A Shroud Woven of Solar Threads

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Because of climate change, the sun’s rays have become a threat. Some advoc­ate filter­ing them using geo-engin­eer­ing tech­niques that involve deploy­ing particles in the stra­to­sphere. This film invites us to explore an altern­at­ive approach taken in Meso­pot­amia over 4000 years ago when a prolonged drought led to an agri­cul­tural and polit­ical crisis. The Irani­ans then invoked the figure of Mith­ras, asso­ci­ated with the sun, mark­ing the first known nego­ti­ation between human­ity and this celes­tial body, and seek­ing a balance between celes­tial influ­ences and earthly needs.

The sun, a source of life and power, has always had an ambi­val­ent place in the human imagin­a­tion. Vener­ated for its gener­os­ity, feared for its rigour, the sun embod­ies the complex inter­ac­tion between geophys­ical forces and human aspir­a­tions. Ancient civil­isa­tions sought to appease it through spir­itual and symbolic rituals; these days, disen­chanted and scientific as we are, we attempt to control the sun through tech­nical prac­tices such as geoen­gin­eer­ing.

However, using plan­et­ary tech­no­lo­gies raises import­ant ethical and philo­soph­ical ques­tions. In seek­ing to master the sun, are we jeop­ard­ising subtle ecolo­gical balances that we barely under­stand? Does this desire for control reflect our hubris or, worse, our inab­il­ity to conceive of a harmo­ni­ous coex­ist­ence with other living beings?

Revis­it­ing ancient history, this film suggests a differ­ent approach. Ancient civil­isa­tions sought not to domin­ate the sun, but to respect and adjust to it. Through the figure of Mithra, the ancient Persians viewed celes­tial phenom­ena as forces to engage in dialogue, rather than manip­u­late. Thus, the film poses an essen­tial ques­tion: in the face of current climate crises, could human­ity not recon­nect with former, more sens­it­ive ways of under­stand­ing ?