Major Arcana · XIX
The Sun
Upright
- joy
- vitality
- clarity
- success
- nothing hidden
Reversed
- dimmed joy
- burnout
- overexposure
- a success delayed
- forced cheer
Your notes on The Sun
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The image
A naked child with a feather in their hair rides bareback on a white horse, arms flung wide, carrying a huge red banner. Behind them a wall is topped with tall sunflowers, and above everything a vast sun with a human face pours down straight and wavy rays. There is no shade anywhere in the picture.
Upright meaning
The Sun is the day after the night journey, when everything is visible and nothing needs to be. The child rides without saddle or clothes because there is no danger to guard against. In a reading the card shows joy, vitality, clarity, success that is simple rather than complicated, health, the pleasure of being fully seen, and the kind of confidence that does not need to argue. It is the most straightforwardly good card in the deck, and it means exactly what it looks like.
Reversed meaning
Reversed, the sun is behind a cloud or shining too hard. The card shows joy dimmed by worry, vitality drained by overwork, success that arrives late or feels smaller than promised, a happiness performed rather than felt, or the exhaustion of being in the light without rest. It is rarely bad news. It is sunlight through gauze. Ask what is standing between you and the warmth, and whether you put it there.
The Sun: yes or no?
- Upright
- Yes
- The Sun is a clear yes: joy and vitality are on your side.
- Reversed
- Not yet
- The Sun reversed is a yes held back. The promise of the upright card is there, but dimmed joy and burnout delay it; the timing or the approach needs to change first.
The Sun with other cards
- The Moon and The SunThe Moon and The Sun together:
- Ten of Swords and The SunThe Ten of Swords and The Sun together:
The Sun by topic
How the card reads when the question is about a particular part of life. Choose a topic on any spread and these appear beside each card’s position reading.
love and relationships
Upright. Joy, warmth and plain happiness together. Nothing hidden, nothing withheld; a relationship you can be fully seen in. For singles, confidence is the attraction. Enjoy this without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. Happiness dimmed by doubt, or a sunny front over a tired heart. The relationship may be fine and you may be exhausted. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
work and career
Upright. Success and recognition: a project that shines, a role you can be fully yourself in, confidence that attracts opportunity. Nothing hidden, nothing withheld. Enjoy it without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. Burnout under a sunny front, or success that feels hollow. You may be fine on paper and exhausted in fact. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
money
Upright. Prosperity and clarity: a financial success, money that brings joy rather than worry, nothing hidden in the accounts. Enjoy it without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. Success that feels hollow, or a sunny surface over strained finances. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
health and wellbeing
Upright. Vitality: energy, warmth, a body that feels like yours. Nothing hidden, nothing wrong. Enjoy it without hunting for the catch, and spend it outdoors.
Reversed. Burnout under a cheerful front, or vitality drained by too much sun and not enough rest. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
family and home
Upright. Joy at home: children, warmth, a household where everyone is seen. Nothing hidden, nothing withheld. Enjoy it without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. A sunny front over a tired household, or joy dimmed by strain. The family may be fine and you may be exhausted. Ask what is draining the light.
personal growth
Upright. Joy, vitality and clarity about who you are. Nothing hidden, nothing to prove. Growth here is simply being seen in your own light. Enjoy it without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. Light dimmed: burnout, a sunny front over a tired self, joy that feels like effort. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
the spiritual path
Upright. Illumination: joy, clarity, the child on the horse under the full sun. Nothing hidden, nothing to prove. The path here is simply being in the light.
Reversed. Light dimmed: a sunny practice over a tired soul, joy that has become effort. Ask what is draining the light and give it a rest.
a decision
Upright. A clear yes. The decision brings joy, nothing is hidden, and the option in the light is the right one. Choose it without hunting for the catch.
Reversed. A choice that looks sunny and feels hollow, or clarity dimmed by exhaustion so every option looks grey. Rest first, then look at them again.
Waite’s divinatory meanings
Quoted from A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), public domain.
Upright: “Material happiness, fortunate marriage, contentment.”
Reversed: “The same in a lesser sense.”
From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Waite’s full description of the card, Part II of the 1911 text, public domain.
The naked child mounted on a white horse and displaying a red standard has been mentioned already as the better symbolism connected with this card. It is the destiny of the Supernatural East and the great and holy light which goes before the endless procession of humanity, coming out from the walled garden of the sensitive life and passing on the journey home. 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.
But the last allusion is again the key to a different form or aspect of the symbolism. The sun is that of consciousness in the spirit - the direct as the antithesis of the reflected light. The characteristic type of humanity has become a little child therein--a child in the sense of simplicity and innocence in the sense of wisdom. In that simplicity, he bears the seal of Nature and of Art; in that innocence, he signifies the restored world. 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 a spread
How the card reads in each position. The first ten are the Celtic Cross; the rest are used by the Horseshoe, Relationship and Two Paths spreads. The smaller spreads reuse these positions.
The Significator
What is at the heart of the matter right now?
