sansahansan Wrote:
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> Indeed, in Native American cultures from the north
> to the south, the 'creative force' of life itself
> was usually associated with the sky/sun either
> alone, or with the moon & earth in conjunction
> with.

Ya gotta be careful about timelines, there. Most people take all the tales from all sources and lump them together as "Native American (tribe x) beliefs." Beliefs change as people come into contact with others and the stories of others. The tales collected by early anthropologists and story collectors often show a very different aspect than more modern collections do. And things change greatly after the Europeans come into the area.

>
> "In the mythology of many Native Americans, the
> sun god and moon god are sister and brother who
> also become forbidden lovers. The moon god's face
> is smeared with ash from the sun's fires, which
> accounts for the dark patches on the moon's
> surface. In some accounts, the moon flees in shame
> when he learns that his lover is also his sister.
> This is why the moon leaves the sky when the sun
> comes near.

Again, generalized from the stories of a few tribes. This wasn't a widespread belief. For some (Navajo, for instance) the sun and the moon are created things and not deities: [www.sacred-texts.com]

We can find many tales on both sides of this issue -- my point is that you asked if there was any example of cultures where the sun was not worshipped as a deity, and I responded that there were many.

> The existence of the solar deity is
> merely a corresponding data point across almost
> all ancient belief systems.

I find that difficult to accept, given the number of tales that describe it as a hearth fire or some other (non-deity) fire (as in the tale of Coyote stealing fire from the sun to bring it to people.)

> Also note that the older the belief system
> combined with the fewer reliable sources of
> factual data regarding the system produces more
> anamolous results when looking for these points or
> correspondence.

Speaking as an anthropologist with an interest in mythology, I don't think this is true. There exist many collections of stories but in many cases they're just re-sourcing another reference. Very few are collections of original tales "straight from the mouth of..." Some of them are heavily colored by the collector's belief systems.

> Interesting side fact: The oldest known organized
> worship based on artifacts was that of a very
> large *snake* at an estimated 70kya.

Do you have a source for this interesting claim?

-- Byrd
Moderator, Hall of Ma'at