Editing Solar deity (section)

== Asia and Europe ==
===Albanian paganism===
{{main|Dielli (Albanian paganism)}}
[[File:Albanian tattoo patterns – Sun and Fire symbols.png|thumb|Sun ([[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Dielli]]) and Fire ([[Zjarri (Albanian paganism)|Zjarri]]) symbols in [[Albanian traditional tattoo]] patterns (19th century).{{sfn|Murray-Aynsley|1891|pp=29, 31}} The cross (also [[swastika]] in some tattoos) is the Albanian traditional way to represent the deified Fire – Zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym [[Enji (deity)|Enji]].<ref>{{harvnb|Treimer|1971|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Murray-Aynsley|1891|pp=29, 31}}.</ref>]]
[[File:Albanian traditional carving patterns.png|thumb|Albanian traditional carving patterns on chairs and graves, drawn by [[Edith Durham]] before 1928. They are representations of the Sun ([[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Dielli]]) and the Moon ([[Hana (Albanian paganism)|Hana]]), sometimes also rayed, symbolizing their light, which is favored within the [[Albanian paganism#Dualistic struggle – cosmic renewal|dualistic struggle between light and darkness]].]]

The Sun ({{langx|sq|[[Dielli (Albanian paganism)|Diell-i]]}}) holds the primary role in [[Albanian paganism|Albanian pagan]] customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends. Albanian major traditional festivities and calendar rites are based on the Sun, worshiped as the god of [[light]], [[sky]] and [[weather]], giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye.<ref>{{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=68, 70–72, 249–254}}; {{harvnb|Sokoli|2013|p=181}}; {{harvnb|Hysi|2006|pp=349–361}}; {{harvnb|Gjoni|2012|pp=85–86}}.</ref> In Albanian tradition the [[fire]] – ''[[Zjarri (Albanian paganism)|zjarri]]'', evidently also called with the theonym [[Enji (deity)|Enji]] – worship and rituals are particularly related to the cult of the Sun. Ritual calendar fires or bonfires are traditionally kindled before sunrise in order to give strength to the Sun and to [[Apotropaic|ward off evil]].<ref>{{harvnb|Qafleshi|2011|p=49}}; {{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=68–69, 135, 176–181, 249–261, 274–282, 327}}.</ref> Many rituals are practiced before and during [[sunrise]], honoring this moment of the day as it is believed to give energy and health to the body.{{sfn|Gjoni|2012|pp=86–87}} As the wide set of cultic traditions dedicated to him indicates, the Albanian Sun-god appears to be an expression of the [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Proto-Indo-European]] Sky-god ([[Zojz (deity)|Zot or Zojz]] in Albanian).{{sfn|Treimer|1971|p=31}}

[[Albanians]] were firstly described in written sources as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon by German humanist [[Sebastian Franck]] in 1534,<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Elsie|editor-first=Robert|title=1534. Sebastian Franck: Albania: A Mighty Province of Europe|url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/1534_Franck/|website=Texts and Documents of Albanian History }}</ref> but the Sun and the Moon have been preserved as sacred elements of Albanian tradition since antiquity. [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] [[material culture]] shows that the Sun was the chief cult object of the [[Illyrian religion]].<ref>{{harvnb|Galaty|Lafe|Lee|Tafilica|2013|p=156}}; {{harvnb|Dobruna-Salihu|2005|pp=345–346}}; {{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=68–70}}; {{harvnb|Egro|2003|p=35}}; {{harvnb|Stipčević|1974|p=182}}.</ref> Finding correspondences with Albanian folk beliefs and practices, the Illyrian Sun-deity is figuratively represented on Iron Age plaques from [[Lake Shkodra]] as the god of the [[sky]] and [[lightning]], also associated with the [[fire]] altar where he throws lightning bolts.{{sfn|Brahaj|2007|pp=16–18}} The symbolization of the cult of the Sun, which is often combined with the [[Lunar phase|crescent]] [[Moon]], is commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including [[Albanian traditional tattooing|traditional tattooing]], grave art, jewellery, embroidery, and house carvings.<ref>{{harvnb|Galaty|Lafe|Lee|Tafilica|2013|pp=155–157}}; {{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=68–82}}; {{harvnb|Elsie|2001|pp=181, 244}}; {{harvnb|Poghirc|1987|p=178}}; {{harvnb|Durham|1928a|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Durham|1928b|pp=120–125}}.</ref> Solemn oaths ([[Besa (Albanian culture)|Besa]]), good omens, and curse formulas, involve and are addressed to, or taken by, the Sun.<ref>{{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=71–72}}; {{harvnb|Elsie|2001|pp=193, 244}}; {{harvnb|Cook|1964|p=197}}.</ref> Prayers to the Sun, ritual [[bonfires]], and [[animal sacrifices]] have been common practices performed by Albanians during the ritual pilgrimages on mountain tops.<ref>{{harvnb|Tirta|2004|p=75}}; {{harvnb|Gjoni|2012|pp=81–87}}; {{harvnb|Xhemaj|1983|pp=104–121}}.</ref>

