libra
8.Marici-Scorpio
9.Aditya-Sagittarius
10.Savitr-Capricorn
11.Arka-Aquarius
12.Bhaskara-Pisces
May the Sun bestow blessings on everyone in the areas of health, self-esteem, leadership, knowledge, power, energy, greater intelligence, and enlightenment.
May the Sun bless us with enlightened leaders, citizens, laws, countries, and whole civilizations.
May the ARUL grace light, which is larger than the Sun’s 12 names, penetrate all of us and alter our planet. Jyothi Arut Perum