Today, we spontaneously associate the Sun with masculinity and the Moon with femininity . Yet, in many ancient traditions, it was the opposite: the Moon carried masculine energy and the Sun was a goddess . Why? Because the celestial body is not simply about burning: it warms, nourishes, protects , and embodies the vital light that fertilizes the earth, ripens the crops, and illuminates the path of humankind. The Sun also possesses the face of motherhood, sovereignty, and fertility .
Thus, in Nordic, Japanese, Anatolian, Celtic and many other myths, the Sun is expressed in feminine figures : brilliant, sometimes elusive, but always central.
Sól, the Nordic goddess of the Sun
In Scandinavian mythology , the goddess of the Sun is named Sól (or Sunna). Daughter of the giant Mundilfoeri, she is condemned by the gods to drive the solar chariot every day, pulled by two flaming horses: Árvakr (“the alert one”) and Alsviðr (“the ardent one”).
But her journey is haunted by a threat: the cosmic wolf Sköll relentlessly pursues her. During Ragnarök , the fate of the gods, he will devour her. Yet Sól never stops running, heroine of a cosmic cycle where light resists chaos.
Sól embodies perseverance, movement, and essential warmth . She is proof that in Nordic myths, the Sun was not masculine, but a goddess devoted to effort and sacrifice , a light always threatened but always reborn.
Amaterasu: celestial sovereign of Japan
In the Kojiki (712) and the Nihon Shoki (720), foundational texts of ancient Japan, the sun goddess is Amaterasu Ōmikami . Daughter of the god Izanagi , she is born from the purifying water of his left eye.
Amaterasu is considered the embodiment of sovereignty , the divine ancestor of the Japanese imperial lineage. She illuminates the world, regulates the seasons, and protects the cosmic order.
But one day, humiliated by the excesses of her brother Susanoo, she hid in a celestial cave . The earth was then plunged into darkness. The gods, panicked, devised a ruse: Ame-no-Uzume, goddess of dance and joy, performed a ritual dance, joyful and sensual, luring Amaterasu out of her retreat. Light returned, and order was restored.
Even today, Amaterasu remains at the heart of Shinto worship, honored in the Ise Grand Shrine . She embodies civilizing light, political legitimacy, and feminine power at the top of the Japanese pantheon.
Arinna: the Hittite sun goddess
Among the Hittites , a people of Anatolia ( 2nd millennium BC), the sun goddess Arinna occupied a central place. She was at once divine mother, guarantor of oaths and protector of the royal order .
Unlike the male warrior gods, Arinna represented a stable, benevolent, but firm authority. Her role was not to destroy, but to maintain balance, bless kings, and judge oaths.
Her cult, attested in cuneiform tablets found at Hattusa , shows how closely female solar power could be linked to political legitimacy. Arinna was the one who "sees all," the one who illuminates and watches over, like a Sun that judges and protects.
Áine: Ireland's golden flame
In Irish folklore , the sun goddess is called Áine . Associated with the summer solstice , she is simultaneously a goddess, a fairy, and a sovereign .
Protector of harvests , passionate love , and the golden light of long days , Áine embodies fertility, authority, and freedom. She is sometimes described as the daughter of the sea god Manannán Mac Lir , and sometimes as a fairy queen linked to the sacred hill of Knockainey .
Áine embodies summer warmth, prosperity, and abundance . She is the solar fire that nourishes the earth as much as the hearts of men, a figure of joy and autonomy in Celtic mythology.
Other faces of the feminine Sun
Beyond these great figures, many civilizations have seen the Sun as a goddess rather than a god:
- Among the Slavs , the solar goddess Solntse shone as the protector of crops and homes.
- In Baltic myths , the goddess Saulė drove her chariot across the sky and protected marriages.
- Among some Native American peoples, the feminine Sun watched over fertility and the balance of the seasons.
These traditions remind us that the idea of a feminine Sun was widespread and deeply rooted in the human imagination.
Symbolism: light, power, and femininity
These solar goddesses embody another memory of power : that of a luminous, protective and feminine authority.
The feminine Sun is not warlike or domineering. It is a source of life, warmth, and balance . These figures remind us that they carry the memory of a world where feminine power was visible, respected, and central.
Feminine light
From Sol the pursued , to Amaterasu the sovereign , from Arinna the judge to Aine the joyous , the goddesses of the Sun offer a multifaceted legacy. They tell us that light has not always had a masculine face, that it could be a mother, a sovereign, a lover, or a warrior.
At a time when our societies are seeking new balances, these figures invite us to rethink feminine power . They remind us that the Sun, before being a blinding force, is first and foremost a nurturing presence .
These goddesses carry within them proof that light can be conceived in the feminine , and that the future is illuminated as much in the memory of ancient myths as in the contemporary quest for new balances.