In Albanian pagan beliefs and mythology the Sun is a personified male deity, and the Moon ({{lang|sq|Hëna}}) is his female counterpart.{{sfn|Tirta|2004|pp=72, 128}}{{sfn|Dushi|2020|p=21}} In pagan beliefs the fire hearth ({{lang|sq|[[Vatër|vatra]] e zjarrit}}) is the symbol of [[fire]] as the offspring of the Sun.{{sfn|Gjoni|2012|p=90}} In some folk tales, myths and legends the Sun and the Moon are regarded as husband and wife, also appearing as the parents of [[E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit]] ("the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun"); in others the Sun and the Moon are regarded as brother and sister, but in this case they are never considered consorts.{{sfn|Tirta|2004|pp=72, 128}}{{sfn|Dushi|2020|p=21}} [[Nëna e Diellit]] ("the Mother of the Sun" or "the Sun's Mother") also appears as a personified deity in Albanian folk beliefs and tales.<ref>{{harvnb|Golan|1991|p=55}}; {{harvnb|Daum|1998|p=236}}; {{harvnb|Golan|2003|pp=93–94}}; {{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=259–260}}; {{harvnb|Neziri|2015|p=124}}.</ref>

Albanian beliefs, myths and legends are organized around the [[Albanian paganism#Dualistic struggle – cosmic renewal|dualistic struggle]] between [[good and evil]], [[light]] and [[darkness]], which cyclically produces the [[Cosmos|cosmic]] renewal.<ref>{{harvnb|Lelaj|2015|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Doja|2005|pp=449–462}}; {{harvnb|Elsie|1994|p=i}}; {{harvnb|Poghirc|1987|p=179}}</ref> The most famous representation of it is the constant battle between [[drangue]] and [[kulshedra]], which is seen as a mythological extension of the cult of the Sun and the Moon, widely observed in Albanian traditional art.<ref>{{harvnb|Galaty|Lafe|Lee|Tafilica|2013|pp=155–157}}; {{harvnb|Lelaj|2015|pp=91–118}}; {{harvnb|Tirta|2004|pp=68–82}}; {{harvnb|Elsie|2001|pp=181, 244}}; {{harvnb|Poghirc|1987|p=178}}; {{harvnb|Durham|1928a|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Durham|1928b|pp=120–125}}.</ref> In Albanian traditions, kulshedra is also fought by the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun, who uses her light power against pride and evil,{{sfn|Shuteriqi|1959|p=66}} or by other heroic characters marked in their bodies by the symbols of celestial objects,{{sfn|Tirta|2004|pp=72, 127–128}} such as [[The Twins (Albanian tale)|Zjermi]] ({{lit|the Fire}}), who notably is born with the Sun on his forehead.{{sfn|Schirò|1923|pp=411–439}}

