How to worship the Sun as a Sun Elf

Unhel ne aman, or na iltha cwry gwey kal. Taill ne damo e eru ddywsg ne can cen, ola, gwey ala. Ady ddywsg lait Unhel gwey yal hw nuba ew e iall gal.
Blessed be the Sun, the source of all light and life. It is by the grace of the Sun that we are able to see, to grow, and to thrive. Let us praise the Sun and offer our gratitude for its eternal radiance.

— First verse of the Book of Radiance and Sun Elf Call to prayer.

It's time to pray!

Sun and Desert Elves pray 3 mandatory times during the day (other elves usually pray once in a day). Prayer time is marked by the cicle of the Sun. First at Sunrise, then at noon and finally at Sunset. When its time to pray, the call to prayer is sung from the so called Towers of prayer. While in earlier times these was dung by ringing a giant bell or a gong from one the pilons of the temples.
The call to prayer is basically the first verses of the Book of Radiance that you could read at the beginning of the article. These verses would become essential when praying inside the temples, as you will see. When you hear the call to prayer, you stop what you are doing, and either go to the nearest temple or the temple of your choice or you take a moment to pray wherever you are.
If you decide to go to the temple , you have to purify yourself before entering the prayer room. To do this, the sun elves wash their feet and hands to cleanse them of any impurities and dirt they may bring from outside, and then they wash their mouths so they can recite the corresponding prayers free of impurities. This is done at the so called Holy Pools. After purification is complete the faithful can enter the prayer room and begin the ritual.

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How one should pray

Firstly, prayer inside a temple can be done in two ways, the first with the presence of a priest during praying time or without a priest, should the believer decide to pray outside the especific times for prayer.

Praying with a Priest

In the first case once you enter the prayer room you take your seat or your place where you are going to pray and wait seated until the priest appears to begin the prayer to the Sun god (this could also be applied to the rest of the gods of the elven pantheon too). The priest then, would salute the people present there by saying:

May the light of the Sun shine upon you

And the faithful answer back:

May it shine shine upon you too

He then would began reciting the prayer by saying "Unhel ne aman" (Blessed be the Sun), this is how the book of Radiance begins, this sentence is repeated by the congregation pointing their hands to the sky.
After this both the priest and the faithful begin reciting the creed of the Council of the 50 sages. The priest then will place himself in front of the statue of the god, which is recovered by a purple curtain, and ask the god for his blessing and the protection of the state and all its inhabitants.

Place where statues are kept at the temple by Edfu Temple

Next, the priest will repeat the expression " blessed be the Sun", after saying these words the priest will draw the curtain to one side, revealing the statue of the god. After this, he and the rest of the faithful will repeat the expression and bow before the statue, with their heads touching the ground they pronounce the following prayer:

Bless are you oh lord of light, divine father, king of the universe, from whom together with the earth gave birth to the rest of the gods and elves and men. To you who are all wisdom, all light, we worship faithfully, may your divine grace enlighten us, guide us to the right path in our daily lives and receive us when the moment of departing from these world comes.

After reciting these words, both the priest and the people raise and make a final bow to the statue. Then the moment comes for the priest to recite a fragment of one of the elven holy books and deliver his or her sermon.
After the sermon comes the final part of the ceremony where the priest burn incense in front of the statue and the faithful do the same after the priest finishes. Lastly, the Priest says : " the peace and protection of our lord of light be upon you, let's do a final act of hommage to our divine master" and he and the crowd bows one last time as a sign of respect.

Praying alone or without a priest

Most of the ritual is exactly the same, but as there isn't a priest present, it's the faithful who has to somewhat lead the ritual . If the elf is praying from home, he or she might have an statue in front of which to pray, if not the elf worshiper of the Sun might pray facing East.

The worshiper should pray over a carpet or a soft surface like a cushion, but before he does this he has to undergone the mandatory purification. Prayer then begins with the phrase: "Blessed be the Sun" and the recitation of the creed of the 50 sages.

The believer then would bow after repeating the aforementioned first words of the Book of Radiance and ask for the god's protection over his or her family and he would also said the prayer that the priest says in front of the statue and finally making a last bow as a sign of respect.

If there is a statuette where the elf is praying incense will be burn in front of it, and if prayer takes place at a temple outside prayer time the worshiper can also burn incense in front of the covered statue of the god.

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