We are so close to coming to the end of the Major Arcana. The Fool has almost completed the journey, bounding into and out of each card with the spontaneity that only he can bring. Once we get to the World card, the journey starts over again.
But, for now, we arrive at the Sun. With its beautiful golden light and warm touch on our skin, the Sun is a wonderful card. Of course it has its shadow, which we will get into here, but know that the Sun is often one of the most welcomed cards in the decks.
The Sun pivots us from the dark mysteries and liminal forces of the Moon to logical understandings and the reality of the waking world. The Sun still has magick in there, but of a different kind. This magick is the wild hunger of living and experiencing, where as the Moon comes in and creates the emotional, intuitive cycles through these experiences.
Looking at the numerology, we have this quote from the Numerologist Pro website. “19 gives you luck, purity, and intuition. 1 and 9 add up to 10, which again adds up to 1, which is the number of the Sun. Like the Sun, the number 19 is full of energy and the spark of life. The Sun shines on its surroundings and leads others full of goodwill – the Sun gives a strong winner mentality, positive energy, and optimism.”
Let’s get into this card…
Radiating and Creating Clarity with the Sun
We have just come out of the Moon tarot card, with its watery and wild energies. The Moon tarot card speaks to the mysterious forces that transform and shape us on a subconscious level. If the the Sun illuminates the waking world, and powers our reality and logical understandings, the Moon is the opposite. The Moon lends itself to the emotional, the intuitive, the wild, and the unseen. The Moon HAS to come first in the progression of the Majors, because we have learn that our evolution is not going to be found outside of us. It must come from the watery and mysterious depths within, moving like the iconic crab to the shore of awareness, transformation, and integration.
And all that work is done with the Sun….
Once the seen of liminality, interconnection, and magick is planted within us from the silvery reflection of the Moon, the Sun can now come in and do its work. The first way that I read the Sun tarot card is: The strength of the spirit radiates fiercely, without apology, explanation, or justification. After we have found that wild tether to the unseen forces in the world, the spirit within becomes stronger. It is emboldened to live a life that aligns to that authentic wilderness within.
When the Sun tarot card comes forward, think of it like a moment in time when you felt so deeply connected to yourself, your visions, and the world around you. That is the Sun tarot card. It is THE card of your wild reclamation taking root in external world. Your actions, choices, hardships (especially from the Devil and the Tower), relationships, and potential gain a deeper purpose. You are showing up in the world as you need. The evolution and rebirth is happening in real time when this card comes forward.
Main invitations with the Sun:
The strength of spirit radiates fiercely, without apology, explanation, or justification
Feeds the appetites of your evolution forward, but also illuminates the hardships faced
Take up space, be expansive, radiate your spirit outwards
The next way that I read the Sun tarot card is: Feeds the appetites of your evolution forward, but also illuminates the hardships faced. This means that when the Sun tarot card comes forward, it is telling you to run and not look back. Chase your desire. Feed the hunger within to live a life that is authentic, beautiful, slow, adventurous, whatever is calling to you. The Sun card is where the evolution of the spirit reveals a bigger and downrange view. The Sun shines light on us, filling us with the promise of a new day, new opportunities, and a new awakening. Each day, we are given the gift of light and life. The Sun tarot card asks, “what will you do with this precious gift.”
Now, all of that is wonderful. You can see why the Sun card is so wanted and appreciated when it is turned over, but that doesn’t mean that the Sun card has no shadow, or unwanted energies. Each and every tarot card has this edge. With the Sun, here are some of the challenges or conflicts that can come when this card is pulled over.
- There is a need to rest, reset, or appreciate the darkness. As we understand how to move with the cycles of the Moon through her phases, we also now learn how to move between the cycle of light/dark. The Sun tarot card is beautiful, but can become too action-focused, with an emphasis on results, outcomes, or the external. We need the darkness, womb-space, coffin, or deep waters of life just as much as we need the light.
- The Sun tarot card illuminates our world, which is great, but it also is going to shine a light on our wounds, our past, our pain, our unfulfilled expectations, and more. We don’t get to choose what the Sun shines on. As the Devil has taught us, we need to sit with these truths so that we may grow and evolve.
- We can get out of alignment with the energies of the Sun. The doing, awakening, and evolving can start to slip away from us if we are moving past our pace. The doing can become a distraction if we aren’t taking the time to reflect, understand, and integrate.
- Finally, the ego can start to push the Spirit to the passenger seat. The Sun tarot card shows where we need healthy ego, but ego wants to take control, and then new ruts, patterns, or attachments are formed, and some of them may not be as helpful as ego thought.
The last way that I read the Sun tarot card is: Take up space, be expansive, radiate your spirit outwards. This invitation is to take all that you have learned from every other Major Arcana card, and live baby! The Sun shines down and says, “if not now, then when?” Don’t wait until everything is ready, because that day will never come. Don’t wait for the approval of others because someone will always disappoint you. Don’t wait until everything else in life is fixed because some new lesson or experience will always pop up. Take up space, radiate your beautiful and wild spirit out into the world. It needs your light.
