THE BROTHERLY WAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 305, 24 December 1937, Page 6

THE BROTHERLY WAY

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELFARE SUN WORSHIPPERS Dear People,— The golden sun salutes the morn, And, having gilt the ocean with his beams, He gallops the zodiac in his glistening coach. (Titus Andronicus). Thinking in centuries, it is not so very long ago that civilised peoples believed that to have the skin browned by the sunshine would cause injury to the system. It is of course now known that the browning of the skin protects the blood underneath it from the too-strong rays of the sun. The brown pigment catches up the sun’s rays and absorbs them; and so the precious blood that runs in thinwalled vessels just beneath the skin is saved. Tanning should be a gradual process, for sunburn has ill effects both physically and mentally. Mental health partly depends upon the condition of the skin—the largest organ of the body, with most important functions. The brain is moulded from moment to moment by the continual messages reaching it from the outer world; and these messages are largely conveyed to the brain by means of corpuscles scattered all over ‘he surface of the body. Therefore, says Dr. Alexis Carrel, the state of the surface should not be thoughtlessly altered by submitting it to excessive heat. For example, we are far from knowing completely what effect exposure to the direct rays of the sun has upon the development of the entire body. Until the exact nature of this effect has been ascertained, states the specialist in question, nudism and exaggerated tanning of the skin should not be accepted blindly.

Ancient Sun Bathers. The sun, whose rays are all ablaze with ever-living glory, has been pouring out radiant heat during many millions of years. The wise men of olden times apparently understood a great deal about the power of the sun’s rays, and they have left it on record that they considered sunrise to be the daily miracle which made all other daily miracles possible. The Chaldean and Persian, the Assyrian and Phoenician civilisations worshipped the sun as being the source of all life. In every part of the ancient East, alters were built for the making of sacrifices to the sun. These altars were generally placed on hilltops, in order to catch the earliest morning rays, which were even then recognised as being full of curative properties. Ancient civilisations were aware that the heat rays grow stronger as the sun ascends the heavens, and that the earlier rays were beneficial in their effect without at the same time carrying the menace of sunstroke. Ancient Sunstroke.

“Save me from the destruction that wasteth at noonday!” cried the Psalmist of old; and “sun-bathing in the middle of the day should be avoided! | cries the modern doctor. So far as the prevention of sunburn and sunstroke is concerned, East and West have met, Rudyard Kipling notwithstanding; and the wisdom of the ancient past has mingled with that of the modern present. The psalmist knew that the direct overhead rays of the sun brought with them “sore afflictions, causing the sun-bather to be “possessed of a devil” which could only be driven out of the system by prayers, charms or exhortations; while the modern doctor knows that only a certain intensity of heat is good for the body and brain. Beyond that point, the sun’s rays can be positively harmful, bringing with them not only in* tense pain and extreme lassitude, but also nerve-destruction and the deyii-in-possession of mental depression, sometimes ending in serious illness and even death. Ancient Sun Worshippers.

Knowing something of the fact that the orange, infra-red and ultra-violet rays of the sun could most advantageously be absorbed into the system in the early morning, the wise men of old (the priests) incorporated into their various religions the rule of early rising. As the sun rose above the horizon, from “the land where the Ethiopians dwell” (as was then believed), the call to prayer was sounded. The worshippers faced the East as the sun entered the vestibule of day, and began to pray and also to breathe deeply and regularly. Those wise men of old knew that the people would then be taking into their bodies the life-giving rays of early sunshine, without any fear of ill effects iand also that their prayers and medi-

tations would be creating an inner sense of peace and well-being which would do much to help the sun’s rays in their work of soothing and healing the nerves and revivifying the bloodstream. Modern Sun Worshippers. There are three principal bcnofltf to be gained by wisely directed sunbathing: (1) the assimilation of the life-giving orange, infra-red and ultraviolet r.ays; (2) the gradual tanning of the skin; and (3) the formation ol vitamin D in the skin. The orange, infra-red and ultra-violet rays of the sun increase in intensity, of course, from sunrise to midday. It is all a question of absorption, or scattering of the radiant energy of the sun by the earth's atmosphere. The greater the height of the sun above the horizon, the less absorption and scattering, since the rays have to pasg through less atmosphere. Regarding the production of vitamin D by the ultra-violet rays, all the world now knows that health and beauty in the form of strong, shapely bones and beautiful teeth, etc., are dependent upon plenty of sunlight, giving, an adequate daily ration of this vitamin. Here, again, wise dircrimination must be used. Not even with the hope of gaining this valuable vitamin should sun-bathing be indulged in during the fiercest heat of the day, when the ultra-violet rays are at their strongest and when the infra-red rays can burn the skin even through a heavy smoke-screen. Scattered ultra-violet rays, from the blue sky, are capable of synthesising vitamin D, and they, together with scattered intra-red rays, cause no ill effects. All wisdom, both ancient and modern, therefore points to the desirability of sun bathing in the earliest part of the day, and also of exercising great care against exposure of the body to the maximum heat of the sun’s rays. Yours as ever,