At the centre of your situation is joy, plain and unhidden. Things are good, or about to be, and you are allowed to feel it without looking for the catch. The reading is about riding bareback.
At the heart of this is a happiness you cannot quite reach, or a vitality worn thin. The sun is up but something is in the way. The matter turns on finding what is shading you.
Crossing Card
What crosses, challenges or shapes it?
What meets your situation is good fortune and clear sight, a success or a joy that changes your plans by making them easier. It is a rare thing to be crossed by. Let it reorganise you.
The force across your path is a dimmed or forced brightness: burnout, a cheer that hides fatigue, a success postponed. Rest before you ride on.
Foundation
What is the root of this?
This grew from a time of joy and clear success, a happy season or a childhood warmth that gave you a basic trust in life. That sunlight is the ground beneath the present.
At the root is a joy that was cut short or a happiness performed for others, a sun that went behind cloud too early. The present carries that slight chill.
Recent Past
What is passing out of the picture?
A period of happiness, vitality and visible success is receding. The sun is moving west but it is still up. Carry the warmth; it does not expire.
A stretch of dimmed joy, burnout or delayed success is losing its hold. The cloud is thinning. Step out from under it.
Crown
What are you consciously aiming for, and what could this become?
What you consciously want is happiness, health and success you can enjoy in the open. That is achievable here and the circumstances could hardly be more favourable. Want it without apology.
You may be aiming at an appearance of joy, or at a success so bright it leaves no room for rest. Make the goal warmth you can actually feel.
Future
What is coming next?
Joy is coming: a success, a recovery, a season of clarity and vitality. It will be as good as it looks. Prepare by making room to enjoy it.
You are heading into a stretch where happiness is dimmed by fatigue or delay, or where you may be tempted to force the cheer. Rest, and the sun returns on its own.
Emotions
How are you meeting this, inside?
Inwardly, you are joyful, confident and open, with nothing to hide. That vitality is your gift to this matter and to everyone in it. Fling your arms wide.
Part of you is tired behind the smile, or is afraid to be fully seen. Notice the gauze. Take it down, and let yourself be warmed.
External Forces
What are others, and the wider setting, bringing to it?
The people around you are happy, healthy and supportive, and your surroundings are bright with success and goodwill. A child or a childlike joy may be present. Bask.
Your surroundings are either worn out or performing a brightness no one feels. The atmosphere is overexposed. Find some shade and some honesty.
Hopes & Desires
What do you hope for, and what do you fear?
You hope for happiness and fear, quietly, that it is too much to ask. The card says it is not too much. It is the most natural thing in the picture.
You fear that joy will be taken away or that you do not deserve it, and part of you may hope to stay in the shade where expectations are lower. Step into the light. It was always for you.
Outcome
Where does all of this lead?
This resolves in joy and success: clarity, vitality, happiness in the open. Enjoy it fully and the result holds.
Left as it is, this ends in a dimmed happiness, success that comes late or is too tired to enjoy. The spread shows where the cloud came from. Clear it and the ending changes.
Hidden Influences
What is at work here that you cannot see yet?
Joy is at work beneath this and you have been looking for the catch. The hidden influence is success that is simpler and nearer than you expect. Nothing is concealed; that is the point.
Beneath the surface something is dimming the warmth: fatigue, a cloud of worry, a brightness performed rather than felt. The hidden influence is whatever you put between yourself and the sun.
Advice
What should you do about it?
Enjoy it. Step into the open, ride bareback, let yourself be seen succeeding. The advice here is almost embarrassingly simple: say yes to the good thing without auditing it.
Rest before you ride on. If you are performing a cheer you do not feel, drop it; if fatigue is dimming a real joy, sleep. The sun does not need your help to shine, only your presence.
The Other Person
What are they bringing to this?
They are happy, open and full of vitality, with nothing hidden and nothing to prove. Expect straightforward warmth. It is as good as it looks.
They are tired behind the smile, or their joy is dimmed by something they have not said. Expect brightness that flickers. Ask how they actually are.
What Joins You
What holds the two of you together?
What joins you is plain joy: you are happy together, out in the open, with nothing to hide. The bond is sunlit. Do not go looking for shade.
You are joined by a happiness that has grown tired or performed, a brightness kept up for each other's sake. Something real is underneath it. Find it by resting together rather than celebrating.
What Divides You
What pulls the two of you apart?
Visibility divides you: one of you wants to live in the open and the other needs shade. Joy on one side feels like exposure to the other. Build a little shade into the sunny field.
Burnout or forced cheer has opened the gap: one of you is exhausted and the other has not noticed under the smile. The division is fatigue, not feeling. Rest first, talk second.
A Path
What happens if you take this road?
This road is the sunlit one: say yes, step into the open, enjoy the success. It leads to joy and clarity and asks only that you let yourself have it. There is no catch to find.
This road pushes on through fatigue, or performs a happiness it does not feel. It leads to a dimmed version of a good thing. Rest, and it becomes the upright road.
See where it falls for you
Deal a spread and read every card in its position.