The Meaning of the Sun – Major Arcana nr. 19

The Sun Tarot Card connects Hod and Yesod on the Tree of Life. Its metaphysical meaning is hidden in the alternative descriptive words: “The Master of the World Fire“.

Description of The Sun Card

Near the top, there is a large Sun with sun rays spreading around in all directions. The central position is dominated by a naked child on a white horse, holding a banner. There are also several sunflowers in the background sticking out behind a brick wall.

A.E. Waite (the author of the most famous Tarot Deck)  indicates in his book “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot“:

” …The card signifies, therefore, the transit from the manifest light of this world, represented by the glorious sun of earth, to the light of the world to come, which goes before aspiration and is typified by the heart of a child.”

The Sun in this card stands for the Master of life, light, love and freedom. It can also be understood as a symbol of wholeness, pure consciousness, or consciousness of the spirit. The wall can be seen as a means of protection. Alternatively, it is a token of the dawn of the New age that brings more freedom, but still a sense of control is maintained. The, banner depicted so vividly on the Sun Tarot Card, means victory in the restoration of the new age framework.

The sunflowers are gifts of radiant warmth. Their meanings include loyalty and longevity, energy in form of nourishment and vibration. They mirror the sun and the energy provided by its heat and light. More on the symbolism of sunflowers here.

The child is a symbol of innocence and simplicity, designating the next stage of development of the human soul. When this stage is reached, a new influx of subtle Sun energy will bring even more freedom and prosperity. The slavery to the old ideas will be abolished. Our collective psychic is a child’s land of innocence and undifferentiated consciousness.

Again we turn to the beautiful words of A.E. Waite:

“… When the self-knowing spirit has dawned in the consciousness above the natural mind, that mind in its renewal leads forth the animal nature in a state of perfect conformity.”

The Sun in divination

The Sun Tarot can mean several things: glory, gain, fortune, truth, immortality, great success, or, for instance, recovery from a complicated health condition. The Sun can bring rapid success to everything and everyone, provided that the meaning of the other tarot cards is favorable. In its reversed meanings, the Sun Card can indicate impudence, arrogance, vanity, or death.