Sun 

The Sun is the name used by people to indicate the closest star to Earth.  It is a rather small star but has provided for life on our Planet for a long time, and will probably continue to so do for quite a few more years.  I hope it continues to burn for at least another 50 years and by that time it will make no difference to me.  Of course we now know that the Sun is just a great big nuclear reactor that produces the energy needed for life as we know it.

The Earth is located about 93,000,000 miles away from the Sun. It is the star that is now considered to be the center of our Solar System.

The Sun is sometimes referred to as that Glorious Orb that Opens and Rules the Day.

Without the Sun life on our Planet would not exist, at least as we know it. This could explain why so many people have worshiped the Sun both in the past and the present.  There have been many people in the past, and in the present, who have and still do practice Sun Worship.  The Christian Church considers these Sun Worshippers to be Pagans, even though Christianity may be a somewhat modified version of Sun Worship.  Christianity considers Jesus Christ to be the Son of God (perhaps Sun) and the Light of the World.  See MPD_0020 for more information.

We now know that the Sun is the heavenly body that the Planets in our Solar System revolve around.  At one time it was 'known', at least to the Catholic Church, that the Sun revolved around the Earth.  Of course it all depends upon your choice of a frame of reference.  The Catholic Church seems also to have considered the Earth to be flat even though it was known in ancient times, by the so-called Pagans, to be round.  Teaching otherwise was blasphemous and often resulted in severe punishment, or death, by the Catholic Church, often by torture and/or Burning at the Stake.  At least by now it seems that the Catholic Church no longer burns these heathens at the stake. The Catholic Church seems to have finally officially admitted, in 1992, that Galileo perhaps may have been correct.  Lot of good that did Galileo who the Catholic Church imprisoned for the rest of his life for his false and Blasphemous beliefs, which we now, thanks to Science, know to be true.  See Science and Freemasonry for more information.

We as Freemasons have been accused by many in the anti-Masonic movement, including several religious organizations, as being worshipers of the Sun, which according to Christianity would be a Pagan belief and thereby heresy in the eyes of the Catholic Church and other versions of Christianity.  Being accused of Sun Worship does not seem bad considering many of the other things that the Masons have been accused of doing.   

How long we would we survive without the Sun? Think about it.  The Sun really does support all life on Earth.  We would not live very long without the Sun.

One of the Burning Tapers in a Lodge represents the Sun.  The Stations of the three top officers of a Lodge are based upon the positions of the Sun throughout the day in the Northern Hemisphere.  Of course a lot of Christian Churches are also set up so that the Priest or Preacher is located in the direction of the Rising Sun or so that he, or perhaps she at least in some versions of Christianity, can observe the Rising Sun.  

Also see "Symbolism of the Stations" a pamphlet once published by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania by the Committee on Lectures.  This document was known as Bulletin No. 15.

The Sun is one of the Three Lesser Lights of Freemasonry.

The Halo often seen behind images of Jesus Christ is a symbol of the Sun showing the 'Light'  that comes from Jesus Christ.  It is Interesting that Son, as in Son of God, sounds just like the word Sun.  The Sun is also the main provider of 'Light', at least on our planet.  Also remember that 'Light' or 'Knowledge' is also the great object of a Mason's desire.  Think about it and govern yourselves accordingly.

During the time that Lucifer, also known as Venus or as the Morning Star, rises in the East, the Sun will rise shortly thereafter to open and rule the Day.

It was once thought that the Sun orbited around the Earth and it was once considered to be a planet orbiting around the Earth since the Earth was considered to be the center of the universe.  This was a fact 'known' to the Church and to think otherwise was heresy. This belief continued for a long time.

Lucifer is said by some to have been the god of the Sun, the Moon, of Light and of Splendor.