=== Armenian mythology ===
In [[Armenian mythology]] and in the vicinity of [[Carahunge]], the ancient site of interest in the field of [[archaeoastronomy]], people worshiped a powerful deity or intelligence called Ara, embodied as the sun (Ar<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w36gAAAAMAAJ&q=god|title=Armenians and old Armenia: archaeoastronomy, linguistics, oldest history|last=Herouni|first=Paris M.|date=2004|publisher=Tigran Metz Publishing House|language=en|page=127|isbn=9789994101016}}</ref> or Arev). The ancient Armenians called themselves "children of the sun".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSRKAQAAMAAJ&q=children+of+the+sun&pg=RA2-PA56|title=Armenian Legends and Festivals|last=Boettiger|first=Louis Angelo|date=1918|publisher=University of Minnesota|language=en}}</ref> (Russian and Armenian archaeoastronomers have suggested that at Carahunge seventeen of the stones still standing were associated with observations of sunrise or sunset at the solstices and equinoxes.<ref>{{Citation | first = A. César | last = González-Garcia | chapter = Carahunge - A Critical Assessment | date = 2015 | editor-last = Ruggles | editor-first = Clive L. N. | editor-link = Clive Ruggles | title = Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy | pages = 1453–1460 | place = New York | publisher = Springer Science+Business Media | doi = 10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_140 | isbn = 978-1-4614-6140-1}}</ref>)

=== Baltic mythology ===
Those who practice [[Dievturība]], beliefs of traditional [[Latvian culture]], worship the Sun [[goddess]] [[Saulė|Saule]], known in traditional [[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanian]] beliefs as Saulė. Saule is among the most important [[deities]] in [[Baltic mythology]] and traditions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Saule (Baltic deity)|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saule|author=((Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica))|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref>

=== Celtic mythology ===
The sun in [[Insular Celts|Insular Celtic culture]] is assumed to have been feminine,<ref name="Monaghan-2014">{{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |author-link=Patricia Monaghan |year=2014 |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-1438110370 |page=433}}</ref><ref>Koch, John T., ''Celtic Culture: Aberdeen breviary-celticism'', page 1636.</ref> and several goddesses have been proposed as possibly solar in character.<ref>"(...) the Celtic Sun-deities, however, were often (perhaps originally) feminine". Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). ''A History of Pagan Europe''. [[Routledge]]. p. 88. {{ISBN|978-1-136-14172-0}}.</ref> In [[Continental Celts|Continental Celtic culture]], the sun gods, like [[Belenus]], [[Grannus]], and [[Lugus]], were masculine.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|last=X.|first=Delamarre|date=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|edition=2e éd. rev. et augm|location=Paris|pages=72 & 183 & 211|oclc=354152038}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyWvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|title=The Celtic and Scandinavian Religions|last=MacCulloch|first=J. A.|date=1 August 2005|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=9781613732298|pages=31|language=en}}</ref>

In [[Irish language|Irish]], the name of the Sun, ''[[Grian]]'', is feminine. The figure known as [[Áine]] is generally assumed to have been either synonymous with her, or her sister, assuming the role of Summer Sun while Grian was the Winter Sun.{{sfn|MacKillop|1998|pp=10, 70, 92}} Similarly, [[Étaín]] has at times been considered to be another [[theonym]] associated with the Sun; if this is the case, then the pan-Celtic [[Epona]] might also have been originally solar in nature.{{sfn|MacKillop|1998|pp=10, 70, 92}}

The British [[Sulis]] has a name cognate with that of other Indo-European solar deities such as the Greek [[Helios]] and Indic [[Surya]],<ref>Delamarre, Xavier, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', Errance, 2003, p. 287</ref><ref>Zair, Nicholas, ''Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Celtic'', Brill, 2012, p. 120</ref> and bears some solar traits like the association with the eye as well as epithets associated with light. The theonym [[Sulevia]], which is more widespread and probably unrelated to Sulis,<ref>Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Editions Errance, Paris. pp. 15, 64.</ref> is sometimes taken to have suggested a pan-Celtic role as a solar goddess.<ref name="Monaghan-2014"/>

The [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] [[Olwen]] has at times been considered a vestige of the local sun goddess, in part due to the possible etymological association<ref>Simon Andrew Stirling, The Grail: Relic of an Ancient Religion, 2015</ref> with the wheel and the colors gold, white and red.<ref name="Monaghan-2014"/>

[[Brighid]] has at times been argued as having had a solar nature, fitting her role as a goddess of fire and light.<ref name="Monaghan-2014"/>

