Thinking about the Sun

I spent last evening at a childrens' concert. You know the sort of thing, you sit watching a dozen or so little children graded in sizes presenting little performances, followed by another dozen or so little children presenting another little performance. And so on.

Everyone is marking time really, the children are lovely but the seats are uncomfortable, the sound system is erratic and we're all waiting to see our own kids on the stage. None of us, of course, can contain the sudden pang, almost painful, when the tiniest children are ushered on to sing a song. The sight and sound of these littlest ones on their very best behaviour brings us to our knees.

The theme of the evening was Cosmic Conundrum

We heard songs about the Sun, Moon and Stars - the Age of Aquarius, Gooday Sunshine and the wonderful standard, Blue Moon. To tell you the truth I can't recall all of the other songs, the children I had come to see were only involved with the songs mentioned.

All of this made me think about the Sun, and the ways we have regarded this giant nuclear reactor over the ages. I never understood the significance of Midwinter until I experienced it in England, a long way from home in a cold dark country where I could never ever, no matter what I did, get warm. I still wonder how it's possible, in a place where water can actually freeze in the tap, to raise the energy necessary to speak more than a few words much less come up with something along the lines of 'Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forest of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?'. A mystery indeed.

In Australia the Sun is She. A woman who awakes daily in her camp in the east, lights a fire, and prepares the bark torch she will carry across the sky. Before setting out, she paints herself with red ochre, which she spills, colouring the clouds red. Upon reaching the west, she reapplies her paint, again spilling reds and yellows in the sky. The Sun Woman then begins a long passage under the ground back to her camp in the east. During this subterranean journey her torch warms the earth, causing plants to grow