Symbolizing: The Sun

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Jun 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Thirteen	06 Jun 2004
Onto the final four in our examination of the symbolism of the Majors. What you like and what you don't. What you feel ought to be there...or not. For this thread, The Sun. Just answer one or more of the following: 1) What elements from any Sun card from any deck do you feel BEST symbolize the Sun? (Example: "I like the little boy riding a horse.") 2) What elements common to most Sun cards in most decks do you really feel are all WRONG for the Sun? (Example: "I've NEVER liked that little boy on the horse.") 3) What symbol have you always felt was right for the Sun Card, but you've yet to see it? (Example: "I'd like to see the little boy riding a lion."). You don't have to answer all the above, but do offer some "why's?" as to what you answer. Why don't you/do you like the little boy on the horse? What does that symbol in the Sun car mean that it feels/doesn't feel like the Sun card to you?

Marion	06 Jun 2004
1) What elements from any Sun card from any deck do you feel BEST symbolize the Sun? I like the one in The Fey tarot deck. A young male fey is sitting in a golden field. The field is sloped upper right to lower left and he is facing left. His eyes are mostly closed and his face is bathed in golden sunlight. You can almost feel the warmth and joy of the scene. To my mind this conveys the natural joy of the card very well. Also the implication of 'sunburn' which I sometimes take from this card, on a metaphorical level. 19 is an interesting number. According to Linda Goodman, in 'Star Signs', it means: "The Prince of Heavan. 19 is one of the most fortunate and favourable of all Compound numbers. It is symbolized as the Sun and is called The Prince of Heavan because it symbolizes victory over all temporal failure and dissapointment." Notice it does not say there will not be any temporal failure or disappointment, just that they will be surpassed. And that is why I think the Fey rerpresentation is so perfect. I prefer an adult to a child on this card. This is the natural joy and rest in nature after meeting, and presumably defeating, the troubles of the world. Having a horse is fine. To me it represents the natural strength, the checked and guided will. The sunflower on many Sun cards is echoed in the Queen of Wands (RWS and others) and other Wands sunflowers. I think that they draw their natural energy from this archetype. In their optimism, occasionally misguided as they are after all only as aspect of an archetype, they move forward with this serene confidence. Not always well founded, one should recall the 8, 9, 10 sequence of the Wands. 2) What elements common to most Sun cards in most decks do you really feel are all WRONG for the Sun? I have seen many Sun cards which I dislike. It seems rare for an artist to capture the essense of this card. Maybe it just seems all too easy. I prefer to see an adult to a child on this card. I feel an child portrays possibly too much innocence. Someone just looking at the river with natural optimism, not someone who has struggled across and is now bathing in the warm sun of understanding. However since almost all of the older decks use a child, obviously I just don't get that aspect. Maybe it refers to a re-birth. Possibly a natural optimism based on a sunny faith in goodness. Which can certainly cause you get very wet in that river. :) 3) What symbol have you always felt was right for the Sun Card, but you've yet to see it? I don't know that I have seen a perfect Sun card. It is one of the first cards that I check on opening a deck and always cringe a bit. My beloved Tarot of Prague has a Sun card which I richly dislike. It's that lack of balance, lack of connection with the ground of being. To me the *relationship* between the Fey and the shining sun on him is the closest to perfect that I have ever seen. To me it captures what I think this card means.

MeeWah	06 Jun 2004
1) What elements from any Sun card from any deck do you feel BEST symbolize the Sun? Perhaps I am biased as my introduction to Tarot was with the RWS & its depiction of The Sun with the wee boy on horseback. The whole imagery resonates. The boy's appearance & posture, the "sunny" countenance he bears reiterate the sheer exuberance of the moment. He is in full gallop/full throttle meeting a new day or Life, as if deeply aware of the singular moment--that of the present. Such a moment is imbued with freedom & life-affirming exhileration. There is a perfect communion between man & beast, which oft reminds me of the communion in Strength. One needs to be an expert rider to retain one's seat on a horse; to control & to direct the horse's head. Suggestive of all elements in alignment towards a particular moment; the control of the spirit, mind & body. In contrast, the representation in Clive Barrett's Ancient Egyptian Tarot is more subtle. Its Sun card depicts a pair of smiling naked young children, a boy & a girl, standing within a rainbow-coloured circle on grass. Each has an arm about the other at shoulder level & are as close as two can possibly be, as if like conjoined twins. Their free arms are both aloft waving with open palms as if welcoming whatever is encountered. The boy's right arm suggestive of the active/yang principle & the girl's left suggestive of the passive/yin. Behind them is a shoulder-high wall of baked clay tiles decorated with figures Egyptian gods & goddesses. Beyond the wall a green hill looms & may be part of the grassy knoll the children are atop. The sky overhead in shades of red, orange & yellow with a white hot Sun in its middle. The entire imagery is suffused with a golden glow suggestive of the life-giving rays of The Sun--without which there would be no Life. In both cards, I like the use of children as part of their imagery. Children representative of newness; beginnings; innocence; life energetics such as vitality & enthusiasm; the simple pleasures untainted by the worldly.

Sillanza	07 Jun 2004
Like: As Meewah writes, the images of children in Sun cards do speak to me. It recalls not only exuberance and jubillation but also free, innocent spirits. Not so Much: I really, really dislike when the Sun card is just ... a sun. Would Like to See: I would like to see images introduced that suggest healing, since often the Sun portends just that.

The Symbolizing: The Sun thread was originally posted on 06 Jun 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.