=== Chinese mythology ===
[[File:转动的太阳神鸟金饰 Spinning Golden Sun Bird.gif|thumb|[[Golden Sun Bird|Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament]] by [[Shu (state)|ancient Shu]] people. The center is a sun pattern with twelve points around which four [[Three-legged crow|birds]] fly in the same counterclockwise direction, [[Shang dynasty]]]]
[[File:Xi He.JPG|thumb|Statue of the sun goddess [[Xihe (deity)|Xihe]] charioteering the sun, being pulled by a [[Chinese dragon|dragon]], in [[Hangzhou]]]]
In [[Chinese mythology]] (cosmology), there were originally ten suns in the sky, who were all brothers. They were supposed to emerge one at a time as commanded by the Jade Emperor. They were all very young and loved to fool around. Once they decided to all go into the sky to play, all at once. This made the world too hot for anything to grow. A hero named [[Hou Yi]], honored to this day, shot down nine of them with a bow and arrow to save the people of the Earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hou Yi|url=https://mythopedia.com/chinese-mythology/gods/hou-yi/|last=Hamilton|first=Mae|website=Mythopedia|access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref>

In another myth, a [[solar eclipse]] was said to be caused by a magical dog or dragon biting off a piece of the Sun. The referenced event is said to have occurred around 2136 BC; two royal astronomers, Ho and Hi, were executed for failing to predict the eclipse. There was a tradition in China to make lots of loud celebratory sounds during a solar eclipse to scare the sacred beast away.<ref>{{cite web|title=How 5 Ancient Cultures Explaiined Solar Eclipses|url=https://www.history.com/news/how-5-ancient-cultures-explained-solar-eclipses|last=Waldek|first=Stefanie|website=History.com|access-date=29 July 2020|date=30 August 2018}}</ref>

The Deity of the Sun in Chinese mythology is Ri Gong Tai Yang Xing Jun (Tai Yang Gong/Grandfather Sun) or Star Lord of the Solar Palace, Lord of the Sun. In some mythologies, Tai Yang Xing Jun is believed to be Hou Yi.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Tai Yang Xing Jun is usually depicted with the Star Lord of the Lunar Palace, Lord of the Moon, Yue Gong Tai Yin Xing Jun (Tai Yin Niang Niang/Lady Tai Yin). Worship of the [[moon goddess]] [[Chang'e]] and her festivals are very popular among followers of [[Chinese folk religion]] and [[Taoism]]. The goddess and her holy days are ingrained in [[Chinese popular culture]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Chang'e|last=Hamilton|first=Mae|url=https://mythopedia.com/chinese-mythology/gods/chang-e/|website=Mythopedia|access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref>

=== Germanic mythology ===
In [[Germanic mythology]] the Sun is personified as a woman, [[Old Norse]] [[Sól (Sun)|Sól]], [[Old High German]] [[Sól (sun)|Sunna]]. In the Norse tradition, the Sun is driven through the sky on a chariot pulled by two horses named [[Árvakr and Alsviðr]] ("Early-awake" and "All-swift". {{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

First century historian [[Tacitus]], in his book ''[[Germania (Tacitus)|Germania]]'', mentioned that "beyond the [[Suiones]] [tribe]" a sea was located where the sun maintained its brilliance from its rising to its sunset, and that "[the] popular belief" was that "the sound of its emergence was audible" and "the form of its horses visible".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tacitus-germania/1914/pb_LCL035.207.xml |title=TACITUS, Germania LCL 35: 206-20 |website=www.loebclassics.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beare |first1=W. |title=Tacitus on the Germans |journal=Greece & Rome |date=1964 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=64–76 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500012675 |jstor=642633 |s2cid=163536034 |issn=0017-3835}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Gorman |first1=Ellen |title=No Place Like Rome: Identity and Difference in the Germania of Tacitus |journal=Ramus |date=1993 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=135–154 |doi=10.1017/S0048671X00002484|s2cid=131482053 }}</ref>

