The Sun Goddess fulfills a special role in mythology. She nurtures the earth with warmth, and her sunshine nourishes plants through photosynthesis. She's Mother Goddess or fertility deity in ancient lore, celebrated throughout the world as the bringer of light and life.
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In the Northern Hemisphere, the time to celebrate the coming of the light and rebirth of the land is the Winter Solstice, the day of longest night on December 21. The return of the light is precious, a welcome reprieve from the dark cold nights.
The Sun signifies hope, optimism, inspiration, creation, nurturing and growth. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice is in June.
Sun Goddesses of World Mythology include:
Ainu (North Japan)
Tokapcup-kamuy (Ainu: トカㇷ゚チュㇷ゚カムイ) or "day-illuminating god" is a solar goddess in Ainu culture. Her husband is the moon. In variations she's Chup Kamui and switched places with her brother the moon to become the solar goddess.
Arabian (Yemen)
Sun Goddess Shams or Shamsun is a solar goddess exalted in Himyar, the south of Yemen. She was primary deity of the nearby Sabaeans. Her name means 'shining', 'Sun', or 'brilliant'. She was the South Arabian equivalent of the North Arabian sun goddess Nuha. Both Shams and Nuha formed trinities with other gods.
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Australian Indigenous mythology
Bila
Among the Adnyamathanha of south Australia, Bila or Belah is a cannibal sun goddess who roasted people over a fire. Lizard Men put an end to her deadly habits, which is why goannas and geckos are held in high regard by the Adnyamathanha.
Gnowee
In Wotjobaluk mythology, in the area now known as the State of Victoria in South Australia, the solar deity is the seeking mother, Gnowee. She still wanders the sky, lighting the world with a torch as she searches for her son.
Wala
Wala is also named as a solar goddess in some Aboriginal lore. Fearing the Sun was too hot she journeyed to catch it, and put it in a bag until the moon was gone.
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Wuriupranili
Another torch bearer comes from the North Australian myth of the Tiwi people. Sun Woman decorates herself with red ochre and the powder tints the clouds at dawn and sunset.
Yhi
In Gamilaraay mythology, Yhi, (Yarai/Yaay) is Goddess of the Sun, Light and Creation. Yhi is a Creator sun deity. Woken by a whistle, she opens her eyes and light falls upon the Earth. She creates the world, seasons and animals.
Baltic (Lithuania and Latvia)
Saulė is a major Goddess of the Sun and Creator Goddess. In one account Saulė and Mėnuo/Mēness (the Moon) were wife and husband, until Mėnuo misbehaved and they divorced. They both want to see their daughter the Earth, so Saulė comes during the day and Mėnuo visits at night.
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Basque Beliefs
Ekhi is the gender-ambiguous god/dess of the Sun and protector of humanity. S/he banishes evil spirits. Amula (Earth) is mother of Ekhi the Sun and her sister Ilazki the Moon. Amula is considered to be not only Goddess of the Earth, but the Earth herself.
Berber Religion
Another strong solar deity is Magec, the goddess of the Sun and light in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Her name means "possesses radiance" or "mother of brightness". She was held prisoner in an ancient volcano until the Sky God set her free.
Buddhism
Marici, Goddess of the Heavens, Sun and Light, plays a powerful role with diverse variations. In many Buddhist texts she's Goddess of Dawn. Among the warrior class of East Asia she's revered as a male god. In Tibet she's a healer seeking enlightenment, while in Japanese Buddism she's a warrior. To some degree Marici is all of the above.
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Chinese Mythology
Doumu
Goddess of the Heavens, partner of the Sky God, the multi-armed deity is sometimes entwined with Buddhist Marici.
Xihe
She's one of the wives of Di Jun, an ancient Supreme Deity of China. His other wife is Changxi, moon Goddess. Xihe is mother of ten suns, represented by three-legged crows in a mulberry tree. Every day one sun crow travels around the world on the carriage of Xihe.
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Celtic mythology
Áine
Irish goddess of love, summer, wealth, and sovereignty, related to the Sun and midsummer in June. As the goddess of fertility, she rules crops and animals and is also an agriculture or harvest deity.
Macha
"Sun of the womanfolk" or Grian Banchure, she's also a Goddess of kingship, war, fertility, land and horses.
Olwen
Daughter of a giant, she's a Welsh heroine often constructed as originally a solar goddess. White clover (trefoil) flowers grow where she walks. Of all the clover varieties, white clover is the most likely to bear four-leafed clovers.
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Sulis
The British goddess Sulis is goddess of healing, water, hot springs and curses, and equated with Minerva. Her name relates to the common Proto-Indo-European word for "Sun". She relates to Helios, Sól, Sol, and Surya, sun deities connected with healing and hot springs.