Be mindful, and don’t push everything. The lesson with the Sun is co-creation, not control. The Sun goes down at the end of the every day, and so too must our energy retreat into the internal for deeper alignment and understanding. Then a new day comes. What a gift the Sun tarot card is. It is a reminder that with clarity comes the vitality to integrate, to grow, and to rise to new situations. Our wild reclamation is becoming full and providing sustenance for the path ahead. We will need it as we head into Judgement!
Symbolism and Imagery of the Sun Tarot Card
Now that we have gone through how to read the Sun, let’s look at the imagery of this beautiful card:
- Shadowscapes Tarot: An angel rides on his feathered mount. Other species of birds fly around them, all invigorated with the hunger of the sky and the new day. Fairies circle overhead, symbolizing the interconnective life force of the Sun that flows through all things. The circles show the unending of this life force, but also the needed push and pull of the binary, giving meaning to both day and night.
- Ostara Tarot: A warrior stands vigilant, ready for action or a sign that something is off. Fight for the life you want. Defend your truth, and what you love. The warrior archetype has the courage, but is tempered by discipline. The balance is key.
- Dark Wood Tarot: The naked woman shows the power of innocence, fearlessness, and authentic truth. It’s not about perfect. It is about your capabilities and the conviction of your spirit. The horse represents the freedom gained when we wildly reclaim ourselves. We don’t have to fake it, or fit in. We can just be. From the past, and into the future, the vitality of life, spirit, and opportunity beckons.
- Mystical Dream Tarot: The power, harmony, and ability to create that comes from the Sun. The binary creates wholeness.
- The Wild Unknown: The vitality, power, creativity, and life the Sun gives to all things is so expansive, it’s hard to fathom. The way it radiates from its circumference extends to all, providing enlightenment and possibility.
- Spirit Animal Tarot: The Rooster signals the dawn of a new day, and what a gift it is. This awakening is here, and ready to be seized upon. Trust yourself. Align to your purpose. Find joy in what feeds your spirit. What was unknown is now known. Take the call of the Rooster and radiate the light of yourself out into the world.
- Herbcrafter’s Tarot: Picked and crafted at the height of Summer, St. John’s Wort is a mood-elevating herb. Used to help with depression, anxiety, and even nerve pain, St. John’s Wort reminds us that levity is medicinal and mental right. We all deserve to cultivate happiness and to be inspired by this enlightenment as we create what our spirit desires. This is living in alignment with truth.
- Crow Tarot: The Crow stands atop the white horse. Sunflowers turn their heads to the light. The red banner signals victory, confidence, and power. The energy is raising to levels of enlightenment, vitality, and courage. Let this card lift you also.
- Bird King Tarot: A new day arrives in the forest. All the animals are stirring and waking. Seek the light, and actualize what it is illuminating from the depths of the Moon’s darkness. Now is the time to manifest it.
- Hush Tarot: The Sun reveals the beautiful iridescence of the Raven’s feathers, highlighting that truth that this creature is not to be feared. Let the Sun temper some of the emotions, or pre-conceived notions from running out of control.
- Guardian of the Night Tarot: The puma rests, but the power is palpable. She sees and is vigilant, ready to take advantage of a situation, or a prey animal that comes her way. This card reminds you of your power to shape your reality through presence and vigilance.
- Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack embraces the colorful lights of Christmas. The energy of this holiday fills him with passion, invigoration, and joy, something he hasn’t experienced in a long time. While he is not supposed to be Santa, he shouldn’t be deprived of the energy of that holiday either.
- Grimalkin’s Curious Cat Tarot: A cat sits in the golden meadow of life. Life abounds, and the cat is a part of all of it. The darkness has left, and the endless possibilities of the curiosity of the cat can now be actualized.
- Tarot of Dragons: Two baby dragons play in a field of sunflowers. Their innocence and joy permeates. The safety of the Sun Dragon overhead allows them to be fully present in their joy. The power of the Sun Dragon inspires them as well, reminding them of the potential they have, and what they can become. Make each day count.
- Hocus Pocus Tarot: Winnifred is a formidable and comical enemy, but her power is no match for the harsh light of a new day. The Sun reminds us that certain negativities in life may need an honest illumination from the Sun, so that the truth of the matter may be revealed.
Thank you for reading! I have also included my poem of the Sun from my book Major Arcana: A Poetry Collection for you to read. Click the link below to buy the book.
The Sun
It is a gift. Heavy and full of promise,
like a decorative box on Christmas morning,
when the heat is nowhere to be found.
As I sit in the shade, a cool blanket
against the golden blaze, I have claimed
a small space of devotion. To the grass,
reflecting its green spectrum, not concerned
with the neighboring asphalt or cinderblock,
most likely laden with chemicals of some kind.
To the butterfly, with its black and yellow
adornment, so bright even the fire in the sky
is called to soften, just a bit. In that stark contrast
on the satin of the swallowtail, I see this as the whole
of the world. Shadow and light. Abundance
and vacancy together. In a world always grieving,
people picking at wounds just to see the meat
underneath, my devotion expands little by little
in a warm breeze. It may not be found
in any book or song, but I am sure that this small sliver
of wildness is to touch the real heaven.
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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