In Norway, Sun worship was common until the last century, usually as a simple ritual of leaving butter in a saucer on a windowsill, so the Sun can melt it, when its light comes into the window. Alternatively, the glass on the window itself could be smeared by butter, or the butter could be put on the roof or wall. Similar rituals are attested among the [[Sámi people|Sami]] people. Usually, the ritual was connected to the day, when the sun shows up from horizon or mountain (or in the eastern window of the main house of the farm) after the period of [[polar night]], when there is no sun at all, or the sun is so low, that it is hidden behind mountains. Because of these reasons, the date of the ritual varied from farm to farm, or wasn’t practiced at all (e.g. in Oslo area, which is flat and has no real polar night).{{sfn|Rise|1947}}{{sfn|Havdal|1968}}{{sfn|Skar|1916}}{{sfn|Matlaus|Olrik|1905}}

A ritual of greating the first sun after the polar night while standing on top of a mountain is mentioned by [[Procopius]] in his description of the Northerners, but is also attested in modern time in area of [[Glomfjord]], and a similar one in southern [[Vest-Agder]]. Another ritual is known from southern Vest-Agder, when small round stones are supposed to be taken up to a mountain top and put in a heap as an offering to the Spring Sun. The stone offering heaps itself are very common in Scandinavia, but only in Vest-Agder they are connected to the Sun worship.{{sfn|Matlaus|Olrik|1905}}

Among famous people, who were practicing the butter-in-saucer ritual were poets [[Ivar Mortensson-Egnund]] and [[w:nn:Astrid Krog Halse|Astrid Krog Halse]].{{sfn|Havdal|1968}}{{sfn|Matlaus|Olrik|1905}}

=== Greco-Roman world ===
{{main|Helios|Sol (Roman mythology)}}

==== Hellenistic mythology ====
In [[Greek mythology]], [[Helios]], a [[Titans|Titan]], was the personification of the [[Sun]]; however, with the notable exception of the island of [[Rhodes]] and nearby parts of southwestern [[Anatolia]],{{efn|''see'' [[Colossus of Rhodes]].}} he was a relatively minor deity. The [[Ancient Greeks]] also associated the Sun with [[Apollo]], the god of enlightenment. Apollo (along with Helios) was sometimes depicted as driving a fiery chariot.<ref>{{cite web |first=N.S. |last=Gill |date=3 December 2019 |title=Everything you need to know about Apollo |website=Thought Co |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/apollo-greek-god-sun-music-prophecy-111902 |access-date=2021-06-29 |language=en}}</ref>

The Greek astronomer [[Thales of Miletus]] described the scientific properties of the Sun and Moon, making their godship unnecessary.{{sfn|Smith|1952|p=[https://archive.org/details/manhisgods00smit/page/143 143]}} [[Anaxagoras]] was arrested in 434&nbsp;BC and banished from Athens for denying the existence of a solar or lunar deity.{{sfn|Smith|1952|p=[https://archive.org/details/manhisgods00smit/page/145 145]}} [[Electra|The titular character]] of [[Sophocles]]' ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' refers to the Sun as "All-seeing". [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] author [[Hermes Trismegistus]] calls the Sun "God Visible".<ref name="Gillispie-1960"/>

The [[Minotaur]] has been interpreted as a solar deity (as [[Moloch]] or [[Chronos]]),{{sfn|Smith|1952|p=[https://archive.org/details/manhisgods00smit/page/137 137]}} including by [[Arthur Bernard Cook]], who considers both [[Minos]] and Minotaur as aspects of the sun god of the [[Cretans]], who depicted the sun as a bull.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==== Roman mythology ====
During the [[Roman Empire]], a [[Roman festival|festival]] of the birth of the ''[[Sol Invictus|Unconquered Sun]]'' (or ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'') was celebrated on the [[winter solstice]]—the "rebirth" of the Sun—which occurred on 25 December of the [[Julian calendar]]. In [[late antiquity]], the theological centrality of the Sun in some Imperial religious systems suggests a form of a "solar [[monotheism]]". The religious commemorations on 25 December were replaced under Christian domination of the Empire with the birthday of Christ.<ref>"Sun worship." [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009</ref>

Much more ancient was the cult of [[Sol Indiges]], supposed to have been introduced among Roman deities by the [[Sabines]] at the times of [[Titus Tatius]].