Dahomey (west Africa)
Mawu and her husband brother Lisa were born of the Dahomey supreme goddess Nana Buluku. Creator deities, they often join together as an androgynous deity Mawu-Lisa. Mawu is associated with the Sun and the Moon
Egyptian Mythology
Bastet
Originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the Sun, Bast or Bastet was worshipped through most of ancient Egyptian history. Later she evolved into the cat goddess known today.
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Hathor
Major Goddess of the Egyptian pantheon, Hathor is mother of Horus and Ra. A Sun goddess and sky deity, Hathor has both a benevolent and malicious side. She can be represented as a lioness, a cobra, a cow or a sycamore tree.
Finnish mythology
Päivätär, or Lady Sun, is the Finnish goddess of the Sun. She owns the silver of the Sun, spins silver yarn, and weaves clothes of silver. She's described as very beautiful. She's also the mother of wasps. Her name means the same as Auringotar, the creator of fire.
German Myth
Sonne is a sun goddess or Sun herself.
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Greek Mythology
Eos
Greek goddess and personification of the dawn, Eos rose each morning from her home by the river Oceanus to cast light and disperse the night. She was fond of taking lovers and had many children.
Hemera
Hemera means 'Day', and she is Goddess of the Day, daughter of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (night). Her Roman counterpart is Dies, Latin for Day, though their origin stories are different.
Electryone
Also called Alectrona she was the daughter of the Sun Helios. She died a virgin and is venerated on the Isle of Rhodes, Greece. In some lore she's goddess of the sunrise.
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Hindu Mythology
Tapati is a Sun goddess of great beauty. She's also known as goddess of the river Tapati and mother-goddess of the South (home of the sun) where she brings heat to the earth. In some Hindu writings, Tapati is the daughter of Surya (the Sun god) and Chhaya, one of his wives.
Hittite Belief
Istantu
The Sun goddess of Arinna, she may be identified as Arinniti or as Wuru(n)šemu. A chief goddess, she's the companion of weather god Tarḫunna. They hold the highest positions in the Hittite pantheon. Istantu is also a goddess of judgment. Her sacred animal is the deer.
Sun goddess of the Earth & Underworld
She personifies the chthonic aspects of the Sun and opens the doors to the Underworld. She's also said to cleanse all evil, impurity, and sickness on Earth.
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Hungarian Myth
Nap Anya
Goddess of the sun and partner of Nap király. Her name means "sun mother".
Inca People
Ch'aska ("Venus") or Ch'aska Quyllur ("Venus star") was the goddess of Sun, fire, divination and love. She created dawn and twilight. She uses her light to draw plant sprouts from the earth to grow.
Indigenous North American Myths
Pawnee
Shakaru is the Sun or Sun Goddess of the Pawnee of the Central Plains. She's invoked or celebrated with elaborate sun dances.
Cherokee
Uelanuhi is the Goddess of the Cherokee of the Southeast. According to lore her warmth is coveted by men. Unelanuhi’s name means “apportioner,” and her movement through the sky creates time. She was called from the Underworld to the Sky by the Spider Woman.
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Inuit Mythology
Akycha
A Sun goddess worshiped in Alaska, Akycha runs across the sky with a flaming torch to escape the unwanted attentions of her brother the Moon, who pursues her.
Malina
Goddess of the Sun found most commonly in the legends of Greenland, Malina has a story similar to that of Akycha. Her lustful brother chases her across the sky every day.
Japanese mythology
Amaterasu, goddess of the Sun, is one of the major deities (kami) of Shinto. She appears in in Japan's earliest literary texts. Considered one of the Three Precious Children, she's the daughter of Creator god Izanagi.
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Mesopotamian myth
Šerida is also known as Aya. She's a Sumerian goddess of light, married to the god of the Sun. In ancient Sippar (Sumeria) she and her husband were worshipped together. Aya is literally translated as "dawn."
Norse Germanic mythology
Sól/Sunna/Sunne, the common Sun goddess among the Norse Germanic people. She's chased across the sky in chariot by a wolf, who wants to consume her. At the end of the world, he will.
Sami myth & lore
Beaivi, Beiwe, Bievve, Beivve or Biejje, all meaning sun, is the Sami goddess of the Sun, spring, fertility, and sanity. The Sami people of Northern Scandinavia were inhabiting the area when the Vikings first arrived in the 7th century.
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Scythian religion
Most venerated of all the Scythian deities, Tabiti is an ancient Iranian goddess of the primordial fire which alone existed before the creation of the universe. The fire was the basic essence and source of all creation, with possible connections to the Sun.
Vietnamese mythology
Thần Mặt Trời is a Sun goddess in Vietnam. Her name translates to God of the Sun. The embodiment of the Sun, she and her sister the Moon goddess share a husband who is a bear. When they meet with the Bear God a solar or lunar eclipse happens.
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