☉ | Sun

The circled dot ☉ is an ancient symbol representing the Sun. Note the similarity between ☉ and Chinese 日 (rì).

In alchemical tradition, seven metals were associated with the seven classical planets, which included the Sun and the Moon (but not Earth). The Sun’s metal was gold. In Hellenistic astrology, each classical planet had its own day of the week. Sól or Sunna was the name of the Sun goddess in Germanic mythology. English and other Germanic languages keep the association of Sun and Sunday. Other solar deities include goddesses Amaterasu, Grian, Marici, Saulė, Sulis and Xihe as well as gods Amun, Apollo, Helios, Ra, Shamash, Surya, Tonatiuh and Utu; the gender of the Guanche solar deity Magec is unknown.

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日 | rì

In Mandarin Chinese, 日 (Pinyin: rì 🔊) means “Sun”, “daytime” (time between sunrise and sunset), and, by extension, “day” (i.e. twenty-four hours). It is also short for 日本 (Rìběn), “the Sun’s origin”, that is, Japan. Combining 日 and 出, we get 日出 (rìchū 🔊), “sunrise”.

Just like 入 (rù), 日 can be used in a sense “to have sex”. It is not clear how this meaning originated. It could be that some of the historical forms of the character were suggestive of this vital activity. Note the similarity with the Western solar symbol, ☉, which is also the alchemical symbol for gold.

More photos of sun and sea glass @ Shutterstock.