==== Modern influence ====
[[Copernicus]] describing the Sun mythologically, drawing from Greco-Roman examples:
{{blockquote|In the middle of all sits the Sun on his throne. In this loveliest of temples, could we place the luminary in any more appropriate place so that he may light the whole simultaneously. Rightly is he called the Lamp, the Mind, the Ruler of the Universe: Hermes Trismegistus entitles him the God Visible. Sophocles' Electra names him the All-seeing. Thus does the Sun sit as upon a royal dais ruling his children the planets which circle about him.<ref name="Gillispie-1960">{{cite book |last=Gillispie |first=Charles Coulston |author-link=Charles Coulston Gillispie |title=The Edge of Objectivity: An Essay in the History of Scientific Ideas |year=1960 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-02350-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/edgeofobjectivit00char |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/edgeofobjectivit00char/page/26 26]}}</ref>}}

=== Pre-Islamic Arabia ===
The concept of the sun in [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]], was abolished only under [[Muhammad]].<ref>"The Sun and the Moon are from among the evidences of God. They do not eclipse because of someone's death or life." [[Muhammad Husayn Haykal]], Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi, ''The Life of Muhammad'', American Trush Publications, 1976, {{ISBN|0-89259-002-5}} [http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/campaign_of_tabuk_and_death_of_ibrahim.htm]</ref> The Arabian solar deity appears to have been a goddess, [[Shams (deity)|Shams]]/[[Shamsun]], most likely related to the [[Canaan]]ite [[Shapash]] and broader middle-eastern [[Shamash]]. She was the patron goddess of [[Himyar]], and possibly exalted by the [[Sabaeans]] .<ref>Yoel Natan, ''Moon-o-theism'', Volume I of II, 2006</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2021}}<ref>Julian Baldick (1998). ''Black God''. Syracuse University Press. p. 20. {{ISBN|0815605226}}.</ref><ref>Merriam-Webster, ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions'', 1999 – 1181 páginas</ref>

=== Yazidism ===
In [[Yazidism]], the angel [[Sheikh Shems|Şêşims]] is venerated as the [[List of Yazidi holy figures|Xudan]] or Lord of sun and light. He is also linked with [[Fire worship|fire]], which is his terrestrial counterpart, and [[oath]]s, which are sworn by the doorway of his shrine. Annually, during the [[Feast of the Assembly]], a ceremonial bull sacrifice is performed in front of his shrine at [[Lalish]].<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Fobbe, Sean |last2=Navrouzov, Natia |last3=Hopper, Kristen |last4=Khudida Burjus, Ahmed |last5=Philip, Graham |last6=Nawaf, Maher G |last7=Lawrence, Daniel |last8=Walasek, Helen |last9=Birjandian, Sara |last10=Ali, Majid Hassan |last11=Rashidani, Salim |date=2019-08-02 |title=Destroying the Soul of the Yazidis: Cultural Heritage Destruction during the Islamic State's Genocide against the Yazidis |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3826126 |journal= |language=en |pages=55–109 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.3826126}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murad |first=Jasim Elias |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdTxtgAACAAJ |title=The Sacred Poems of the Yazidis: An Anthropological Approach |date=1993 |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |pages=313–326 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kreyenbroek |first=Philip G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTQqAQAAMAAJ |title=Yezidism--its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition |date=1995 |publisher=E. Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-9004-8 |pages=92–124, 127 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Aysif-2021">{{Cite book |last=Aysif |first=Rezan Shivan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1295094056 |title=The role of nature in Yezidism poetic texts and living tradition |date=2021 |others=Georg-August-Universität Göttingen |isbn=978-3-86395-514-4 |location=Göttingen |pages=49, 95, 107, 150 |oclc=1295094056}}</ref> Yazidi religious texts refer to the light of the sun as a manifestation of God's light, therefore, Yazidis direct their faces in the sun's direction while praying. There are daily Yazidi prayers that are recited during the daytime, divided into three main phases of the day, the morning prayers include "Dua Şifaqê" (the dawn prayer), "Dua Sibê" (the morning prayer), "Duaya Rojhelatî" (the sunrise prayer). For the noon there is "Dua Nîvro" (the noon prayer) and at evening there is the "Duaya Hêvarî" (the evening prayer).<ref name="Aysif-2021" />