Heliolatry
Posted by kazvorpal on July 16, 2010
n. Worship of the sun, whether real or metaphorical
Sun-worship was ancient in Peru, but it was the Incas who made it the great state religion, and their heliolatry was organized for political ends.
— Rushton M. Dorman, “The Origin of Primitive Superstitions”
I remember hearing stories in college about Ibiza, where big-breasted women laid out naked practicing heliolatry on the beaches, and E pills were as abundant as hard candy in an old folks’ home.
— Chris Baker
I am certain that if our preparations for greeting the returning sun were seen by other people, either civilised or savage, we would be thought disciples of heliolatry.
— Frederick Albert Cook, Through the first Antarctic night
Etymology: Helios was the Greek god of the sun (Apollo the god of light, not the sun, although his worship became so popular that it eventually adopted many of the stories that originated with Helios, including that of the sun being a chariot he drove)
High-Vocabulary Word of the Day 
Tichaona Chinyelu said
when i saw the word it immediately caught my interest. i’m into helioatry, not in any organized way, though. i may write around that word.
A Personal Pantheon « Contraband Marriage said
[…] 0 Yesterday, I was roaming around wordpress.com’s poetry/writing blogs and came across this site. The word that caught my eye was heliolatry. I knew helio meant the sun so it’s just a hope, skip […]
Whirlwind Publishing » Blog Archive » A Personal Pantheon said
[…] I was roaming around wordpress.com’s poetry/writing blogs and came across this site. The word that caught my eye was heliolatry. I knew helio meant the sun so it’s just a hope, skip […]
Gregory Sams said
Heliolatry is a good alternative to “Sun worship” in a society that foolishly views Sun worship as primitive and ignorant. But what alternative term for a Sun worshiper – a Heliolatrist, Heliotrian, Heliophilic? None of them sound quite right.
Tichaona Chinyelu said
How about a heliopath?