Sun Dogs

Sun dogs are also called mock suns or phantom suns. They are an atmospheric phenomenon which creates bright spots of light in the sky, often forming a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.

I first heard them referred to in the film "The Deerhunter" and read up about them, but it was many years before I actually saw them for myself. I took this photograph of sun dogs in the far north of Scotland, and was blessed with not seeing them just this once, but on a second occasion later in the trip.

The Wikipedia entry on sun dogs says they "may appear as a coloured patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low." Those were the exact conditions when I took this photograph.

So why am I writing about sun dogs? What's interesting is that they are a natural phenomenon which shows a reflection, a phantom of the real Sun. In astrological psychology it is the Sun which symbolises and represents our capacity to use the mind and will, to make decisions and express our sense of self. If we develop the Sun, we can become more confident and effective in our everyday lives, and we won't need to hide behind, or project "false", mock or phantom suns or a false sense of our true self. Bearing in mind that this is what what sun dogs are, it's possible that we might also have our own personal "sun dogs".

I describe how to develop the Sun in my book The Living Birth Chart and here's what I have to say about it on my AstroChat Channel: