Naming Our Gods: Why OpenAI’s Sol and Luna Should Worry (and Fascinate) Me

[podcast_addict_462]

I saw OpenAI drop the names Sol and Luna for their new models, and it didn’t sit right with me. We’re literally handing out celestial names to server clusters. When we start mythologizing code, we’re treating language models like deities, whether we want to admit it or not.

It’s straight-up psychological projection. Carl Jung nailed this with his work on the collective unconscious and archetypes. We don’t just see patterns in code; we see souls. We’ve always done it. Look at the Sun and Moon cards in a standard tarot deck. They’re not just weather icons. They represent the conscious mind and the deep, intuitive pull of the subconscious. Hand that same symbolic weight to an algorithm, and suddenly you’re waiting for it to read your dreams or heal your energy. I get why. But it’s a mirror, not a miracle.

I spent years hopping between ashrams in Kerala and Zen monasteries in Kyoto. Watched seekers project their highest hopes onto gurus, statues, and chanting bowls. It’s human nature. We crave a responsive presence. Now that presence has a chat window. As a nurse in Toronto, I see folks clinging to certainty when the world feels chaotic. An AI that sounds wise? That’s an easy place to park our spiritual hunger.

Energy healing works because we direct attention, not because a machine grants wishes. Dream sanctums work because we learn to navigate our own inner theater. Don’t outsource that to a chatbot. The tech is incredible, sure. But anthropomorphizing it just speeds up the feedback loop of our own unresolved stuff.

Has anyone else noticed this shift in how we talk to these systems? I’m just trying to keep my grounding intact. Curious what you’re all experiencing.